Forward Notes on the future of our democracy

Former 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate and 2021 mayoral candidate of New York City, Yang (Smart People Should Build Things, 2014; The War on Normal People, 2018) addresses why the American political system is broken and shares his vision and plan to fix it. Reflecting on major lessons learned from his unsuccessful yet impactful presidential and mayoral campaigns, Yang traces his experiences meeting many people across the U.S. and on virtual platforms to understand the local and national issues affecting such communities. He also examines a host of critical and collective issues in the country such as the pandemic, police brutality, threat of job automation, political polarization, and the spread of mis/disinformation that undermines democracy. Readers of political memoirs and those interested in social issues will appreciate Yang's fascinating and timely insights as he reflects on the ongoing political conflict and economic crisis impacting the U.S. and the structural reforms, policies, and changes that are needed to address these issues. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: While his recent campaigns for office are over, Yang is still very much a political presence and his book is poised to make news.

Yang (The War on Normal People) reflects on his 2020 presidential campaign and offers prescriptions for America's social ills in this earnest yet lackluster account. After a hasty run-through of his childhood and rise from part-time test-prep tutor to CEO of the company, Yang delves into his underdog bid for the Democratic nomination, discussing how he gained followers by making his "Twitter voice more colloquial and casual, even a little sassy"; sharing behind-the-scenes details about memorable moments, including the time he teared up at a gun violence forum; and expressing frustration with the "persistent minimization" he received from cable news outlets. Yang then switches gears to address "institutional failures" in the U.S., including the CDC's "slow and cumbersome response" to Covid-19, wealth disparity, the decline of local journalism, police brutality, and "legislative gridlock and dysfunction." His solutions include a universal basic income, ranked-choice voting, 18-year term limits for the House and Senate, and tax breaks for local media outlets. Yang presents these policy ideas succinctly and with confidence, but has little to say about how they might be achieved, and his moments of genuine self-reflection are intermittent. This extended stump speech is unlikely to draw many new members to the Yang Gang. Agent: David Larabell, CAA. (Oct.)

