From Publishers Weekly Decrying the influence of political and financial elites， veteran pundit Phillips ( The Emerging Republican Majority ) here attempts to channel the dissatisfactions of the general populace， as evinced on radio talk shows， into national reform. "Capitals rot first，" he declares， drawing briefly on such historical analogues as Hapsburg Spain and 18th-century Holland to buttress his argument that the current centers of American power， Washington and Wall Street， have sunk into decadence. Echoing recent critiques like Jonathan Rauch's Demo sclerosis ， he highlights a bipartisan support for the government status quo. While Phillips wisely focuses on governmental， not social reform， his generalization that conservatives blame cultural weakness while liberals underscore economic decline ignores the influence of more nuanced thinkers like Cornel West. Among Phillips's better suggestions: move away from the two-party system by allowing referenda and considering proportional representation; raise taxes on the "really rich." Some problems， like the mercenary culture of lobbyists， may be less amenable to remedy by policy than by moral suasion， but Phillips sets an agenda for debate. Author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Library Journal Phillips's first book， The Emerging Republican Majority (LJ 1015/69)， was praised as the political bible of the Nixon era. He became a Republican pariah after The Politics of Rich and Poor (LJ 5/15/90) was hailed by the Democrats in the 1992 presidential campaign. That work was the first in a trilogy on the plight of modern America. The second work， Boiling Point (LJ 3/15/93)， documented the frustration of the middle class. Arrogant Capital offers solutions to "the beltway mentality" in Washington， D.C.， and the greed of Wall Street. Abandoning hope of political reform through our two-party system， Phillips now favors direct democracy to prevent America's decline. Though some of his populist proposals are extreme， they deserve debate. His historical grasp of patterns among former world powers (e.g.， Spain， Holland， Britain) add substance to his fears. Our modern Thomas Paine has written another readable volume that deserves widespread attention.--William D. Pederson， Louisiana State Univ.， ShreveportCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews