Toronto, ON — January 12, 2026 — At a time of rising polarization, political fatigue, and declining trust in institutions, Democracy’s Second Act: Why Politics Needs the Public offers a timely and hopeful argument: democracy isn’t broken, it’s unfinished.
Published by Aevo UTP, an imprint of University of Toronto Press, Democracy’s Second Act is written by leading Canadian democracy practitioners Peter MacLeod and Richard Johnson, who contend that the great achievements of modern democracy, including universal suffrage, free elections, and representative government, were only the first act. The next chapter, they argue, must focus on empowering citizens as active
participants in public problem-solving, not passive spectators in political life.
Drawing on nearly two decades of hands-on democratic innovation, including citizens’ assemblies in Ireland, Canada, and France, as well as examples from more than a dozen countries, MacLeod and Johnson show how new institutions can tap into the judgement, creativity, and lived experience of everyday people. Their core thesis is both radical and practical: the public is not a risk to be managed, but an underused democratic resource waiting to be activated.
“People haven’t disengaged because they don’t care,” the authors argue. “They’ve disengaged because democracy has stopped asking anything meaningful of them.” Democracy’s Second Act reframes public frustration not as apathy, but as a rational response to systems that limit participation to an occasional vote while concentrating real decision-making elsewhere.
Blending political theory, real-world case studies, and vivid storytelling, the book explores why trust has collapsed between citizens and institutions, and how, the authors argue that participatory, deliberative models of democracy can restore legitimacy, reduce polarization, and strengthen social cohesion. Chapters range from
the “war on the public” waged by permanent political campaigns, to the failure to mobilize citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic, to practical frameworks for building “productive publics” capable of tackling complex civic challenges.
Democracy’s Second Act will appeal to policymakers, educators, journalists, civic leaders, changemakers, and readers concerned about the future of democratic life, and searching for constructive ways to move beyond cynicism toward renewal.
About the Authors
Peter MacLeod is the founder and principal of MASS LBP where he has spent nearly twenty
years at the forefront of democratic innovation, advising governments at all levels. He is widely
recognized as one of Canada’s leading voices on democracy, active citizenship and public
power.
Richard Johnson is a journalist and policy director at MASS LBP. His writing has appeared in
The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, The Walrus, Reader’s Digest, This Magazine, and The New
Quarterly. He is a former Fellow in Literary Journalism at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
and a longtime contributor to the award-winning podcast Trailblazers.
For more information, visit democracyssecondact.org.