A Theory of Justice by John Rawls

Democracy is a difficult thing to get right. After seeing the world nearly rip itself apart in the Second World War, Rawls spent the rest of his days trying to figure out how to bring about a just and stable political order.

This work focuses on his notions of justice, namely an attempt to define principles of fairness that would be tolerable to a wide segment of the population and encourage people to make society a fairer place in which we would all want to actually live. It’s tough reading at times, but really powerful stuff if you’re willing to put in the time.