The Reunited States of America

Summary

With a government held hostage by poisonous partisan gridlock, there has never been a greater need for changing our political process. The transpartisan movement offers hope for finding common ground.


Our country's motto is "E Pluribus Unam-"out of many, one"-but you'd never know it now, says activist Mark Gerzon. The United States seems hopelessly divided. In the past, Americans could disagree without demonizing each other. But now healthy partisan debate has been replaced by brutal political brawling, where nothing but winning matters. Loyalty to party has replaced love of country.

The solution, says Gerson, is to become transpartisan. This doesn't mean adopting a new set of political beliefs. "Transpartisan" is an adjective, not another ism. You can be a transpartisan Democrat, a transpartisan Republican, or a transpartisan independent. It is about the how, not the what, a way of conducing politics and solving problems that is the opposite of the hyperpartisanship destroying our country. If you're open to learning instead of insisting you already have all the answers; if you're open to change instead of remaining where you've always been; if you're open to working with people you disagree with instead of vilifying them; if you're open to finding new solutions instead of clinging to the same old positions; in short, if you place country above party, you are a transpartisan!

Gerzon describes the roots and core beliefs of the movement, and uses real-world examples to show how transpartisans are already making a difference all over America. This book, at its core, is about what has made America great - and what can restore that greatness if we seize the opportunities before us.