* That the United States has the highest number of death-row inmates of any country on Earth: 3,300 * That the U.S. is one of only two countries to defy an International Court ruling (over Nicaragua 1986)--the other one is Iran. * That 133 nations--including virtually all U.S. allies--have signed a treaty banning landmines, while the U.S. insists on continued production. * That in 1996, the list of the top ten richest people in the world contained two Americans, who held 28% of the wealth on the list; by 1999 they numbered seven out of ten, with 84% of the wealth. * Since the early 1990s, more than sixty people in the U.S. are reported to have died in police custody after being exposed to pepper spray. * That the U.S. is selling surveillance equipment to countries with the worst human rights records--so that they can track dissidents in an international tracking system for individuals "of interest".

From mandatory minimum sentencing laws to new, more liberal search-and-seizure rules, from Three Strikes You're Out to congressional legislation for a national ID card, in Derailing Democracy, David McGowan has compiled the facts to show that the noose around democracy is tightening every day.