Why Do Only the Rich Run for Office?
Nick Carnes' new book looks at a key under-the-radar political issue
Why are Americans governed by the rich? Millionaires make up only three percent of the public but control all three branches of the federal government. How did this happen? What stops lower-income and working-class Americans from becoming politicians? The first book to answer these urgent questions, "The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office - And What We Can Do about It," provides a compelling and comprehensive account of why so few working-class people hold office―and what reformers can do about it.
Nick Carnes' new book, The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office - And What We Can Do about It, is available everywhere September 11.
Carnes is a faculty member at the Sanford School of Public Policy.