A plan to make America work better, from the former presidential and New York City mayoral candidate. Like many observers, Yang sees the U.S. beset by economic and political problems. "Our physical health, mental health, financial security, and expectations for the future," he writes, "have all been declining or at multi-decade lows for years." Sharing lessons from the campaign trail, as founder and CEO of Venture for America--a nonprofit that channels enterprising recent college graduates into startups--and as founder of Humanity Forward, which promotes a "human-centered economy," the author proposes key structural changes. Election reform is paramount: When Yang first declared as a candidate, he felt largely ignored by the media until he grew in popularity on Twitter. The market drives media coverage, he asserts, and media thrive on fomenting polarization. Yang proposes open primaries and ranked-choice voting, which, he argues, better accounts for voter preferences. Noting that most members of Congress were elected in the 1980s or '90s, Yang advocates term limits, which would also lessen lawmakers' need for constant fundraising for reelection. Addressing legislative gridlock, the author acknowledges that government bureaucracies are "designed for stasis and inaction." Lawmakers are "actively discouraged" from bipartisan cooperation, and lobbyists have undue influence. Yang proposes getting rid of the filibuster and convening "civic juries" to inform legislators about their constituents' real concerns. Technological upgrading is crucial, as well--e.g., the creation of a citizen portal where people could renew licenses, file tax information, get benefits, and register to vote. As a presidential candidate, Yang famously proposed a Universal Basic Income of $1,000 a month, and he also advocates health care for all. The pandemic, he notes, has exacerbated divisiveness and sparked racism--which, as an Asia American, Yang has experienced directly. The most significant things the country needs, he believes, are grace, tolerance, and forgiveness. Nothing earth-shattering, but Yang offers thoughtful, sensible proposals for a better democracy. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Introduction Democracy By a Thread Why isn't it working? That's a question millions of Americans have been asking about our country. For some time now, many of us have had this growing sense that our way of life and the shared beliefs and expectations that underpin our democracy have become endangered. We sense that, somewhere along the way, the machinery of our democracy started faltering--and now it is failing. Politicians tell us to vote and volunteer and endlessly beg us for donations. Many of us do these things. But it's not doing the trick. Despite doing all the "right things," many of us are struggling more than our parents or grandparents did to gain a foothold in the middle class. The digital gadgets in our pockets keep becoming more sophisticated, but our basic ability to distinguish truth from fiction is eroding. We can no longer assume that fundamental functions of American democracy, like the smooth counting of votes on Election Day or the ability of Congress to pass laws, will occur. Some of us have stopped believing in science, while others have simply come to doubt the possibility that brighter days lie ahead. The unprecedented disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic laid our anxieties bare. Unity and consensus seem like fading dreams. Many of us were surprised and horrified at the ascent of Donald Trump, and yet we sense, on some level, that the aggrieved mistrust and political anger he tapped into were real and will continue to exist long after he's gone. As I write this, there is a Democratic majority in D.C. with the slimmest conceivable margins, with Vice President Kamala Harris's tie-breaking vote in the Senate necessary to get anything done. Democracy hangs by a thread. How did it come to this? What happened to our belief in the future? And, most important, what can we do about it? I wrote the initial drafts of the chapters that became this book in a feverish stretch in the months following the end of my presidential campaign. I wanted to capture my experiences and what I learned while it was fresh in my mind, and I poured thousands of words a week onto my computer. Even with my presidential campaign over, my sense of urgency remained about the problems we face. Some of these were specific lessons from the campaign trail, like the perverse dance between presidential candidates and the media. Others reflect beliefs I've come to hold based on reading, interviews, and working with activists who have spent years trying to sustain our democracy. These initial bits of writing were like a series of mini-essays about the cascading, interrelated set of problems that are growing within our political process and way of governing. Over several drafts, which I completed in early 2021, I shaped these raw writings into proper chapters, stitching them together to form the tapestry of arguments you see here. I hope this book will inspire the same kind of deep reflection in you as my experiences over the past few years inspired in me. My last book, The War on Normal People , was about the ongoing dehumanization of our economy and the need to adopt universal basic income (UBI) and how it offers us the best chance to evolve to the next stage of capitalism. That is probably how you first heard about me: as the 2020 presidential candidate who wanted to give everyone money. The War on Normal People had a powerful but narrow goal: to address the crisis in our economy by promoting universal basic income. That book was published in the spring of 2018, just as I was beginning to campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination. Three and a half years later, I still have the same vision and concerns. If anything, the intervening years have reinforced my convictions about the perilous state of our economy and our democracy. But my perspective on what ails us and my vision for the future have also deepened and advanced based on what I've learned running for office. I now have a better sense of the challenges to our democratic process. Some of the warning signs of the health of our democracy are flashing red, while others lie hidden, like a bit of faulty wiring, waiting to blow. This book reflects these advances in my thinking. Compared with The War on Normal People , the scope here is broader, the insights (I hope) are more nuanced, and yet the ultimate theme remains much the same: our economic and political order is facing unprecedented dangers, many of them brought on by new technologies, and only bold new leadership and policies have a chance to overcome decades of political dysfunction and leaders who are rewarded regardless of whether they rise to the challenge. I've spent the lion's share of the past four years on the move--talking to Americans, listening to their problems, and, through my organization, Humanity Forward, promoting cash relief and experimenting with it at the local level. In addition to free money, the other thing you might have heard about me is that I'm a solutions guy. And after thousands of hours spent talking to my fellow citizens and thinking of the future, I have a sense of how we can put ourselves back on the path to prosperity. This book is the road map. It's about how to make that vision--and, by extension, any actual lasting change on a national scale--a reality. Not in the abstract, but for real. I've found the necessary lever, and I'm eager to share it with you. Excerpted from Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy by Andrew Yang All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. 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