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Publisher's Summary

John Dean has become one of the most trenchant and respected commentators on the current state of American politics and one of the most outspoken and perceptive critics of the administration of George W. Bush in his New York Times bestsellers Conservatives Without Conscience and Worse Than Watergate.

In his eighth book, Dean takes the broadest and deepest view yet of the dysfunctional chaos and institutional damage that the Republican Party and its core conservatives have inflicted on the federal government. He assesses the state of all three branches of government, tracing their decline through the presidencies of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II. Unlike most political commentary, which is concerned with policy, Dean looks instead at process: making the case that the 2008 presidential race must confront these fundamental problems as well.

Finally, he addresses the question that he is so often asked at his speaking engagements: what, if anything, can and should politically moderate citizens do to combat the extremism, authoritarianism, incompetence, and increasing focus on divisive wedge issues of so many of today's conservative politicians?

With the Democrats now in control of both the House and Senate, the stakes for the 2008 presidential election have never been higher. This is a book for anyone who wants to return government to the spirit of the Constitution.
©2007 John W. Dean (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. and Books on Tape

What the critics say

"Broken Government examines, with great precision and even greater urgency . . . 'how Republican rule destroyed the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.'"(The Boston Globe)

What listeners say about Broken Government

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Neal
  • 2009-09-19

Attention Policy Wonks - This is the book for you

I really enjoyed John Dean's Book "Conservatives without Conscience", So I thought I'd give this book a try. This book dragged more because it gets into the nitty-gritty details of government. You will learn things, especially about the Supreme Court. But this book is only for the people who really like the "Sausage Making" of Government.

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Yvonne
  • 2010-07-28

Fairly Dry

While I thought his book "Conservatives Without Conscience" was very good, I found this book, by comparison, was very dry. I could not imagine trying to read this book, so the fact that it was audible made it better. He provided good historical information, but it went into way more depth than was necessary.

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Ellen
  • 2009-03-02

Boring

I admire Dean, but I found this book very boring. It is one of the very few Audible books I didn't even finish. It seems like it didn't cover much new ground that hasn't been covered by all the other books on how bad the Bush administration was...and I eat those books up. Just not this one.

2 people found this helpful