Democracy and its Elected Enemies: American Political Capture and Economic Decline

Description

Democracy and its Elected Enemies reveals that American politicians have usurped their constitutional authority, substituting their economic and political sovereignty for the people's. This has been accomplished by creating an enormous public service sector operating in the material interest of politicians themselves and of their big business and big social advocacy confederates to the detriment of workers, the middle class and the non-political rich, jeopardizing the nation's security in the process. Steven Rosefielde and Daniel Quinn Mills contend that this usurpation is the source of America's economic decline and fading international power, and provide an action plan for restoring 'true' democracy in which politicians only provide the services people vote for within the civil and property rights protections set forth in the constitution.

Steven Rosefielde is a Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His most recent books include Russia in the 21st Century: The Prodigal Superpower (Cambridge University Press, 2005), Masters of Illusion: American Leadership in the Media Age (with Daniel Quinn Mills, Cambridge University Press, 2007), Russia Since 1980 (with Stefan Hedlund, Cambridge University Press, 2009), Red Holocaust (2010), Two Asias (edited with Masaaki Kuboniwa and Satoshi Mizobata, 2012), Prevention and Crisis Management (edited with Masaaki Kuboniwa and Satoshi Mizobata, 2012), and Asian Economic Systems. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. Daniel Quinn Mills is an Emeritus Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University. His most recent books are The Leader's Guide to Past and Future: The History of the World (2013), The Financial Crisis of 2008-10 (2010), and Rising Nations (2009, with Steven Rosefielde). He also wrote Masters of Illusion: American Leadership in the Media Age (with Steven Rosefielde, Cambridge University Press, 2007). He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

'Once again Rosefielde and Mills take no prisoners. Neither the right nor the left emerge unscathed from this withering account of the decay of American democracy. While this book may not comfort the afflicted, it should certainly afflict the comfortable. And what's more, it should make readers think.' Stephen J. Blank, Strategic Studies Institute, United States Army War College 'Rosefielde and Mills offer a timely alarm on the fundamental malaise of American polity and economy that lies at the roots of the present economic crisis: the degeneration of the political system due to politicians pursuing their private interests in collusion with big business. Yet they also offer the cure in the reestablishment of true democracy. Although writing of the United States, the authors offer a stimulating fresco of the central dilemma confronting the entire Western way of life.' Bruno Dallago, University of Trento 'Steven Rosefielde and Daniel Quinn Mills have written a book for these times when public frustration with the political gridlock and apparent dysfunction of Washington has reached unprecedented levels. The analysis they offer is both sobering and somber in its portrayal of a systemic failure that not only impacts the nation's domestic institutions and economic well-being but also undermines its global standing at a moment when American leadership is needed more than ever, as rapid change sweeps across Africa and the Middle East and new centers of power emerge in Asia and the Americas. Even those who will find themselves disagreeing with the remedies prescribed in Democracy and its Elected Enemies will nevertheless need to grapple with the diagnosis meticulously laid out by the authors.' J. Peter Pham, Director, Africa Center, Atlantic Council and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the Middle East and Africa