David Litt

Litt, a former senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama, is the author of Democracy in One Book or Less: How It Works, Why It Doesn't, and Why Fixing It Is Easier Than You Think and Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years.

Recent Articles

History and the Rejection of Trump's Immigrant Census Order

In rejecting President Trump’s Census count order, a court reasserted one of America’s most enduring and least-well known democratic values

By David Litt September 11, 2020

It's Up to Us to End the Electoral College

Here’s one nice thing we can now say about the Electoral College: it’s slightly less harmful to our democracy than it was just days ago. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states...

By David Litt July 7, 2020

The Racist History of Voter Registration

Throughout American history, voter registration has never just been about keeping track of voters. It has also been about keeping some of those voters from voting

By David Litt June 18, 2020

The COVID-19 Crisis Is a Failure of Democracy

It’s become commonplace to refer to COVID-19 as “the worst public health crisis of our lifetimes.” But what has cost the United States so many lives and jobs during the pandemic is not, at root,...

By David Litt May 20, 2020

What the White House Bathrooms Taught Me About Power

By a former Obama Administration speechwriter

By David Litt September 19, 2017

Sean Spicer’s Emmys Appearance Rewarded His Lies With Fame

'For elites anyway, the most powerful form of resistance is social shame'

By David Litt September 18, 2017
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