Manipulation of the rules of a game can determine the outcome. It´s true of sports and it´s true of government. In an important new contribution to the study of American government, "Dependent on D.C.", economist and historian Charlotte Twight applies this insight to document both the history of government´s growth and the techniques by which politicians and bureaucrats have manipulated the rules of the game to increase their powers and make them more difficult to roll back. In the process, politicians make Americans dependent on government, and more like passive supplicants than active citizens. Twight explains in clear language how Americans have been robbed of their independence.