Cure for Our Broken Political, the

This book proves that our lawmakers battle endlessly because that's their most reliable way to win reelection. It demonstrates that, if the election process is not changed, our lawmakers will continue to bungle the major issues, and shows readers how average citizens can get our politicians to resolve our country's problems sensibly and fairly. Record numbers of Americans fear that our political process is broken, and for good reason. Our nation faces unprecedented challenges, yet our politicians waste their energy attacking one another. All the while, no one in public life has offered a practical way out of this impasse. "The Cure for Our Broken Political Process" fills that void. The authors show exactly how concerned citizens can coax politicians from all camps to negotiate genuine solutions to the most vexing issues. Sol Erdman and Lawrence Susskind base their case on their thirty years of experience in resolving political conflict. The book begins with hard evidence that for every major controversy now dividing us, we could work out practical solutions that all sides could support. Why, then, don't our politicians seek out those solutions? The authors debunk all the accepted explanations and then uncover the real reason. By telling the story of a citizen who runs for Congress determined with all his heart to do the job well, the book shows that two basic features of our elections virtually compel politicians to bicker endlessly over national problems. The authors then spell out how to reorganize our elections so that, to win, politicians would have to negotiate practical solutions to pressing problems. The book concludes with a step-by-step plan proving that ordinary citizens have the power to bring about this political transformation within a decade.