Democracy: An American Novel, published anonymously in 1880 by Henry Adams, is a political novel examining the moral complexities of power in Washington, D.C. The story follows Madeleine Lee, a wealthy widow seeking meaning in the political scene, as she becomes entangled with a charismatic but morally ambiguous senator. Through her disillusionment, Adams critiques the corruption, cynicism, and ineffectiveness of democratic institutions. The novel blends romance, satire, and political observation with intellectual precision, reflecting Adams’s own skepticism toward American politics and the limitations of democratic idealism.
