The American economy has provided a level of well-being that has consistently ranked at or near the top of the international ladder. A key source of this succes

Government is broke. The 2004 federal deficit is the highest in U.S. history. The states have suffered three years of record shortfalls. Cities, counties, and s

"A landmark in the debate on the future of public policy."—The Washington Post.

Why and how systems of political financing and representation in Europe and North America give outsized influence to the wealthy and undermine democracy, and wh