ABSTRACT
George Washington was aware that free republics had been far less common in human history than had despotic empires. America was an experiment. It is the contention of the author that that the experiment has failed, that democracy in America is in decay, and that the immediate future belongs to the bureaucratic state. The book argues for a perspective on the nature of American society and its relation to the rest of the world, which some will reject because they will see it as having implications that run counter to deeply held concerns. While it is concerned with contemporary affairs, it begins with a giant step backward. In post-industrial America, information, knowledge, and related technology are prime human capital. In the post-industrial economy, American women in increasing numbers went to work. In 1950 roughly one in three women were in the workforce.
