They Don’t Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy (2019)

Lawrence Lessig 

Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig charts how the fundamental institutions of our democracy, including the media, respond to narrow interests rather than to the needs of America’s citizens. Besides the failings of Washington’s politicians and power brokers, Lessig argues that “We the People” are also to blame, as we become increasingly uninformed. To save our democracy, he urges immediate public funding of campaigns, reforming the Electoral College, an end to states’ partisan gerrymandering, a federal penalty for states where people to do not have equal freedom to vote, and more.

Republic, Lost (2011)

Lawrence Lessig 

This influential book outlines what Lessig considers the “legal but corrupt” influence of special-interest money on American politics, affecting the ability of Congress to govern. In an era when special interests funnel huge amounts of money into our government—driven by shifts in campaign-finance rules and brought to new levels by the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission—trust in our government has reached an all-time low. More than ever, Americans believe that business interests wield control over our legislature.

How Trump Stole 2020 (2020)

Greg Palast

In How Trump Stole 2020: The Hunt for America’s Vanished Voters, investigative journalist Greg Palast traces voter-suppression tactics by following the money, documenting numbers of voter theft, and naming names. “The tome is chock full of statistics and facts, all studiously researched and well-supported, and punctuated regularly with punch lines for comic relief.” (Counterpunch.org)

We the Corporations (2019)

Adam Winkler

Dark Money (2016)

Jane Mayer

Who are the immensely wealthy right-wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today? In the best-selling Dark Money, investigative journalist Jane Mayer documents a network of extremely wealthy conservative Republicans, foremost among them Charles and David Koch, who have funded a range of organizations that work in tandem for their own benefit to influence academic institutions, think tanks, the courts, statehouses, Congress and the American presidency.

Corruption in America (2016)

Zephyr Teachout 

“You have probably heard pundits say we are living in an age of ‘legalized bribery’; Corruption in America is the book that makes their case in careful detail…And all of it has happened, Teachout admonishes, because the founders’ understanding of corruption has been methodically taken apart by a Supreme Court that cynically pretends to worship the founders’ every word.” (Thomas Frank, New York Times Book Review)

Corporations Are Not People (2015)

Jeff Clements

In Corporations Are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy From Big Money & Global Corporations, Jeffrey Clements describes how the Supreme Court in Citizens United and related cases has fabricated unprecedented rights and power for corporations and money, at the expense of human beings and democracy itself. Five years after Citizens United, this updated edition shows how Americans are coming together to overturn the decision and renew the promise of freedom and democracy.

Extortion (2014)

Peter Schweizer

Dollarocracy (2013)

John Nichols , Robert W McChesney, et al.

Following the first $10 billion election campaign, two award-winning authors show how unbridled campaign spending defines our politics and, failing a dramatic intervention, signals the end of our democracy. Blending vivid reporting from the 2012 campaign and deep perspective from decades covering American and international politics and media, political journalist John Nichols and media critic Robert W. McChesney reveal that the new “money power” does not just endanger electoral politics, it is also a challenge to the DNA of American democracy.

The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class (2011)

Bernie Sanders

On December 10, 2010, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont spoke for eight hours and 37 minutes on the floor of the U.S. Senate. As he spoke, and as the hours passed, millions began to watch the speech online until the traffic crashed the Senate server; worldwide news coverage ensued. The book, a transcript of that filibuster, is a plea for common sense and fairness.

Moyers on Democracy (2009)

Bill Moyers

Many know Bill Moyers from his decades of path-breaking television journalism. He is also one of America's most sought-after public speakers. In this collection of his speeches, Moyers celebrates the promise of American democracy and offers a passionate defense of its principles of fairness and justice, while taking on crucial issues such as economic inequality, our broken electoral process, our weakened independent press, and the despoiling of the earth we share.

Unequal Protection (2009)

Thom Hartmann

Unequal Protection tells the astonishing story of how, after decades of sensible limits on corporate power, an offhand, off-the-record comment by a Supreme Court justice led to the 14th Amendment—originally passed to grant basic rights to freed slaves—becoming the justification for granting corporations the same rights as human beings. In this history of corporate personhood, Hartmann proposes specific legal remedies that could finally end it.

America's Constitution: A Biography (2006)

Akhil Reed Amar 

In America’s Constitution, Akhil Reed Amar, one of this era’s most accomplished constitutional-law scholars, gives the first comprehensive account of one of the world’s great political texts. Incisive, entertaining, and occasionally controversial, this “biography” of America’s framing document explains what the Constitution says and why the Constitution says it. The book is a winner of the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award.

Gangs of America (2005)

Ted Nace

The corporation has become the core institution of the modern world. Designed to seek profit and power, it has pursued both with endless tenacity, steadily bending the framework of law and even challenging the sovereign status of the state.

Overruling Democracy (2003)

Maryland State Senator (now Congressman) Jamie Raskin

In Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court vs. The American People, the former constitutional-law professor, Maryland State Senator, and now U.S. Representative Jamin “Jamie” Raskin argues that we need to develop a new set of rights, through amendments or court decisions, to revitalize and protect the democracy of everyday life. Detailing specific cases, he describes the Supreme Court’s transgressions against the Constitution and the people—and faulty reasoning behind them—laying out a plan for a more democratic system.