“Andrew McFarlamd’s book is one part political theory and another part American government, with a dash of international relations and social movements scholarship…a window into an intriguing set of topics…Fore readers, particularly undergraduates, less familiar with some of these historical episodes or the wider literature on collective action and civic mobilization, this book does serve a useful introduction and summarizes findings in the field.” —Perspectives on Politics “In the wake of recent scholarship from such luminaries as Putnam and Skocpol, the received wisdom seems to be that civic participation is seriously on the wane in the contemporary U.S. In his fresh and engaging new book, Andrew McFarland suggests the jury is still very much out on the question. By profiling four little-studied forms of ‘creative participation,’ the author invites us to reconsider the received wisdom, even as he highlights the seemingly endless capacity for grassroots democratic innovation.” —Doug McAdam, Stanford University