Overview

A democracy should reflect the views of its citizens and offer a direct connection between government and those it serves. So why, more than ever, does it seem as if our government exists in its own bubble, detached from us? In reality, our democracy is not performing as it should, which has left us fed up with a system we no longer trust. Moreover, we lack a mechanism to fix what's broken, because there is no incentive for politicians and civil servants to make government more accountable, efficient, and representative. Saqib Iqbal Qureshi is calling on his fellow citizens to assert their voice in the dialogue of democracy. In The Broken Contract, he puts forth solutions-many involving easy-to-implement technologies. It's up to us to turn the ship around. If you're looking for the best way to start a conversation with your elected and unelected officials, this is the book you need.

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9781544509617

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Reviews

The current crisis of liberal democracy goes to the heart of the idea of representative government. This important book makes a very valuable contribution to the debate on how to fix political institutions and reconnect citizens with their elected representatives. It is essential reading for scholars, politicians, and concerned citizens. -Adrian Pabst, professor at Kent University and author of The Demons of Liberal Democracy The Broken Contract is a fearless, refreshing, and brilliant book, filled with insights into some of the biggest problems and challenges in western democracies. An invigorating breath of fresh air that will do much to blow away some important cobwebs. -Peter Frankopan, professor at Oxford University and author of The Silk Roads A deeply personal and passionately engaged contribution to an important debate, which speaks directly to many of the core moral and political problems presented by democratic backsliding today. -Aziz Huq, professor at Chicago University and co-author of How to Save a Constitutional Democracy Markham, Toronto, Canada, is not exactly ancient Athens but then nor was ancient Athenian democracy all that similar to democracy in Canada or the United States today, about which distinguished social entrepreneur and cultural commentator Dr. Saqib Iqbal Qureshi writes so urgently and so engagingly. On the other hand, an ancient Athenian democrat could not but applaud Dr. Qureshi's overriding concerns to make our democracies more closely representative of the interests and needs as well as desires of all their participants and members, and above all his preoccupation with the accountability of office-holders. One of the earliest definitions of democracy on record-from ancient Greece-includes, alongside majority decision-making and preferred use of the lottery for office-filling, the accountability of all office-holders, however selected. If our broken democracies are to be contractually revived and positively reconstructed, Dr. Qureshi's splendid book can serve as a go-to manual. -Paul Cartledge, professor at Cambridge University and author of Democracy: A Life

Author Information

SAQIB IQBAL QURESHI is a Fellow of the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he completed his undergraduate and PhD degrees. He has written for The Financial Times, The Independent, and The Spectator. He is also the author of Reconstructing Strategy: Dancing with the God of Objectivity. After decades of working in government, management consulting and investment banking ... and of experiencing the dysfunctionality of democracies, Saqib began a journey beyond the surface of our democracy.

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