"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