"This is a very thoughtful and intelligent book which is important for all Americans and those who would make American policy. After all, what is more important than the real meaning of freedom and democracy? The book could not appear at a more appropriate time."–Peter Jennings

Lawyers, accountants, bankers, small-town newspapers and national broadcasters all once combined a degree of public spirit with "we know best" professionalism. That has gone as they seek to chase ambulances and keep pace with mass-markets. Mr Zakaria adds, in an intriguing section, that the democratic impulse is even hollowing out America's churches because of their need to reflect, as well as shape, the beliefs and desires of their congregations. This is a cogent corrective to the usual European notion that fundamentalism is running amok in America....Mr Zakaria's book is not an attack on democracy, but on its over-extension. He calls the problem "too much of a good thing." The same might be said of this book-The Economist