The publisher of Harper's Magazine presents ';an able, witty, and suitably pissed-off guide' (Bookforum) to American politics Barack Obama swept into the White House in January 2009 still floatingor so it appeared to millions of his admirershigh above the crude realities of contemporary American political life. Old-fashioned landmarksparty loyalty, ideology, campaign fundraising, patronage, corruption, even raceseemed hopelessly outdated as points of reference for understanding what was trumpeted as a new phenomenon in the nation's civic history.But nearly four years after Barack Obama's election, elite interests in America remain triumphant. Nearly all measures of inequality continue to rise. And barriers to entry to our political process have reached nearly insurmountable heights.Looking closely at Congress, elections, and money in politics, and sparing neither side of the political spectrum, John R. MacArthur delivers a devastating expose of the entrenched interests and elites that make change in Americaeven by a supposedly progressive presidentso arduous. What, MacArthur asks, could change this system?From the Trade Paperback edition.