When Eight Ways to Run the Country was published in November 2006, I missed the chance to do much publicity. Shortly after the book appeared, I took a new and very demanding job that didn’t leave time for media interviews or public appearances. I also wasn’t up on social media, so I’m only now hearing what others have been saying about Eight Ways over the years. Here’s one comment from a reviewer on Good Reads, from 2008:

One of my fed. colleagues gave me his book earlier this year, and I was fairly shocked after reading it that I had never heard of him beforehand, or that his book wasn’t in every PolySci 100 class in America. This is one of the most thoughtful, accessible, interesting depictions of our prominent political categories you could ever hope to find. From neoconservatism to communitarianism to theoconservatism, anyone with an interest in politics will find this a great read.

Hear, hear. That’s almost as good as the news that it’s been used to teach politics at Yale, which I heard from a recent grad at church. Here’s another review, also from 2008:

Wow. This book was cool! I’ve been very dissatisfied with the current “Left/Right–Republican/Democrat” split. I think it really no longer serves us well, if it ever did. This book has a fascinating theoretical model of political belief and tradition, along two axes–one “archy/anarchy” and the other “kratos/akrateia” with a resulting placement of eight different political traditions around the “compass” Most interesting, although I still really don’t know exactly where to place myself (Most likely, if anyone is interested–PaleoLibertarian)

And another, from 2007:

The old classifications of Left and Right, Conservative and Liberal no longer apply. In this book, Mitchell breaks down America’s ideological landscape into 8 “parties,” and talks about the distinction between power (kratos) and authority (arche). This helps to shed light on the controversies that revolve around “separation of church and state” arguments, which seem to be happening more and more. It’s a short book that will really change the way you think about politics.

And so it will. There’s a lot in that little book, and a lot still to be published or written based on the same theory. See for yourself. Just be sure to check the footnotes for more historical background information.