"To act with entire honesty and self-respect, one should always live in a pure atmosphere, and the atmosphere of politics is impure"(Adams, 44). And with such words, the essence of Democracy by Henry Adams, is captured through the words of character Senator Silas Ratcliffe. For Ratcliffe, democracy represents a political playground that excludes human emotion and morals, and abides by Machiavelli's notion of the end justifying the means. Democracy is a unique system in American politics that manifests power and power's ability to corrupt. However, for Mrs. Madeline Ross Lee, democracy and political life in general is a dirty business. Her disgust with politics culminates until she realizes that until there is a better alternative to democracy, she must live in this institution while trying to maintain her virtues of morality and honesty. As Winston Churchill effectively stated, "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
             The story begins with a 30-year-old widow, Madeline Lee, who after seeing much of the world, becomes bored with her cosmopolitan lifestyle and yearns to fill that void with a trip to Washington D.C to learn about politics. Washington, being the political hot spot, Madeline knows that above everything she wants to learn, what she really "wanted was POWER" (Adams). Thus situating herself in the midst of activity, she along with her sister quickly become popular among the Capital's senators, lobbyists, foreign diplomats, and politicians. And it is through their courting rituals that Madeline becomes exposed to the nature of politics.
             Wasting no time, Madeline quickly learns that gove...