Book Summaries

With so many books published each year on politics, partisanship, and the causes of our dysfunction, how can anyone keep up with them all?

Answer: let us read them all and write short summaries! 

 
Book Name Author Link to Book Summary
The Disappearing Center: Engaged citizens, polarization, and American Democracy Abramowitz, A. I.  
The Polarized Public: Why the American government is so dysfunctional Abramowitz, A. I.  
Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America Avlon, J. Summary
The Hopelessly Partisan Guide to American Politics: An Irreverent Look at the Private Lives of Republicans and Democrats Berwitz, K., & Sinrod, B. Summary
The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-minded America is Tearing Us Apart Bishop, B. Summary
The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America Brownstein, R.  
Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives Eilperin, J. Summary
The Cure for Our Broken Political Process: How We Can Get Our Politicians to Resolve the Issues Tearing Our Country Apart Erdman, S., & Susskind, L.  
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion Haidt, J. (2012) Read intro
Authoritarianism & Polarization in American Politics Hetherington, M., & Weiler, J.  
The Political Centrist Hill, J.  
What's So Wrong With Being Absolutely Right: The Dangerous Nature of Dogmatic Belief Johnson, J. J.  
Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the US Senate Lee, F  
The Partisan Sort: How Liberals Became Democrats and Conservatives Became Republicans Levendusky, M. Summary
It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American constitutional system collided with the new politics of extremism Mann, T.E., &
Ornstein, N. J.
Summary
Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy Mutz, D. C.  
A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country . Sabato, L.  
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies -- How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce them as Truths Shermer, M.  
Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide Sunstein, C. Summary
Party Polarization in Congress Theriault, S. M.