Empty Dreams, Empty Pockets: Class and Bias in American Politics (2nd Edition)

This brief book, appropriate for an American Government course, examines the relevance of American politics to the bottom 60% of income earners in the United States. Harrigan establishes a theme in the first chapter that "the bottom 60% of income earners in the U.S. constitute a lower-status population," and the main institutions of politics today have a significant bias against the economic interests of lower-status people. The author presents the central institutions and processes of American politics on a chapter by chapter basis, demonstrating how each of them contributes to this bias.