Books › Politics Is for Power
Politics Is for Power
288 pages
A sobering but ultimately galvanizing wake-up call that challenges readers to trade performative online outrage for the slow, steady work of real community organizing.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like a necessary, if slightly uncomfortable, intervention. It begins with a sobering mirror held up to our modern habits, challenging the reader's reliance on performative outrage and treating politics like a spectator sport. The mood is initially confrontational but quickly shifts into a steady, pragmatic, and deeply galvanizing atmosphere. The prose is clear and analytical, anchoring its urgent arguments in rigorous social science, history, and grounded stories of everyday people. It moves at a steady pace, carefully dismantling the illusion of online engagement before building a hopeful, actionable framework for real civic duty. This is a read for anyone exhausted by the daily political gossip cycle who is hungry for the slow, meaningful work of actual community empowerment.
- Mood
- sobering
- reflective
- galvanizing
- Tone
- urgent
- analytical
- pragmatic
- challenging
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- political hobbyism · civic duty · community building · grassroots organizing · the illusion of online engagement
- The writing
- Clear, data-informed, and persuasive, blending rigorous social science with compelling real-world anecdotes.
- The arc
- Moves from uncomfortable self-reflection about performative outrage to a grounded, empowering sense of civic responsibility.
- Who it's for
- Readers exhausted by the daily outrage cycle who want actionable, grounded ways to effect real political change in their communities.
Content notes
- political polarization
About the book
"Who is to blame for our broken politics? The uncomfortable answer to this question starts with ordinary citizens with good intentions. We vote (sometimes) and occasionally sign a petition or attend a rally. But we mainly "engage" by consuming politics as if it's a sport or a hobby. We soak in daily political gossip and eat up statistics about who's up and who's down. We tweet and post and share. We crave outrage. The hours we spend on politics are used mainly as pastime. Instead, we should be spending the same number of hours building political organizations, implementing a long-term vision for our city or town, and getting to know our neighbors, whose votes will be needed for solving hard problems. We could be accumulating power so that when there are opportunities to make a difference--to lobby, to advocate, to mobilize--we will be ready. But most of us who are spending time on politics today are focused inward, choosing roles and activities designed for our short-term pleasure. We are repelled by the slow-and-steady activities that characterize service to the common good. In Politics Is for Power, pioneering and brilliant data analyst Eitan Hersh shows us a way toward more effective political participation. Aided by political theory, history, cutting-edge social science, as well as remarkable stories of ordinary citizens who got off their couches and took political power seriously, this book shows us how to channel our energy away from political hobbyism and toward empowering our values."--Amazon.
Description from Open Library.
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