The Illusory Bargain: Liberty in the Aftermath of the 17th Amendment, by Ralph Lehman (Brown Books Publishing, 2025, $24.95, 197pp)
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot. . . . " (Thomas Paine)
The 17th amendment (1913) changed the election of senators from state legislatures to the citizenry. The Illusory Bargain goes into depth reminding us of the history of our government so as to explain various events and types of governing.
Written for both subject matter experts and the average person, The Illusory Bargain brings in what the reader knows OF but may not recall: terms, dates of events, names. This will send many readers to Wikipedia if they have time (e.g., democracy v. republic). An excellent choice, therefore, for book clubs.
Such a long introduction may not have been necessary but it was fun seeing names from Roman times.
Perhaps using the word, triangle, would bring in more readers - triangles are such an important theme of author Ralph Lehman. He begins with functional, fractional and foundational framework, uses the Triangle of Tyranny, and compares a monarch with an oligarchy and a democracy, in stating when power is in the hands of one, it results in tyranny eventually; in the hands of two, that one of those eventually comes out on top; and in the hands of three, the country gets checks and balances (which the author later debunks). Lehman finishes by saying that one can win votes if one promises new programs for the populace as demonstrated in the fields of education, medicine and housing (currently highly regulated by the federal government.
The author is quite successful in writing for the common person to understand - the use of triangles throughout is memorable and easy to picture and understand. The graph on page 113, however, is too small to read, However, transitions from chapter to chapter are helpful as is the explanation of the book's organization, in the front matter.
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