getAbstract Summary: Get the key points from this book in less than 10 minutes.

The US Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision made many Americans aware of the influence that money has on their nation's political processes. Journalist John Nichols and professor Robert W. McChesney contend that undemocratic corporate influences have been taking over politics for years. They lay out a convincing case that the demise of campaign-finance reform, the ascendancy of "digital politics" and the sad state of American journalism combine to remove governance from the hands of the people and put it squarely in the laps of corporate bigwigs. Nichols and McChesney believe that only massive reform will save democracy. They thoroughly cover what they think money can – and, fortunately, cannot – buy. They sometimes engage in false equivalencies (e.g., that both American parties are the same) that weaken their arguments. They also don't acknowledge that the digital campaign methods they abhor could help Americans organize the reform movement they advocate. While always politically neutral, getAbstract recommends this instructive investigation to all Americans who want to understand how their government works and why their voices should matter.

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Copyright © 2013 by John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney

Published by Nation Books, a subsidiary of Perseus Books LLC