It is generally accepted that the United States presents itself as a global stronghold of civil liberties, thereby arrogating the right to “export” its own type of democracy to other countries. What is American democracy really like and can this regime even be called democracy? Michael Parenti is a professor of political science and a US citizen. In his book, he gives an impartial assessment of the dominant political system in America, which he aptly characterizes as “democracy for the elite.” The author exposes the hypocrisy of the official US ideology, which passes off the power of a privileged minority as service to the people, and puts forward an impressive list of accusations of human rights violations to the American government. His book opens up a completely different America for the reader.