by Thomas Frank
First published 2008
Thomas Frank investigates decades of conservative governance that transformed Washington into a marketplace for private interests. Following his analysis in What's the Matter with Kansas?, Frank traces how Republican politicians dismantled effective government while enriching themselves and their allies. He examines the Bush administration and the broader Republican revolution, showing how conservatives deregulated industries, defunded agencies, and converted public policy into bidding wars for corporate clients. Frank reveals how Washington became a landscape of wealthy suburbs and lobbyist offices, epitomized by figures like Jack Abramoff who turned governance into entrepreneurship. The book argues that politicians who mock government competence deliberately installed incompetent systems. Frank contends that conservatives embedded free market ideology so deeply into state operations that normal elections cannot easily reverse the damage. The book exposes the systematic nature of this transformation and its lasting consequences for American democracy.
Genres: business, political-science, politics, economics, non-fiction, 21st-century, government, american-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: corruption, deregulation, systematic-transformation
Setting: Washington DC
Period: Bush Administration, Republican Revolution
384 pages · Hardcover · Metropolitan Books