Rating: 
Summary: Many misleading "reviewers" for such a good book.
Review: (I give this book 4-1/2 stars)
It's important to be factual here. My copy of this extraordinarily well researched book is the 5th edition, published in 1988. I see a lot of nonsense being put out against this book and would like to touch on 4 of them:1. Texan Kevin K Gorman (Nov 12, 2002) says in his review that "McCarthyism is a commi word." Nonsense, unless Kevin is from another planet or has stepped from being a humble patriot to being a nationalist, McCarthy is a recognized shameful smudge on this great country. Nothing to do with Commie anything and the word is known the world over to be synonymus with arrogance and repression of individuals. And then "Plutocracy" is not a "commie word" either, it is an acceptable term in Political Science, used for when money controls a society. Comes from Greek ploutos which means wealth, so to explain: Rather than one vote, one man, a Plutocracy would be one dollar, one vote, one thousand dollars one thousand votes. Nothing commi[e] here either but has to do with explaining corruption in a Democracy. Also I checked in my copy on page 82 and see nothing about "electromagnetic mind control from satalites [sic] (p. 82)!". So some people shouldn't write reviews if they are unable to comprehend the meaning in the books they are reading or unable to understand basic facts. Sticking to facts is important. 2. Then Michael Gordon claims that Parenti doesn't want Americans to have cars. Come on! That is ridiculous. That is not a book review. Sticking to facts is important. 3. Matt Nuenke says it is just filled with venom and hate. Very superficial critique of Matt and inability to accept that all countries have some shortcomings to work out, starting by talking about the issues. This is a Political Science book and must be read as such. It certainly is a relief from the unstopping $$$ brainwashing going on in most of our TV's. Sticking to facts is important. 4. Tim Kidd claims that most of the quotes are from People's weekly, The Nation etc. In fact as I am looking at the list of the incredible number of Parenti's quotes, I see most of them are from these newspapers: The New York Times, Washington Post and The Guardian [all VERY reputable] along with a host of books written by various scholars on the numerous societal issues that are important to all of us in the USA. Also, Tim says "most of his citations are from 1985 or earlier." Well, my copy of the book is 5th edition, published in 1988, so it is perfectly normal for Parenti to use sources 1986 and older. Check your facts, Tim, before writing a silly review, Oh yes, and the book is NOT written with a single quote from the Z Magazine. Check this on www.zmag.org that Z Magazine was founded in 1988! that is AFTER Parenti's book is written. Sticking to facts is important, Tim! And yes, I did find ONE quote from the Nation Magazine, in the hundreds of quotes throughout the book maybe there is another one somewhere, but I did find dozens after dozens just from New York Times alone. Almost one on every page. I do agree that quoting ones own book is not a great way to write based on research, but that I see in a couple of places. So here we have right-wing reviewers who disagree with an authors politics. These "reviewers" keep refering to "leftist" or "commie" or "hate america" type of name calling. The same reviewers have to resort to lies or hateful wording to "review" the book. One wants the author to die in a horrible accident. This says a lot about these individuals who wrote that stuff and I think Amazon should remove their reviews.
Not very objective I must say. One can disagree with people's politics, but the basic is to at least try and write accurate reviews. At least factual. Stick to facts. Buy the book and find out for yourself. I personally found it a great read and very insightful into the issues of our great country. BTW, I think every REAL american should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A sobering look at modern American politic and economics
Review: A firend who is a political science grad student advised I read this. I was impressed by the thorough analysis of The American version of Realpolitik presented in Mr. Parenti's book. His writing style is clear and direct as this book was intended to be a polital science textbook. He presents facts about the realities of class and the efforts of the existing ruling "elite" to maitain their grip on power here and abroad. Unlike other reviewers here, I didn't feel Mr.Parenti was "America bashing" or that he "hates buisness". On the contrary, I think his intent here (and in other writings I've since read)is to inform people and encourage them to use this knowledge to get more involved with democracy. He is shows that democracy and capitalism need not automatically go hand in hand.
Also, other reviews here question the sources in this book. Apparently they discount ALL the sources here because of the use of some left-wing texts. Obviously we're expected to believe only right-wing journalism... Hope you enjoy this book!
Rating:
Summary: must read
Review: Another of Parenti's amazing books, shocking in the exposure of the American government. Parenti creates a highly accessible read and a fascinating one.
Rating: 
Summary: Agitprop
Review: I am extremely ticked off that I had to buy this book; it was for a core required government course. This had to be the biggest waiste of ink and paper ever! Talk about a fruitloop with a warped perception of reality. He would always use dumb pinko commi words like "plutocracy", "mccarthyism, "red squads", or some other tree hugging trash talk. He even went so far as to state that our own military uses electromagnetic mind control from satalites (p. 82)! People like this should not be allowed to breed. I hope he steps out in front of a huge speeding bus!
