When nations stop listening, democracies begin to decay. When citizens grow tired, power fills the silence. In this gripping work of political realism and moral reflection, Michelle Hoffmann imagines a near-future society emerging from the ruins of its own apathy. The Oath: Democracy Rising is not just a story — it’s a manual for rebuilding trust in an age of corruption, noise, and fear. Told through recovered civic archives, journal entries, and testimonies from citizens who refused to surrender, the book captures what happens when ordinary people decide that survival is no longer enough — and freedom must be rebuilt from the ground up. As systems collapse, communities organize. As truth fractures, people listen again. And when the leaders fail, the citizens take the oath. A haunting and hopeful vision for our times, The Oath: Democracy Rising asks the question every generation must eventually face: What will it take to keep democracy alive