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Most of these entries are reviews of books—some new, some less
new—relating to democracy in the US. The main angle is: how can
this shed light on the problems in public discourse?

Coming Soon

  1. (Book Review) Saving the News: Why the Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve Freedom of Speech, by Martha Minow
  2. (Book Review) We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: The Promise of Civic Renewal in America, by Peter Levine

All Entries

Fishkin and National Plebiscites

By David Foster
March 21, 2024
A few reactions to Democracy When the People Are Thinking: Revitalizing Our Politics Through Public Deliberation (Author: James Fishkin)

A Different Strategy for Climate Action

By David Foster
November 25, 2023
A review of Communicating the Future: Solutions for Environment, Economy and Democracy (Author: Lance Bennett)

Eyeballs Über Alles

By David Foster
August 2, 2023
A few reactions to Democracy Without Journalism?: Confronting the Misinformation Society (Author: Victor Pickard)

Grass Roots Depolarization

By David Foster
May 4, 2023
A review of Defusing American Anger (Author: Zachary Elwood)

Literary Intellectuals and Wokeism

By David Foster
April 17, 2023
A commentary on the essay "Why Wokeism is not Marxist" by Paul Gottfried of Chronicles Magazine.

Free Speech Absurdity in the 21st Century

By David Foster
February 2, 2023
An analysis of the societal and legal foundations of free speech in the internet age. Including brief reviews of books/articles by Lackland Bloom, Brian Leiter, Cass Sunstein, Philip Napoli, and others.

Classic Conservative Arguments Taken Apart

By David Foster
December 16, 2022
A review of The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy (Author: Albert O. Hirschman)

The Pseudo-Environment Today

By David Foster
October 25, 2022
A review of Public Opinion (Author: Walter Lippmann)

Socialism’s Uphill Struggle in Public Discourse

By David Foster
December 19, 2021
The role that "socialism" plays in popular public discourse. Including brief reviews of books by Michael Harrington, John Judis, and Dinesh D’Souza.

The Evolving Substance of the Culture Wars

By David Foster
June 13, 2021
A review of Culture Wars: The Struggle To Control The Family, Art, Education, Law, And Politics In America (Author: James Davison Hunter)

Pretend News

By David Foster
November 1, 2020
A review of Hate Inc. (Author: Matt Taibbi)

Polarization Rationalized

By David Foster
April 26, 2020
A review of Why We're Polarized (Author: Ezra Klein)

What Conservatives Believe

By David Foster
November 27, 2019
A review of Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism (Author: George Hawley)

How a Conservative Juggernaut May Be Countered

By David Foster
August 20, 2019
The conservative PragerU has successfully exploited new technological possibilities for persuading millions of citizens. Will anyone else join the fray?

New Sample Videos: The Problem with Health Care

By David Foster
August 11, 2019
Check out Know The System’s two new sample animated videos. Each is under five minutes in duration and is targeted for the general public.

Ideology or Problem Solving – Which Will It Be?

By David Foster
July 30, 2019
A review of Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats (Authors: Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins)

Health Care Reform and Socialized Medicine

By David Foster
July 20, 2019
A review of Introduction to US Health Policy: The Organization, Financing, and Delivery of Health Care in America (Author: Donald A. Barr)

Getting People to Be Responsible Citizens

By David Foster
March 15, 2019
A review of Attention Deficit Democracy: The Paradox of Civic Engagement (Author: Ben Berger)

Democracy and the Deterioration of Journalism

By David Foster
February 8, 2019
A review of Informing the News (Author: Thomas E. Patterson)

Americans are Conservative and Liberal

By David Foster
January 7, 2019
A review of Ideology in America (Authors: Christopher Ellis and James Stimson)

You Can’t Fight Polarization Until You Understand It

By David Foster
November 26, 2018
A review of Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity (Author: Lilliana Mason)

Moral Foundations Theory and Ideological Tolerance

By David Foster
November 20, 2018
A review of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (Author: Jonathan Haidt)

Populism in the Social Media Era

By David Foster
November 8, 2018
A review of The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It (Author: Yascha Mounk)

Potential Solutions to the Polarization Problem

By David Foster
November 1, 2018
(Originally published in Arc Digital.)     Most solutions we’ve been offered won’t fix it. But one thing might.

Alternatives to our “Zombie Democracy”

By David Foster
October 22, 2018
A review of How Democracy Ends (Author: David Runciman)

The Inconvenient Reality of the Global Labor Glut

By David Foster
September 23, 2018
A review of The Wealth of Humans: Work, Power, and Status in the Twenty-first Century (Author: Ryan Avent)

Tricks of Persuasion in the Presidential Election

By David Foster
September 1, 2018
A review of Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter (Author: Scott Adams)

Old and New Thinking about Politics and Human Nature

By David Foster
August 29, 2018
A review of The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Author: Steven Pinker)

How to Thwart Economic Snake-Oil Salesmen

By David Foster
August 28, 2018
A review of Advice and Dissent: Why America Suffers When Economics and Politics Collide (Author: Alan S. Blinder)

US Government Paralysis and the Context of World History

By David Foster
August 25, 2018
A review of Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy (Authors: Francis Fukuyama)

Is Democracy as Bad as Achen and Bartels Say It Is?

By David Foster
August 14, 2018
A review of Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government (Authors: Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels)

Do We Even Need a Solution?

By David Foster
July 27, 2018
There is a lot of anxiety today about the failings of our democracy—the polarization, the inability to solve national problems. Shouldn’t we do something about it?

Citizens’ Ambivalence about Political Involvement

By David Foster
July 20, 2018
A review of Stealth Democracy: Americans’ Beliefs About How Government Should Work (Authors: John R. Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse)

How to Coax Tea Party Citizens Away from Resentment

By David Foster
July 10, 2018
A review of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (Author: Arlie Russell Hochschild)

A Sense of Proportion about Inequality in the World

By David Foster
July 8, 2018
A review of The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality (Author: Branko Milanovic)

Applying the Concept of Learner Empathy to National Issues

By David Foster
June 18, 2018
A review of The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century (Author: Steven Pinker)

Systematic Voter Biases about Economics

By David Foster
June 18, 2018
A review of The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies (Author: Bryan Caplan)

  • Contributors:

  •  
  • David Foster, Ph.D.
  • David Foster is the Executive Director of Know The System, Inc.    Prior to Know The System, David was Chief Academic Officer at ExecOnline, a New York based provider of online education. He earned an MBA from U.C. Berkeley in 1986, and a Ph.D. in learning technology and cognitive science from Northwestern University in 1996. He is not a licensed political scientist.