Strengthening Democracy by Practicing It
“People Power Change,” by Marshall Ganz. Book cover by Oxford University Press
In his new book People, Power, Change, author-activist Marshall Ganz writes about the art and science of organizing and social change. In the section excerpted here, taken from the book’s introduction, Ganz issues his call for a renewal of US democratic practice.
This excerpt is from People, Power, Change: Organizing for Democratic Renewal. (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Marshall Ganz. All rights reserved. Reprinted here with author and press permission.
Millions of Americans could strengthen our democracy by practicing it. Tocqueville argued that in a democracy, “knowledge of how to combine,” is the “mother of all forms of knowledge.” Yet it is precisely Americans’ useful knowledge of the practices that enable purposeful collective action that we have allowed to atrophy.
