Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches

by John W. Dean

Overview

The concluding volume of The New York Times bestselling trilogy

One of today's most outspoken and respected political commentators asks: How can our democracy function when the key institutions of government no longer operate as intended by the Constitution? Stepping back to assess three decades of nearly continuous Republican rule, John W. Dean surveys the damage done to the three branches of government and traces their decline through the presidencies of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II. Speaking to what the average moderate citizen can do to combat extremism, authoritarianism, incompetence, and the Republicans' deliberate focus on polarizing social issues, Broken Government is a must-have book for voters this election year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101202593
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/11/2007
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	986,868
File size:	698 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Dean was White House legal counsel to President Nixon for a thousand days. Dean also served as chief minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee and as an associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Table of Contents

Preface xi Introduction: Process Matters 1 Chapter 1 First Branch: Broken but Under Repair 25 Chapter 2 Second Branch: Broken and in Need of Repair 71 Chapter 3 Third Branch: Toward the Breaking Point 119 Chapter 4 Repairing Government: Restoring the Proper Processes 175 Acknowledgments 203 Appendices 205 Notes 253 Index 317

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Broken Government examines, with great precision and even greater urgency . . . ‘how Republican rule destroyed the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.’”—The Boston Globe

Editorial Reviews

For more than 1,000 momentous days, John W. Dean served in the White House as Richard Nixon's chief counsel. In retrospect, he now sees that presidency as the seedling of a toxic trend that continues to this day. In Broken Government, Dean argues that Nixon and his Republican successors have caused major structural damage to all three branches of the federal government. He describes how the party and its core conservative followers have intentionally and unintentionally generated dysfunction and chaos in these essential institutions. He also addresses the Big Question: What can readers do to rectify this eroding situation?

Dean delivers the presumably final book in his "impromptu trilogy" on the dread direction Republicans have taken both their party and the government in the past 40 years. His scathing premise that the government is on the brink of destruction due to the active choices of Republicans and the ineptitude of Democrats rings true as he meticulously identifies the failings and tenuous limbs upon which the three branches of government now exist. Dean also keenly identifies how the media has failed to address issues of how government processes its powers. Dean's prose provides clear and concise explanations and a rhythm that Michael easily integrates into his cadence. While sounding uncannily similar to narrator Scott Brick, Michael's voice has a slightly sterner tone, which further emphasizes Dean's disgusted stance. Footnotes are placed conveniently at the end of sentences in a surprisingly unobtrusive manner. While the performance does contain the occasionally badly edited voice shift, it still ends up an impressive and eye-opening deconstruction of politics today. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, July 30). (Aug.)

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Publishers Weekly

Broken Government examines, with great precision and even greater urgency . . . ‘how Republican rule destroyed the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.'

The Boston Globe

Broken Government examines, with great precision and even greater urgency . . . ‘how Republican rule destroyed the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.’”—The Boston Globe

From the Publisher

John Dean knows something about broken government, having served as White House legal counsel during the Nixon administration. His latest book is a scathing dismemberment of the political party he once supported. Paul Michael delivers the bad news with the objective tone of a news anchor, which makes the book’s message all the scarier. Dean's attack on the Republicans is the third part of a trilogy on the subject. This part focuses on the beleaguered George W. Bush administration and its legacy. Frightening stories of payoffs, power-grabbing, and ruthless behavior have a ring of truth. Frankly, it might be better if Michael's delivery were less believable. The subject matter is dense, and Dean makes it even more difficult with frequent footnotes, which are distracting on audio. M.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

DEC 07/JAN 08 - AudioFile