By Steven Hill

March 28, 2006

Dear friends and colleagues,

I thought you might be interested to know that my next book, 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy, will be in the bookstores in May (PoliPointPress, $11.00). The book is a brief, practical "one-stop shoppers' guide" to what's broken about democracy in the USA, and what Americans can do to repair it.

The Introduction presents an overview showing that American democracy has been working about as well as the levees around New Orleans. This is followed by 10 chapters (each chapter being a "step"/solution) covering the voting equipment/election administration issue, Electoral College, instant runoff voting, campaign finance reform, media reform, universal voter registration, term limits for Supreme Court justices, overhaul of the U.S. Senate, proportional representation and the end of winner-take-all elections, and more. Instead of reading four or five or six different books--one on the Electoral College, another on voting equipment, yet another on campaign finance reform, media reform or instant runoff voting -- who has time for so much reading! -- "10 Steps" gives you a brief overview of all of these, plus practical, solution-oriented steps so that even a person with minimal time can participate in transforming our democracy.

The book also includes a powerful foreword by New Yorker columnist Hendrik Hertzberg. In short, "10 Steps" presents an overall vision for how American democracy could be -- no, how it WILL be -- and a blueprint for how to get there. All for 11 bucks. What a bargain, eh?

So be looking for it in your local bookstores and on the usual web sites. And please spread the word (i.e. forward this e-mail to your own lists). Thanks.

P.S. Below is the Table of Contents, giving you more of a flavor for the book.

Table of Contents
Introduction: America's Faltering Republic
1. Secure the Vote
2. Expand Voter Participation
3. Increase Voter Choice with Instant Runoff Voting
4. Scrap Winner-Take-All Elections
5. Direct Election of the President
6. Overhaul the U.S. Senate
7. Reclaim the Airwaves
8. Minimize Money's Role
9. Reform the Supreme Court
10. Restore Faith in Government: "Government Is Good for You"
Conclusion: Renewing the American Republic

Steven Hill is Director of the Political Reform Program at the New America Foundation. His previous book is Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics (Routledge, 2003).