AMERICAN POLITICS

A matter-of-fact look at how our government was established and now functions, and how it can be abused. "We dream of a society free of poverty, racism, sexism, and exploitation in any form. Those who hold to that dream want to use the art of politics to see justice unfold." So speaks a cleareyed idealist who—in chapters devoted to the Founding Fathers (moneyed men and landed gentry, few of them interested in the common people), modern campaigns, elections, presidents and congressmen, lobbyists and bureaucrats—never lets the reader forget who loses when campaigns are run by admen and computers or when politicians become corrupt. Meltzer ends as he began—with a plea for action, giving examples of people who are making a difference. This is a short book about a large topic, successfully introducing and summarizing structure and issues that are rarely presented both so thoughtfully and so passionately at one time. Meltzer has a specific viewpoint—more liberal than conservative, more for the worker than for the owner. A bibliography is included; because of the book's general nature, there is no index. To be illustrated by David Small.