America and Its Critics

Sergio Fabbrini is Professor of Political Science at the University of Trento.

"If you want to understand American politics, its origins, development, and contemporary character, this is the book to read. Fabbrini possesses a masterful command of the complexities of the American political order, yet manages to convey them clearly and memorably. Throughout this compact book, he compares and contrasts American politics with West European politics, delivering broader insight into variations among democracies, while distinguishing his own perspectives from those of both America’s harshest critics and its most ardent apologists. An enormously engaging and satisfying read."George Breslauer, University of California, Berkeley "This is a work of the highest intellectual level. It reflects a mastery of the fields of American politics and of West European comparative politics. The author has the distinctive ability to be a past master of both subjects while retaining a vital critical distance from each. The book is exhaustively researched and clearly presented. After reading it, no American or European will look at the American political system in quite the same way again."Allen Lynch, University of Virginia

• PREFACE. CHAPTER. 1 - ANTI-AMERICANISM IN EUROPE.1.1. Introduction.1.2 Anti-Americanism in European Context.1.3. America and the European Left.1.4. America and the European Right.1.5. America and the European Catholic Center.1.6. Misunderstanding America.1.7. Conclusion.CHAPTER 2 – A PLEBISCITARY DEMOCRACY?.2.1. Introduction.2.2. The Origins of Separated Government.2.3. Congressional Government.2.4. The Crisis of Congressional Government.2.5. Presidential Government.2.6. The Difficulties of Presidential Government.2.7. Conclusion.CHAPTER 3 – A DEMOCRACY WITHOUT THE PEOPLE?.3.1. Introduction.3.2. The Characteristics of the Electoral System.3.3 The Developments of the Electoral Process.3.4. Why Americans don’t vote: the debate.3.5. Political Parties from Decline to Transformation?.3.6. Conclusion.CHAPTER 4 – A DEMOCRACY FOR THE RICH?.4.1. Introduction.4.2. The American Commercial Republic.4.3. The Neo-conservative Revolution.4.4. The Weakness of the Democrats: The Two Clinton Presidencies.4.5. The Anti-politics of the Elites: Term Limits and Recall.4.6. The Social Implications of American Liberalism.4.7 Conclusion.CHAPTER 5 – AN IMPERIAL DEMOCRACY?.5.1. Introduction.5.2. Foreign and Domestic Policy in America.5.3. Hegemonic America and the Cold War.5.4. The End of the Cold War and the First Gulf War.5.5. The 1990s and the Schizophrenic Power.5.6. George W. Bush’s America and the Second Gulf War.5.7. Conclusion.CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS – AMERICA AS A METHOD.6.1 Introduction.6.2. American Exceptionalism.6.3 The Societal and Institutional Antinomies.6.4. Political Change and American Antinomies.6.5. America: a Model or a Method?.6.6. Conclusion