arsCynic reviewed The Flaws That Kill Our Democracy by Klaas Mensaert
None
4 stars
In the quest for efficiency, scientists and engineers are often inspired by, and get praised for using mechanisms from the natural world. That politics should be no different is my main takeaway from this book (e.g. bottom-up approach, piecemeal changes, trial-by-combat, etc.), achievable ideas I can fully get behind. Except for that last one, that was a joke.
The Flaws That Kill Our Democracy is insightfully written with academic integrity, but the author occasionally forgets that his readers won't always share his academic background or knowledge. This lead to some paragraphs going over my head. Similar to having a mathematical formula explained; it makes sense until you have to prove it yourself. Fortunately, this criticism—punishment, if you will—does not fit the 'crime'. It just might need additional descriptive examples in which one can follow the reasoning. That being said, his brevity is definitely a virtue; especially for a topic as …
In the quest for efficiency, scientists and engineers are often inspired by, and get praised for using mechanisms from the natural world. That politics should be no different is my main takeaway from this book (e.g. bottom-up approach, piecemeal changes, trial-by-combat, etc.), achievable ideas I can fully get behind. Except for that last one, that was a joke.
The Flaws That Kill Our Democracy is insightfully written with academic integrity, but the author occasionally forgets that his readers won't always share his academic background or knowledge. This lead to some paragraphs going over my head. Similar to having a mathematical formula explained; it makes sense until you have to prove it yourself. Fortunately, this criticism—punishment, if you will—does not fit the 'crime'. It just might need additional descriptive examples in which one can follow the reasoning. That being said, his brevity is definitely a virtue; especially for a topic as boring as contemporary politics. That it doesn't need to be is made abundantly clear. I sincerely hope the proposed new paradigm comes to fruition, because there's a desperate need for the populace to feel relevant again, beyond mere consumers.
I usually sell books unworthy of my bookcase, and this one is getting a spot. Excellent work, Klaas.