ABSTRACT
This book examines the cultural context for political change, how American society has evolved over the past half century. It explores the profound alterations that have occurred in our political process, the way we choose and inform our leaders, and the way we hold them accountable. The book leads us to an analysis of the major institutions of government: Congress, the presidency, and the courts. It argues that the postwar decades were a period of political change as significant as any in our history. The book concludes with a discussion of the meaning of the reforms that have so altered American politics in the past half century and with some suggestions — more instructive than feasible perhaps — for correcting the three principal failures of contemporary government: The inability to concentrate power for collective purpose, The disjunction between politics and government, The fragility and transience of coalitions in government.
