Wealth and Democracy

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that Kevin Phillips' book, "Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich", examines the impact wealthy Americans have had on politics since America's colonial days in the eighteenth-century. The writer points out that the author's purpose in writing this book was to analyze the interaction between American governance and the accumulation of wealth. The writer also discusses that Phillips warns that such interaction have undermined the functioning of democracy to such an extent that our system of government resembles a plutocracy much more than it does a democracy. The writer concludes that the greatest strength of this book is its comprehensiveness and that readers should agree with Phillips' theme and conclusions despite the complex format of his book.

From the Paper:

"The logic behind the topics of the chapters is based upon Phillips' intention to systematically reveal and analyze the interplay between politics, finance, and economics. For the most part, the chapters go together well to form the book, but coherence is lost at times because there is so much material to cover and the dynamics are so complex. The fit between the thesis of this book and the logic of the book's organization is not perfect by any means, but the historical, economic, political, and social scope of Wealth and Democracy is so broad that its organizational format had to be flexible in order for Phillips to support his thesis from all of these perspectives.
"Phillips places his work into the historiography of American politics and government by making a convincing case that democracy in this country has never really existed as the Founding Fathers intended it to exist."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Phillips, Kevin. Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich. New York: Broadway, 2003.

More papers on Wealth and Democracy:

• Book Review # 133856 : "Kevin Phillips' "Wealth and Democracy"
• Analytical Essay # 48754 : "Kevin Phillips's "Wealth and Democracy"
• Analytical Essay # 89041 : "Amy Chua's Views on Free Market Democracy"

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