The Mechanics of Changing the World

Perestroika, Tiananmen, the Arab Spring, Occupy. Great ideals—yet none built anything lasting. Changing the world needs more than inspired troubleshooting. It needs architecture.

"A formidable effort, very learned and extremely wide-ranging. It has certain family resemblances to The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow, Yuval Noah Harari's three volumes, and books by Steven Pinker and Jared Diamond."

- Barry Jones, global best-selling author of Sleepers, Wake, former Minister for Science & president of the Australian Labor Party

"I've never read anything like it. It explains so much (just about everything, really) about the present sorry state of human affairs. And it has put politics into a manageable perspective for me. I sense, at last, that there is a way out of the straightjacket we have traded our freedom for.

“i am astonished that his conclusions haven't been brought together before this. i am also astonished that the idea of re-designing democracy has never been raised."

- Ross Roache

"The book offers great and timely value and I want to see it in as many thoughtful hands as possible. This is such a critical topic and fine piece of work. Unlike the typical online manifesto, full of bold yet incoherent mandates, it clearly defines, contextually situates, supports, and suggests how to operationalize its ideas…

"I’m impressed by how he presented his thesis in a non-partisan tone. He has chosen quotes and examples that demonstrate the core issues are trans-partisan, including the capture of government by corporate and plutocratic actors."

- Major Mark Harris, PhD, knowledge analyst, US Air Force (retired)

"Fascinating and inspiring. I agree with the energising and unifying potential of the idea of a new constitution, addressing the problems he so clearly describes. My hope is that someone with the talents of a demagogue or an advertising guru will catch on and help the idea spread."

- Dr David Erdal, evolutionary psychologist & author

The Mechanics of Changing the World argues that war, inequality & environmental breakdown are insoluble within our current system of government. That they will only be curable at the level of causes: the level of democratic design.

One-off campaigns are fragile: so‘third draft democracy’ is a suite of interlocking reforms to decontaminate politics, decentralize information & democratize decision-making. It’s a natural evolution of the first (Greek) & second (Euro-American) ‘drafts’ of the democratic experiment.

"We know much more about human nature than we did in 1789. We’ve learned we’re an egalitarian species, and are good at collective decision-making. We hate rigged rules and biased information. We’re naturals at social harmony. It’s way past time this knowledge was reflected in our national constitutions. Time turns a constitution into a Pandora’s box—releasing ‘plagues’ such as bought politics and captured information. We’re forever going after the plagues: our real attention should be on the box."

- John Macgregor

John Macgregor worked in federal politics, won national awards for literature & investigative journalism, & wrote the story development for the movie 'Shine'. From Washington, Rangoon & occupied East Timor he has reported on science, politics, corruption & modern slavery, for such outlets as 'New Scientist', 'The Australian' & 'The New York Times'. Through the 1980s & 1990s he interviewed prime ministers in syndicated profiles for Australian newspapers including 'The Sydney Morning Herald'. He presently helps to design poverty reduction & permaculture projects with the Cambodian-run NGO, Disadvantaged Cambodians Organisation.

"I was about halfway through when I realised how important this book is.

"It is a manual to build a prototype of a new democratic revolution. When it happens (and I believe it will in one form or another) it will bring with it new problems, but not insurmountable ones, because written into the design is a way to address them.

"If ever you despaired about our future and who is going to shape it, wondering what you could do, this extraordinary book will give an answer to your question, and a shape to your own thoughts. It might just be a way out.

"The Mechanics of Changing the World is extremely well-written. It has the precision of an academic work but in entirely readable prose, driven by a measured passion for genuine, realisable change.

"This monumental work is a testament to his search for model of governance that would remake the political landscape."

- Tony Cartledge at Reedsy Discovery