Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy

A political manifesto for our present moment--part history lesson, part call to save the Republic

"Brilliant, galvanizing, and inspirational. A road map to help us find our way out of the darkness." --Mary L. Trump

We're in this together.

For the past several years, Joyce Vance has signed off posts on her chart-topping Substack, "Civil Discourse", with these four words. In that time, she has guided readers through a continued erosion of democratic norms, the unprecedented felony conviction of an ex-president, and the constitutionally calamitous beginning to the second Trump administration. Here, Vance offers a blueprint for avoiding burnout and despair, and for strengthening our democratic muscle.

Giving Up Is Unforgivable is a clarion call to action, putting our current crisis in historical context and sketching out a vision for where we go next. Vance's message is hopeful at its heart, even as it acknowledges the daunting challenges that lie ahead. She is the constitutional law professor you never knew you needed, explaining the legal context and the political history-- and why the rule of the law still matters. At the same time, she empowers the reader to do something, both as individuals and collectively.

Consider this the birth of a countermovement to Project 2025, a rallying cry for citizen engagement to combat the second Trump administration and save American democracy.

Author: Joyce Vance
Publisher: Dutton
Published: 10/21/2025
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.57lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.70w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9798217178117


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2025

About the Author
Joyce Vance is the former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, an office she held during the Obama administration. She resigned on the eve of Donald Trump's first inauguration at the end of twenty-five years of service as a career federal prosecutor. Vance is a Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law. She is a legal analyst for MSNBC, the author of the popular "Civil Discourse" Substack, and the cohost of two podcasts: #SistersInLaw and Cafe's Insider. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, Bob, a retired judge, and a menagerie of children, chickens, cats, and dogs.