The Paradox of American Democracy   (book)

The Paradox of American Democracy: Elites, Special Interests, and the Betrayal of Public Trust

This book is boring and obviously partisan. I didn't expect that, to be honest. I thought it would take a step back from the politics to present the paradox that's so important it's part of the title. [Insert rant here, see below] Since it's boring, here comes the spoiler from what I've read so far...

SPOILER WARNING:

The paradox the author is presenting is that political power shifts and is thus more balanced than most people think between Corporations, Special Interests, and Populist Interests.

[rant]
Also, this book supports not changing Social Security, which pisses me off because it's an attack on work that's attempting to save every single taxpayer money in the long run. If you can't praise the current system, which I don't see how any economically-aware person can, how can you attack changes that attempt to make it more fiscally responsible? Why can't people who don't support the specific type of changes that are being proposed admit what's wrong with the current system? Let's just keep it crappy for another 50 years and everything will be OK!
[/rant]