School performance, public health, crime rates, clinical depression, tax compliance, philanthropy, race relations, community development, census returns, teen suicide, economic productivity, campaign finance, even simple human happiness - all are demonstrably affected by how (and whether) we connect with our family and friends and neighbours and co-workers.

Our national myths often exaggerate the role of the individual heroes and understate the importance of collective effort.

Social capital may turn out to be a prerequisite for, rather than a consequence of, effective computer-mediated communication.

None of the people watching 'Big Brother' will bring you chicken soup if you get sick.

How well you do in life shouldn't depend on how well your parents did.

People may go to the library looking mainly for information, but they find each other there.

Unequal Democracy is the sort of book to which every political scientist should aspire--it is methodologically rigorous, conceptually serious, and above all, it addresses urgent concerns of our fellow citizens. As Bartels shows, much of what we think we know about the politics of economic inequality is dead wrong. Bartels's perplexing and often unexpected discoveries should help refocus the gathering public debate about inequality and what to do about it.