This is from a review on Amazon…
An Indispensable Exposé on How Our Democracy REALLY Works!
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2006
Professor Domhoff poses (and answers) these questions:
- Is there a wealthy class in America? If so, do they connect in any empirical way with huge corporations, financial institutions, and large agribusinesses?
- How can a highly competitive group of corporate leaders cooperate enough to work their common will in the political and policy arenas?
- How is it possible for these groups to exert so much influence in a supposedly free and democratic society?
The answers to these questions are not secret, but neither are they everyday news. With the aid of sociological and empirical studies, Domhoff describes the extensive interlocking relationships between the very wealthy class, huge corporations, trade organizations, policy planning organizations, think tanks, and the many ways they influence (and even merge with) our government. After reading this book, one might wonder if the welfare of the common people is ever taken into account in government decisions. And that is the point. Indeed, Domhoff clearly demonstrates that most policy battles in government, though cloaked in rhetoric about the general welfare, are actually fights among different moneyed and powerful interests when their usual interrelationships and consensus building organizations (above) are unable to produce a united front.
For a focus on how corporate power has gained control in diverse policy areas in Congress, see recently published (5/1/06) Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government -- and How We Take It Back by David Sirota. With unusual clarity, Sirota's book also lays bare the myths and lies that corporations and bought-off politicians use to mask the self-serving nature of policies and to promote public acquiescence. Another excellent book, Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain by George Monbiot, underscores the worldwide nature of this problem.
This book also has an informative website at [...]