Grand Theft America / Readings
Read past the outrage.
A starting path through the scholarship, reporting, and primary datasets that make the money and power legible.
Curated, not comprehensive.Books support context; sources support receipts.External links are clearly marked.
Money reading path
Follow the money.
Corruption, family enterprise, foreign money, pardons, and the machinery that makes private gain difficult to see.
Open the Money list →
Power reading path
Follow the power.
Democratic backsliding, captured institutions, and the conditions under which resistance still succeeds.
Open the Power list →A six-piece start
The shortest useful shelf.
Start with the problem you are trying to explain. These are reading notes, not substitutes for the original works.
Corruption
Corruption in America — Zephyr Teachout
Reading note → Dirty moneyKleptopia — Tom Burgis
Reading note → ShellsAmerican Kleptocracy — Casey Michel
Reading note → Legal methodStealth Authoritarianism — Ozan Varol
Reading note → GuardrailsHow Democracies Die — Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Reading note → DataV-Dem Democracy Reports and dataset
Reading note →Use the work