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Bill Bryson meets Thomas Frank in the true story of how power-hungry politicians broke American democracy -- and why fixing it is easier than you think -- from the New York Times bestselling author of Thanks, ObamaHere's something true for almost every American. The democracy you live in today is different - completely different - than the democracy you were born into.Since 1980, the number of Americans legally barred from voting has more than doubled. Since the 1990s, your odds of living in a competitive Congressional district have fallen by more than half. In the twenty-first century alone, the amount of money spent on Washington lobbying has increased by more than 100 percent. Meanwhile, new rules in Congress make passing new bills nearly impossible, no matter how popular or bipartisan they are.