Today's American: How Free? - Hardcover

Freedom House has produced excellent annual assessments of the state of political rights and civil liberties worldwide, so it is appropriate at this juncture in our nation's history that this respected organization turns its attention to the matter of freedom in the United States. Only by ensuring the liberty of our own institutions and practices can we serve as an honest exemplar to-and critic of-other nations.--Congressman Tom Lantos (D, Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and founding cochairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus

Today's American: How Free? is a timely and incisive assessment of the contemporary deficiencies of American democratic practice as well as the enduring strengths of its political system. Freedom House has applied the same keen, independent, analytical eye to the United States as it has done to the entire world over the years. The result is a vital resource for the reform and improvement of democracy in America, and an effective reply to those who allege that American advocates of democracy abroad don't take a critical look at their own system.--Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

This is an honest, balanced analysis of American democracy. Its comprehensive nature, global comparisons, and historical context make Today's American: How Free? an essential document in the dialogue over the American future.--Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man

For America to advance democracy abroad, we need to acknowledge our shortcomings as well as tout our achievements. In Today's American: How Free? Freedom House provides a forthright and illuminating look at our present condition. This is an authoritative discussion of the state of freedom in the United States.--Mike McCurry, White House Press Secretary, 1995-98

Honesty is the most important part of freedom. Material, moral, and intellectual honesty define a free society. This is an honest assessment. It bears no grudges, holds no axes to be ground, and carries no water for any ideology or ideologue. You don't have to agree with every bit of Today's American: How Free? (and I don't) to agree that it is honestly conceived and executed. It's the best we fallible humans can do -- and the best we can do is one more way to define a free society.--P.J. O'Rourke

Arch Puddington is director of research at Freedom House. He previously worked as research director for the A. Philip Randolph Institute, as executive director for the League for Industrial Democracy, and as a bureau manager for Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty. Thomas O. Melia is the deputy executive director of Freedom House and teaches at Georgetown University. Jason Kelly is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University.