The Default Library
Paths / Path 10

Power, Freedom and Democracy

Who rules, how, and by what right; and the economic systems people have fought over.

For: voters, future voters, and anyone who argues about politics at dinner.

22readings
6.5 hoursof reading
3stages
10 reads · 12 deep dives
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Stage 1

Start

4 readings · 22 min
  1. 01ReadQuiz5 min

    How Government Actually Works

    How government actually works.
  2. 02ReadQuiz5 min

    Democracy: The Many Flavors

    Democracy comes in many flavours.
  3. 03ReadQuiz6 min

    The Political Spectrum, Fairly Presented

    The political spectrum, each side as it sees itself.
  4. 04ReadQuiz6 min

    Rights, Constitutions & the Rule of Law

    Rights, constitutions and the rule of law.
Stage 2

Understand

6 readings · 36 min
  1. 05ReadInteractiveQuiz9 min

    How Voting Systems Shape Outcomes

    Voting systems change who wins, before anyone votes.
  2. 06ReadQuiz5 min

    How a Law Gets Made

    How a law actually gets made.
  3. 07ReadInteractiveQuiz6 min

    Where Public Money Goes

    Where public money goes.
  4. 08ReadQuiz5 min

    How Political Change Actually Happens

    How political change actually happens.
  5. 09ReadQuiz6 min

    The International Institutions: What They Can and Can't Do

    What international institutions can and can't do.
  6. 10ReadQuiz5 min

    The Veil of Ignorance: John Rawls and the Quest for a Fair Society

    Rawls's veil of ignorance: a test for a fair society.
Stage 3

Go deep

12 readings · 5.5 hours
  1. 11Deep diveQuiz27 min

    What Is Freedom? Negative Liberty, Positive Liberty, and Freedom as Non-Domination

    What is freedom? Liberty's rival definitions.
  2. 12Deep diveQuiz25 min

    The Social Contract: Why Obey a State at All?

    The social contract: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and their heirs.
  3. 13Deep diveQuiz27 min

    The Great Political Traditions, in Their Own Words: Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism and More

    The great political traditions, each at its strongest.
  4. 14Deep diveQuiz26 min

    Capitalism: How Markets, Prices and Private Property Organise an Economy

    Capitalism.
  5. 15Deep diveQuiz28 min

    Socialism: The Many Kinds, From Utopians to Social Democracy

    Socialism.
  6. 16Deep diveQuiz29 min

    Communism: The Idea, the States, and What Happened

    Communism.
  7. 17Deep diveQuiz27 min

    Anarchism: Order Without Rulers

    Anarchism.
  8. 18Deep diveQuiz29 min

    The Mixed Economy: Welfare States, Keynes, Neoliberalism and State Capitalism

    The mixed economy and the welfare state.
  9. 19Deep diveInteractiveQuiz29 min

    The Great Debates: Can Economies Be Planned?

    The great debates: can economies be planned?
  10. 20Deep diveQuiz27 min

    How Democracies Erode, and How They Hold

    How democracies erode, and how they defend themselves.
  11. 21Deep diveQuiz27 min

    Free Speech: The Arguments, the History, and Where Every Democracy Draws the Line

    Free speech: the arguments and the limits.
  12. 22Deep diveInteractiveQuiz29 min

    Democracy's Experiments

    Democracy's experiments: citizens' assemblies and more.
When you finish

read one founding text from a tradition you disagree with: Mill's On Liberty, Marx and Engels's Manifesto, Burke's Reflections, Hayek's Road to Serfdom.

Next path →

Society and Hierarchy

Why every society ranks people, how class and status work, and what the data says about moving up.