Dabiel Lazare Author of the Book: The Frozen Republic: How The Constitution Is Paralyzing Democracy James Madison's celebrated checks and balances have left the American government without direction or even final authority. In an effort to find the source of our nation's problems, political scientist Lazare offers a passionate but not partial, thoughtful but not impractical book, which aims simply to make government function better than it does now. In this thought-provoking polemic, "an accomplished iconoclast" whose "knowledge of american history is as persuasive as his wit" (New York Times Book Review) blames americanca's outmoded constitutional system of checks and balances for the political malaise and governmental gridlock of recent years. Index.