Rating:
Summary: A note on scholarly writing
Review: I am surprised at the lack of refutation of Mr. Sanchez's Oct. 30, 1998, comment to the effect that citation of one's own prior works is a sign of poor academic work. (One reviewer, OT "delirium_tremens", refuted many specious criticisms but confessed he was not comfortable with the practice of citing one's own past work.) I would like to clear up this one point.
The citation of one's own past works is quite often used in very respected scholarly works, especially where the author is a pioneer in a certain field or highly-specialized area and has been oft-published. In law textbook writing, for example, it is extremely commonplace; in fact, law textbook authors often quote selections from their previous works at length.
Thus, citing one's own prior work is neither negative nor positive in itself. Like all citations, it must be judged as to its authoritativeness and veracity in reference to its own particular facts. (For example, it *would* be negative where an author cites his own past writings on a certain allegation to prove that very allegation.)
CE
Rating:
Summary: If I could give this book zero stars, I would.
Review: I have been assigned to read this book for AP Government, but 25 pages through I have come to the conclusion that I will never finish it due to the incredible shortcomings of the text. My brief explanation of this book can be summed up in five words: Liberalist propaganda complete with cartoons. I think it best that I give all of you who are deciding whether or not to buy this book a little piece of the text. "Tens of millions of [Americans] are addicted to alcohol, nicotine, or some other drug. Millions more are addicted to drugs such as amphetamines and barbiturates. The pushers are the doctors; the suppliers are the drug industry; the profits are stupendous." There you have it, in all his glory, Michael Parenti. Buy this book and you can find much more just like this. I will read the remaining three hundred pages because I get at least one laugh out of every page.
Rating:
Summary: If I could give this book zero stars, I would.
Review: I have been assigned to read this book for AP Government, but 25 pages through I have come to the conclusion that I will never finish it due to the incredible shortcomings of the text. My brief explanation of this book can be summed up in five words: Liberalist propaganda complete with cartoons. I think it best that I give all of you who are deciding whether or not to buy this book a little piece of the text. "Tens of millions of [Americans] are addicted to alcohol, nicotine, or some other drug. Millions more are addicted to drugs such as amphetamines and barbiturates. The pushers are the doctors; the suppliers are the drug industry; the profits are stupendous." There you have it, in all his glory, Michael Parenti. Buy this book and you can find much more just like this. I will read the remaining three hundred pages because I get at least one laugh out of every page.
Rating:
Summary: Venom and hate
Review: I really did try to read this book, but the theme was apparent after about 30 pages. It is filled with venom and hate. There is no rational discussion of issues, just a long list of complaints because the world is not perfect.
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable! Read it!
Review: In my opinion this book is the single greatest primer for the progressive political perspective. Parenti clearly exposes the blatant, factual indignities and injustices of the U.S. political-economic system and poignantly sets the affected reader on a path of further inquiry and activism.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the Chronically Indoctrinated
Review: In response to the two reviewers below... The fact that Spiro Agnew resigned in exchange for the dropping of charges of bribery, extortion and income tax evasion is not discredited by evasive angles. The fact that such facts are not discussed in most school textbooks is very much a political issue. In regard to "credible sources," the first chapter alone of 'Democracy for the Few' refers to mainstream publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post 36 times and judiciously utilizes 14 references from alternative publications such as Multinational Monitor and The Nation whose bias is merely the undoing of the blatant anti-labor, pro-plutocracy bias of the mainstream corporate owned media. This same ratio applies relatively throughout the remaining chapters. One of the central facts discussed in the book comes right out of the IRS Statistics of Income Bulletin, 1999-2000: "Who Owns America?
The top 10 percent of American households own 98 percent of the tax-exempt state and local bonds, 94 percent of business assets, and 95 percent of the value of all trusts. The richest 1 percent own 60 percent of all corporate stock and all business assets. True, some 40 percent of families own some stocks or bonds, but almost all of these have total holdings of less than $2,000. Taking into account their debts and mortgages, 90 percent of American families have little or no net assets." (page 9) Parenti then goes into how our political system is very much run by and for this tiny owning class and how the rest of us are affected by it. The book is refreshingly clear, well written, entirely scholarly yet very engaging. None of the partial complaints "Timothy Kidd" cites below apply whatsoever. A mindless, knee-jerk negative reaction to a rare political science book such as this by some is expected given the extent to which so many unconsciously buy into the business class's pervasive status-quo-protecting viewpoints.
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