Notes for Next Time: Surviving Tyranny, Redeeming America
Paperback
Economics20th Century United States HistoryGeneral Political Science
Publisher Price: $23.99
Publisher: J.P. Zenger Books
Published: Mar 24 2026
Pages: 304
Weight: 1.21
Height: 0.83 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Why did we lose the broadly decent economy of the era after World War II? Why did reformers win all the important arguments about how to renew a good society, only to lose the politics? Why do democracies keep saving capitalism-only to watch plutocrats undermine democracy again and again? How did the failure to restore broad prosperity lead to political backlash and Trump? What lessons might we learn so that next time we win the arguments and the politics? And how do we make sure that there is a next time?
In Notes for Next Time, Robert Kuttner-veteran journalist, co-founder of The American Prospect, and one of America's leading political economists-offers a sweeping and deeply personal account of how we got here and how we might still change course, after Trump and despite Trump. From the triumph of the New Deal through the rise of neoliberalism, and into the fraught politics of the present, Kuttner traces the recurring cycle in which the power of big money undermines the means of a decent life for ordinary people, both parties get corrupted, democracy falters, and the far right picks up the pieces.
Part memoir, part political history, and part urgent manifesto, Notes for Next Time draws on Kuttner's five decades at the center of progressive thought and action-from advising lawmakers and labor leaders to reporting from the front lines of Washington and Wall Street, to building institutions. He revisits the pivotal moments when different choices could have led to a fairer economy and a stronger democracy-and lays out a hopeful path for rebuilding both.
Kuttner's argument is clear and compelling: democracy and markets can only coexist when capitalism is constrained by public purpose. Without that balance, inequality deepens, trust collapses, and authoritarianism finds fertile ground. But he also finds reason for optimism that democracy may yet be rebuilt.
With the clarity of a journalist, the depth of a historian, and the conviction of an engaged citizen, Kuttner makes the case that the work of saving democracy and linking it to a just economy is not just for policy experts or politicians-it's for all of us.
Notes for Next Time is both a diagnosis and a rallying cry: a reminder that history doesn't repeat by accident-and that next time, we still have a chance to get it right.
Also from
Kuttner, Robert
Also in
General Political Science
Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea
Hunt-Hendrix, Leah
Taylor, Astra
Hardcover
Capitalism and the Camera: Essays on Photography and Extraction
Coleman, Kevin
James, Daniel
Paperback
The Craftivist Collective Handbook: Projects, Stories and Methods for Your Gentle Protests
Corbett, Sarah P.
Hardcover
Guerrilleros and Neighbours in Arms: Identities & Cultures of Anti-Fascist Resistance in Spain
Marco
Paperback
Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the Maga Media Are Destroying America
Pfeiffer, Dan
Hardcover
Urban Revolutions: Urbanisation and (Neo-)Colonialism in Transatlantic Context
Kipfer, Stefan
Paperback
Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race
Fording, Richard C.
Schram, Sanford F.
Soss, Joe
Paperback
Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias
Biddle, Stephen
Hardcover
By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution
Talbot, David
Talbot, Margaret
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Turning the Tide: U.S. Intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace
Chomsky, Noam
Paperback
Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism
Wolin, Sheldon S.
Paperback
The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
Giridharadas, Anand
Hardcover
Grassroots Rising: A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal
Cummins, Ronnie
Paperback
Everyday Life and Politics in Nineteenth Century Mexico: Men, Women, and War
Wasserman, Mark
Paperback
Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back
Stirewalt, Chris
Paperback
With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful
Greenwald, Glenn
Hardcover
Doing History from the Bottom Up: On E.P. Thompson, Howard Zinn, and Rebuilding the Labor Movement from Below
Lynd, Staughton
Paperback
China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power
Wudunn, Sheryl
Kristof, Nicholas D.
Paperback
The Clash of Globalizations: Neo-Liberalism, the Third Way and Anti-Globalization
Kiely, Ray
Paperback
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump
Haberman, Maggie
Swan, Jonathan
Hardcover
Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds
Fugelsang, John
Hardcover
The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader
Murray, Melissa
Hardcover
The College Scam: How America's Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America's Youth
Kirk, Charlie
Hardcover
American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology
Meacham, Jon
Hardcover
American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump
Bird, Kai
Goldmark, Susan
Hardcover
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017
Khalidi, Rashid
Paperback
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times: How to Reclaim Your Power, Fight for Freedom, and Reimagine Democracy
Perryman, Skye
Paperback
The Elijah Mandate: A Call to Courageous Faith in a Hostile World
Tsarfati, Amir
Piflaks, Tolik
Paperback
Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made
Kobes Du Mez, Kristin
Hardcover
The Crooked Places Made Straight: Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America
Warnock, Raphael G.
Hardcover
Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded Usaid
Enrich, Nicholas
Hardcover
The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon
Schweizer, Peter
Hardcover
The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution
Wegman, Jesse
Hardcover
Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court
Isgur, Sarah
Hardcover
The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World
Bevins, Vincent
Paperback
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Goldstone, Brian
Paperback
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All
Yudkowsky, Eliezer
Soares, Nate
Hardcover
Country of Lords: Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech Utopians, and the Long Fight Against Equality in America
Phillips-Fein, Kim
Hardcover
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Goldstone, Brian
Hardcover
Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage
Thompson, Heather Ann
Hardcover
The Origins of Totalitarianism: With a New Introduction by Anne Applebaum
Arendt, Hannah
Applebaum, Anne
Paperback
Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution
Hemingway, Mollie
Hardcover
