It's Even Worse Than It Looks
How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism
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It's Even Worse Than It Looks
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Narrated by:
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William Hughes
About this listen
Acrimony and hyperpartisanship have seeped into every part of the political process. Congress is deadlocked, and its approval ratings are at record lows. America’s two main political parties have given up their traditions of compromise, endangering our very system of constitutional democracy. And one of these parties has taken on the role of insurgent outlier; the Republicans have become ideologically extreme, scornful of compromise, and ardently opposed to the established social and economic policy regime.
Here, congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein identify two overriding problems that have led Congress—and the United States—to the brink of institutional collapse. The first is the serious mismatch between our political parties, which have become as vehemently adversarial as parliamentary parties, with a governance system that, unlike a parliamentary democracy, makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act. Second, while both parties participate in tribal warfare, both sides are not equally culpable. The political system faces what the authors call "asymmetric polarization", with the Republican Party implacably refusing to allow anything that might help the Democrats politically, no matter the cost.
With dysfunction rooted in long-term political trends, a coarsened political culture, and a new partisan media, the authors conclude that there is no silver bullet that can solve everything. But they offer a panoply of useful ideas and reforms, endorsing some solutions, like greater public participation and institutional restructuring of the House and Senate, while debunking others, like independent or third-party candidates. Above all, they call on the media as well as the public at large to focus on the true causes of dysfunction rather than just throwing the bums out every election cycle. Until voters learn to act strategically to reward problem solving and punish obstruction, American democracy will remain in serious danger.
©2012 Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good as an intro, skip if you’re a wonk
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Democracies can die with a coup d'état - or they can die slowly. This happens most deceptively when in piecemeal fashion, with the election of an authoritarian leader, the abuse of governmental power and the complete repression of opposition. All three steps are being taken around the world - not least with the election of Donald Trump - and we must all understand how we can stop them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Connecting the Dots
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In Strangers in Their Own Land, the renowned sociologist Arlie Hochschild embarks on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, deep into Louisiana bayou country - a stronghold of the conservative right. As she gets to know people who strongly oppose many of the ideas she famously champions, Hochschild nevertheless finds common ground and quickly warms to the people she meets.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Performance undercuts thesis
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Critic reviews
What listeners say about It's Even Worse Than It Looks
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David
- 09-24-12
A book not bound by false "balance"
I like this which puts the current situation in a historical context. I appreciate the comparison to parlamentary democracy where we seem to have taken the worst of our two party system and imported the worst of parlamentary politics. I do hope we move to reform. Well read. Had trouble setting this aside.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Matt
- 11-19-12
Too Short
This book has some great information as to why our government is disfunctional and how we got to this point. I didnt look at how short the book was which feel the price is steep for such a short book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Aaron
- 09-25-12
Great story, even better Narration
Where does It's Even Worse Than It Looks rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Among political nonfiction it is one of the best.
Has It's Even Worse Than It Looks turned you off from other books in this genre?
Not at all. It has actually made me want to learn more.
What about William Hughes’s performance did you like?
Just about everything. I have heard him read other books and he is one of the best!
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
There was a lot to process, so I found it helpful to break it up in order to think about what I'd been hearing.
Any additional comments?
Enjoyed this very much and plan on a second listen.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- lisa
- 06-23-13
No wake up calls and a Democratic lean
The prologue makes a statement to the effect that the public's outrage and tendency to vote out long standing politicians when angered, thereby making the political situation worse (Americans, get out of the way and let the professionals handle this) is in direct conflict with the next statement that republicans voted down their own bill because the president liked it - McCain being one of them. McCain is far from being a junior member of Congress who was newly voted in and creating havoc due to inexperience.
The problem is simple: Politics has become a self-serving job for those involved, not a public service. They're in office to support their party, not the American people. While the authors of this book definitely understand how this dysfunctional system works (or doesn't), they're too close to that system to offer a real solution. The fingers are still pointing. It doesn't take much reading between the lines to see how the author feels about those troublesome people who keep quoting the Constitution. The American public is in the way - they just don't understand what the democrats are trying to accomplish.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Julie Schatz
- 07-30-15
Worth a listen
The narrator is good. Good analysis and contains plenty of useful advice, tips, and comparisons.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MLSreality
- 04-01-17
Important for every American to understand
Find the beginnings of our political dysfunction and suggestions of what to do. Well researched and well written.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Steven
- 03-02-22
There’s is hope
“The people who are elected to public office, with rare exception, can no longer solve our problems; they are more a symbol of the problems than a solution!”
Steven Trueblood
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rob
- 07-01-12
Even the well-informed will learn something here
Mann and Ornstein have done the country a great service with this book. I follow politics relatively closely and there were some eye-openers for me in this thoughtful and well-written book. While it is not a surprise that both Mann and Ornstein (a liberal and conservative) share a common view about just how seriously dysfunctional the federal government is, what is a surprise is that they place most of the blame squarely on the extremism in the Republican party. They note that Republican extremism is not directed toward advancing their policies so much as toward advancing personal interest of their leaders or the political (not ideological) interests of their party. Multiple examples of how Republicans in the Senate have used the filibuster and other parliamentary tools to delay votes on bills or on appointments - taking up huge amounts of valuable time that should be spent on the important business of the country - that ultimately passed with votes along the lines of 95-2. What could the point of this be? Only to make the government and the majority party look ineffective. Shame on the Republicans.
Mann and Ornstein offer a variety of ideas to address the problems.They look for ideas that have been tried around the world but they have been in this business for a long time and have a clear-eyed view of what is likely to fly in the U.S. and what probably won't. They propose a range of ideas that can at least begin to counter the Republican's "gum up the works" efforts.
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17 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Scott
- 09-03-12
A No-Nonsense Look at our Current Political Crisis
If you REALLY care about this country, regardless of party affiliation you should get this book. Filibusters and secret "holds" are being put on perfectly decent Senate legislation just to gum up the works by both parties. It is all for partisan or personal gain and has already caused a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating for the first time in history.
It's not all doom and gloom. The authors offer some powerful ideas to get us out of this mess including ways to get MORE of us to vote, not less. Required reading for anyone who puts country before party as they should.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Adrian Drummond
- 06-02-16
Good but not great
I learned a lot from listening to this book but it also left me with the feeling that most of my assumptions were wrong. The author did not provide compelling alternatives in the face of legislative paralysis. The book was good but not great.
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