Democracy in America?: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It

America faces daunting problems-stagnant wages, high healthcare costs, neglected schools, climate change, gun violence. How did we get here? Through decades of dysfunctional government. In Democracy in America? veteran political observers Benjamin I. Page and Martin Gilens marshal an unprecedented array of evidence to show that while other countries have responded to a rapidly changing economy by helping people who've been left behind, the United States has failed to do so. Instead, we have actually exacerbated inequality, enriching corporations and the wealthy while leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves. What's the solution? More democracy. More opportunities for citizens to shape what their government does. To repair our democracy, Page and Gilens argue, we must change the way we choose candidates and conduct our elections, reform our governing institutions, and curb the power of money in politics. By doing so, we can boost citizen participation, reduce polarization and gridlock, address pressing challenges, and enact policies that truly reflect the interests of average Americans. Book jacket.