Contesting Democracy: Substance and Structure in American Political History, 1775-2000
"In a series of essays covering the transformation of politics and the growth of the national state over two hundred-plus years,Contesting Democracyis a sober study of a circus,and a good thing, too. People with ringside seats smell the sawdust and can tell the performing elephants from the trained jackasses, but, for a full view of the big picture, it helps to get beyond the big tent. Byron E. Shafer and Anthrony J. Badger's collection gives a necessary perspective on what, for many years, was America's greatest participatory sport."—Journal of American History