Fans of Betches will appreciate seeing Sami Sage (of Morning Announcements fame) sharing her pithy analyses in print. This book is a lot more, delving into the why and the how which are critical to understanding the US political system. The workbook element is a fresh take and makes this book feel relevant. I would have loved this when I was an undergrad polisci student! It would also make a great buy for young people who may feel disenfranchised, it’s just the nudge they need!

Democracy in Retrograde was exactly what I needed right before the election. It’s about doing our civic duty and becoming involved in politics to make the world a better place. I especially loved the section about the structure of government, and I found that to be very informative.

A workable and actionable book with realistic steps to take towards becoming more civic minded and involved. This book was incredible and I appreciated the insight as well as how relatable Emily and Sami are! Highly recommend for anyone at any age or stage to read and engage in our country, state and local government.

I have followed Emilyinyourphone for years, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Democracy in Retrograde. A fantastic read where her voice shines through.

This book! A gift for our social-media driven, politically wrought time. One part guide to activism, one part explanation of political machinery, one part reminder that you, in fact, can make change if you just try. A must-read that I'll be pressing into the hands of many friends and family members this election season.

What a fantasically useful book! Not only are there great action steps to take to help you increase your civic engagement, but there's a survey that helps you figure out how your unique personality can best work to effect change.

I’ll start by saying that I’m so, so glad that this book exists.

So much of the basics of how the government functions—as well as what to do if you want to get involved in political activism—is unclear and hard to find good information on without a lot of effort and enough background to know if the source is reliable. I think it can be intimidating, and scares off a lot of people who would like to become more informed or get personally involved, but who simply don’t know where to start.

This is a really well-crafted and well-structured instruction manual to help citizens get educated and involved. I loved how approachable it and easy to digest it is, I love that it’s relatively short and concise, and I love that the authors use humor and pop culture to make the content feel more accessible.

I always worry that the people who actually buy books like this aren’t really the ones who need to be educated on the subject, but I’m hoping the current political climate will inspire more people to to seek out the kind of information that this book provides.

What a fantastic primer on how to find an entry point into where to begin supporting issues and candidates that matter to us. The variety in opportunities and the step by step directions and workbook type pages the authors provide would be excellent for any level of participation. I've been active for years with candidates and issues I care about, and the suggestions in Sage and Amick's book gave me new ideas where I can easily increase my involvement Thank you both!!!

This is a wonderful introduction and reminder to why civil service is so essential. This is an especially helpful explainer for high schoolers and college students. A must-read for all!

This book is such a great breakdown of the types of people we are in terms of politics complete with ideas for how to improve things. Also mentioned is keeping yourself engaged in a positive way. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect read for those who may feel paralyzed by political anxiety, and powerless to make changes. Authors Sami Sage and Emily Amick offer constructive and practical ways to do one's part while taking personality characteristics into account. Highly recommended for those who wonder how one person can make a difference and where to start. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC.

#DemocracyInRetrograde
#NetGalley

A must read in today's political climate, Sage and Amick make politics understandable and relatable to the average human. I love how the authors made this understandable at so many levels and how they make me understand how and why my vote and my voice count. This should be reading for every member of our democracy!

It is sobering to read a book like Democracy in Retrograde with today's political climate. Add living through a hurricane and power outage to it, and you get that much more appreciative of how advocacy and civic engagement matter!

This book is helpful for those wondering how to make a difference beyond vote (VOTE - VOTE - VOTE). I liked how the authors broke what you can do by personality and characteristics, to practically offer constructive ways to move forward. One of the ones that helped me most was the civic calendar (if it's not on my schedule, it's not getting done!). It's an important reminder when our voices matter more than ever.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for an ARC.

What an engaging, entertaining, and informative book on politics and our place in government today! It's immediately clear that this book is written by someone of a younger generation that knows better how to connect with younger readers and offer some solid advice on how to interact today with government. It's a great book overall for younger people who are just starting to get into politics today.

This book is perfection. Just the type of book the USA needs in this season. It gives you actionable steps and hope

“We get to a point where the exhaustion is itself exhausting. And I firmly believe that the forces who seek to undermine our society, who seek to pit us against each other for their cynical gain, see exhaustion as a potent weapon at their disposal.” -Matt Rather

I received this book in the mail the same day as the first presidential debate. I didn’t start it that night because, well, to be honest, I needed to go to bed and pretend it never happened. I did however, start this book the next day feeling a heck of a lot of hopelessness.

As I got through the first 45 pages, I found myself continually grabbing my phone to jot down quotes. If you know me, you know I don’t generally write in my books. This one is the exception. 1. Because there are parts where the entire point is to jot down notes, but more importantly, I just needed to highlight all the fantastic lines that jumped out at me. I know some people were planning to get this one on audio, but folks…this is a book you want to highlight, write all over, and go back to read sections again, so I highly recommend picking up a physical copy!

This book will push you to really think about what matters most to you, and not just that, but what you can do about it. And no, it’s not just “run for school board, run for office, spend every waking hour fighting the fight.” It gives you things you can do whether you want to spend a few hours a month, a few hours a week, or make fighting for democracy your full time job. Do I think I am pretty involved? Yes and no. I know I am a heck of a lot more involved than many I know, but I also know I could do a lot more, and that there are people out there that are so much smarter than me when it comes to our government and how everything works. @Emilyinyourphone @Sami and @betches are a few of those people.

This book breaks it all down. You know when you have a question about the government and you know you should know the answer, so you don’t want to ask someone to explain it because you don’t want to seem stupid? I think we have all been there…and the thing is, they aren’t stupid questions. School House Rock taught us the basics, but it’s a lot more complicated for a bill to become a law. Our government often feels set up to confuse us, and as Emily and Sami talk about in this book, as well as Matt in the quote above says, keeping people feeling lost and hopeless only helps the people in power that want us to give up.

I know the idea of reading about politics after finally forcing ourselves to stop doomscrolling instagram can feel daunting, but this is a quick, information filled read that has a side of hysterical one-liners to keep your spirits up. I legit laughed out loud while reading at the pool, and may or may not have made sure to hold the book as high as I could every time that stinking lady walked by in her dumb Trump hat.

I could seriously quote more than half the book, as well as go on forever, but I know that instagram is going to cut me off so I will end with this: Buy this book. Read this book. Figure out what’s most important to you, and try out some of the ideas this book gives. What’s the worst that could happen?

Thank you to @gallerybooks @emilyinyourphone and @jopiazzaauthor for my gifted copy of this book!