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The American dream has been a central pillar in the building of American society from the Founding Fathers to the present day. In his acceptance speech as president-elect Barack Obama talked of the need to 'reclaim the American dream'. This book takes the Obama presidency as a launch pad in order to track the changes that have occurred in American society, politics and culture since the founding of the republic. The authors argue that in a country fighting two wars and with historic levels of national, budget and consumer debt Americans actually need to wake up from the American dream and to reinvent the nation as a progressive force in future global politics. This is an interdisciplinary study drawing on current research in politics, sociology and history . The book is thematically organized, covering, inter alia, the idea of of American exceptionalism from de Tocqueville to Lipset, the origins and structure of the American polity, multiculturalism and identity , social stratification, religion and culture, political economy and America's global role.