Book Launch: Democracy's Second Act: Why Politics Needs the Public

Thomas Homer-Dixon, Executive Director, Cascades Institute, Author of Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril

Alan Webber, Mayor of Santa Fe and Co-Founder of Fast Company

Marjan Ehsassi, Executive Director, Federation for Innovation in Democracy North America and author of Activated Citizenship: The Transformative Power of Citizens’ Assemblies

ABOUT THE EVENT
Join Peter MacLeod, co-author of Democracy’s Second Act, in conversation with journalist Joanne Chianello for an engaging discussion about why frustration and polarization are rising and how reclaiming the power of the public can lead to a more hopeful political future. Drawing on examples from Canada, Ireland, France, and beyond, MacLeod explains why democracy isn’t broken but stuck, and how giving more people real responsibility—not just a periodic vote—can renew democratic life. The 30-minute conversation will be followed by audience questions, and a reception and book signing with the author.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Democracy isn’t broken. It’s stuck. Around the world, people are growing angry and polarized not because they’ve stopped caring, but because democracy has stopped evolving. The result isn’t apathy; it’s a rising sense of political futility.

In Democracy’s Second Act, Peter MacLeod and Richard Johnson argue that the first act of democracy—anchored in voting rights and representative government—achieved extraordinary gains. Free elections, near-universal suffrage, and the peaceful transfer of power reshaped societies and expanded human freedom. But these achievements represent the promise of democracy, not its completion.

The book offers a hopeful, clear-eyed vision for what comes next. Drawing on groundbreaking citizens’ assemblies in Ireland, Canada, and France—as well as democratic innovations from more than a dozen countries—MacLeod and Johnson show how democracy can build on its first act by creating new institutions that tap into the talents, judgment, and capabilities of ordinary people. They make the case that the public isn’t a risk to be managed, but a powerful resource ready to be harnessed—and that the future depends on giving citizens real responsibility, not just a periodic vote.

Smart, story-driven, and deeply grounded in political theory and practice, Democracy’s Second Act is for changemakers ready to move beyond cynicism and rebuild democracy for a new era.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Peter MacLeod is the founder and principal of MASS LBP where for nearly two decades he has been at the forefront of democratic innovation championing a new approach to politics that gives more people a seat at the table. A trusted advisor to governments at all levels, he is one of Canada’s leading voices on democracy, active citizenship and working with the public.
Richard Johnson is a former journalist and current policy director at MASS LBP. His writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, The Walrus, Reader’s Digest, This Magazine, The New Quarterly, and many others. A former Fellow in Literary Journalism at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, he was also a longtime writer for the award-winning podcast Trailblazers, with Walter Isaacson.

ABOUT JOANNE CHIANELLO
Joanne Chianello is an award-winning journalist who spent more than 30 years covering municipal politics for the Ottawa Citizen, Financial Post, and CBC Ottawa. She now works in public affairs and is running for Ottawa City Council in 2026.

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