By Popular Demand: Revitalizing Representative Democracy Through Deliberative Elections First Edition

"There are two fundamental problems in American politics. The first is the most Americans do not believe that elected officials represent their interests. The second is that they are correct."The first two lines of By Popular Demand identify the mistrust felt by so many Americans toward their political institutions. Gastil thoroughly outlines why our representative democracy needs help, and then persuasively demonstrates why deliberation can be a prominent solution.In this book, Gastil outlines multiple deliberative models, one of which would arguably become the most successful deliberative intervention in American politics ever. The fundamentals of the Citizens' Initiative Review, a deliberative body convened in Oregon and other states, are found within these pages.Gastil is a deliberative democracy pioneer, and this book is a must-read for practitioners and researchers alike.

"By Popular Demand" is a clear, well-informed, and committed contribution to the huge task of understanding and repairing the existing (American) democracy's imperfections.