Renewing the American Experiment through Institutions, Not NoiseDavid Lon Page, Ph.D.
Listen with Michael Caine™ and 800 other voices
Length9h 50m
About this audiobook
American politics is not broken because citizens care too much. It is broken because the institutions that once transformed disagreement into governance no longer function.
In More Republic, Less Cowbell, David L. Page argues that modern polarization is a structural problem rooted in post-1968 reforms that weakened political parties, hollowed out Congress, and replaced journalism with algorithmic outrage. The result is a permanent campaign that rewards motivation over governance and noise over resolution.
Drawing on constitutional history, cognitive science, electoral reform, and original data analysis, Page reframes democratic dysfunction as an incentive failure rather than a moral collapse. The book offers concrete, citizen-focused reforms to rebuild mediation across the political system—without demanding altruism or silencing conviction.
This is not a call for less democracy.
It is a call for more republic.
David Lon Page, Ph.D., is a research scientist specializing in computer vision and 3D imaging. He holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee and has published widely in the field. Beyond research, he has spent a lifetime observing American politics, first volunteering on campaigns as a child and later writing about civic life. Page lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife Lisa and their daughter Grace. He is the author of The Art of the Compromise, More Republic, Less Cowbell, Scruffy Little Essays, and The Knox County 2012 Charter Review Committee.
View all by David Lon Page, Ph.D.
