Electrified Democracy

An examination, in historical context, of the approach the UK Parliament has taken towards the Internet, and its wider implications.

How do developing states decide who gets access to public goods like electricity, water, and education? Power and the Vote breaks new ground by showing that the provision of seemingly universal public goods is intricately shaped by electoral priorities. In doing so, this book introduces new methods using high-resolution satellite imagery to study the distribution of electricity across and within the developing world. Combining cross-national evidence with detailed sub-national analysis and village-level data from India, Power and the Vote affirms the power of electoral incentives in shaping the distribution of public goods and challenges the view that democracy is a luxury of the rich with little relevance to the world's poor.

"Private money, public good, and the original fight for control in America's energy industry. Private corporations administered electrical power in the United States until 1932. FDR's Rural Electrification Program changed that, using public money to extend the country's energy grid to 97 percent of rural communities within two decades. In doing so, the program also ushered in a new kind of public industry-the democratically managed cooperative-that has persisted as an alternative to private ownership ever since. Democracy in Power traces the rise of publicly owned and controlled utilities in the twentieth-century electrification of America. Drawing on diverse primary sources, Sandeep Vaheesan shows that the path to accountability in the American power sector was beset not only by bureaucratic challenges, but by public and private actors determined to maintain a status quo of privatization. In detailing how American energy transitioned from largely-private to sometimes-public, Vaheesan offers a blueprint of not only how US alternative energies may proceed in coming decades, but also the false narratives and missteps that will accompany it. Democracy in Power is at once an essential history and a deeply relevant accounting of traps we've fallen for before"--

The world can be better run. Democracy is the most effective way to take back control over decisions that impact people’s lives. But democracy must evolve following a global technological revolution that has increased fears that global trade and immigration threaten our identity, that we face environmental ruin and that cybercriminals and 'big tech' can do as they please, unchecked – all made worse by COVID-19. This book presents a roadmap for more accountable democracy locally, nationally and internationally. Marcial Bragadini Bóo proposes updating rules so that politicians are better held to account, public services improve and people can contribute to their communities. New rules of democracy may help find solutions to global problems and ensure everyone is fairly represented at the decision-making table.

Silver WINNER of the 2021 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Ethics WINNER of the 2021 Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes From the author of The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power comes this deeply informed and unflinching look at the way corporations have slyly rebranded themselves as socially conscious entities ready to tackle society's problems, while CEO compensation soars, income inequality is at all-time highs, and democracy sits in a precarious situation. Over the last decade and a half, business leaders, Silicon Valley executives, and the Davos elite have been calling for a new kind of capitalism. The writing was on the wall. With income inequality soaring, wages stagnating, and a climate crisis escalating, it was no longer viable to justify harming the environment and ducking taxes in the name of shareholder value. Business leaders realized that to get out in front of these problems, they had to make social and environmental values the very core of their messaging. Their essential pitch was: Who could be better suited to address major societal issues than efficiently run corporations? There is just one small problem with their doing well by doing good pitch. Corporations are still, ultimately, answerable to their shareholders, and doing well always comes first. This essential truth lies at the heart of Joel Bakan's argument. In lucid and engaging prose, Bakan lays bare a litany of immoral corporate actions and documents corporate power grabs dressed up as social initiatives. He makes clear the urgency of the problem of the corporatization of society itself and shows how people are fighting back and making gains on a grassroots level.

Numerous analysts have lately expressed concern about tendencies including democratic backsliding and populism occurring in many countries worldwide. This book considers such theories in the context of the United Kingdom (UK) in the period since 2016, examining Brexit and numerous other subjects. The author applies the techniques of the historian, drawing on a variety of primary and secondary materials. Offering both evidence-based assessment and polemic, the work presents its analysis in a variety of different forms, intended to convey the complexity and extensive sweep of the issues. The book concludes that, while they have precedents, UK democracy faces real and broad challenges. The author makes recommendations for addressing these problems.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • "How did our democracy go wrong? This extraordinary document ... is Applebaum's answer." —Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian explains, with electrifying clarity, why elites in democracies around the world are turning toward nationalism and authoritarianism. From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else. Elegantly written and urgently argued, Twilight of Democracy is a brilliant dissection of a world-shaking shift and a stirring glimpse of the road back to democratic values.