This book argues that American democracy is in crisis. The economic system is slowly subjecting
Americans of nearly all income levels and backgrounds to enormous amounts of stress. The United
States lacks the state capacity required to alleviate this stress and politicians increasingly
find that if they promise to solve economic problems they are likely to disappoint voters.
Instead they encourage voters to blame each other. The crisis cannot be solved the economy
cannot be set right and democracy cannot be saved. But American democracy cannot be killed
either. Americans can't imagine any compelling alternative political systems. And so American
democracy continues on in a deeply unsatisfying way. Americans invent ever-more elaborate
coping mechanisms in a desperate bid to go on. But it becomes increasingly clear that the way
is shut. The American political system was made by those who are dead and the dead keep it.
