Democracy For The Few

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ISBN: 9780495911265 | 0495911267
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 3/10/2010

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Parenti's provocative critique of class power within traditional political institutions will arouse classroom debate and introduce students to a unique viewpoint of American capitalism. Unlike most book on the American political system, DEMOCRACY FOR THE FEW emphasizes the political economy of public policy and who gets what.

Preface	p. ix
About the author	p. xii
Partisan Politics	p. 1
Beyond Textbooks	p. 1
The Politico-Economic System	p. 3
A Constitution for the Few	p. 5
Class Power in Early America	p. 5
Containing the Spread of Democracy	p. 7
Fragmenting Majority Power	p. 10
Plotters or Patriots?	p. 12
Democratic Concessions	p. 14
Rise of the Corporate State	p. 17
The War Against Labor	p. 17
Favors for Business	p. 19
Pliable Progressives and Red Scares	p. 21
The New Deal: Hard Times and Tough Reforms	p. 23
Wealth and Want in the United States	p. 27
Capital and Labor	p. 27
Capital Concentration: Who Owns America?	p. 29
Downsizing and Profiteering	p. 33
Inflation, the Profit-Price Spiral	p. 34
Monopoly Farming	p. 35
Market Demand and Productivity	p. 37
The Hardships of Working America	p. 39
Poverty in Paradise	p. 42
The Human Costs of Economic Injustice	p. 44
Institutions and Ideologies	p. 47
Corporate Plutocracy	p. 47
Ideological Orthodoxy	p. 49
Corporate Rule and Ruin: Some Examples	p. 51
Left, Right, and Center	p. 52
Public Opinion: Which Direction?	p. 56
Democracy: Form and Content	p. 57
Politics: Who Gets What?	p. 60
Welfare for the Rich	p. 60
Federal Handouts to Corporate America	p. 62
The Billion-Dollar Bailouts	p. 64
Taxes: Helping the Rich in their Time of Greed	p. 66
Unkind Cuts, Unfair Rates	p. 69
Deficit Spending and the National Debt	p. 70
Some Hidden Deficits	p. 71
Health and Human Services: Sacrificial Lambs	p. 74
The Poor Get Less (and Less)	p. 74
Social Insecurity: Privatizing Everything	p. 76
A Sick Health System	p. 77
The Health Insurance Racket	p. 79
The “Socialist” Medical Menace?	p. 81
Buyers Beware, and Workers Too	p. 83
Creating Crises: Schools and Housing	p. 85
“Mess Transit”	p. 87
The Last Environment	p. 90
Toxifying the Earth	p. 90
Eco-Apocalypse	p. 93
Pollution for Profits	p. 94
Government for the Despoilers	p. 96
An Alternative Approach	p. 98
Unequal before the Law	p. 100
Crime in the Suites	p. 100
Big Crime, Small Punishment (Usually)	p. 103
Class Law: Tough on the Weak	p. 105
The Crime of Prisons	p. 108
A Most Fallible System	p. 110
Sexist Justice	p. 112
The Victimization of Children	p. 114
Racist Law Enforcement	p. 115
Political Repression and National Insecurity	p. 119
The Repression of Dissent	p. 119
Political Prisoners, USA	p. 122
Political Murder, USA	p. 125
The National Security Autocracy	p. 129
CIA: Capitalism's International Army or Cocaine Import Agency?	p. 131
Watergate and Iran-contra	p. 133
Homeland Insecurity	p. 134
The U.S. Global Military Empire	p. 137
A Global Kill Capacity	p. 137
Pentagon Profits, Waste, and Theft	p. 139
Harming Our Own	p. 142
Economic Imperialism	p. 143
Intervention Everywhere	p. 146
Global Bloodletting	p. 147
Who Governs? Elites, Labor, and Globalization	p. 151
The Ruling Class	p. 151
Labor Besieged	p. 154
Unions and the Good Fight	p. 156
How Globalization Undermines Democracy	p. 157
Mass Media: For the Many, by the Few	p. 163
He Who Pays the Piper	p. 163
The Ideological Monopoly	p. 167
Serving Officialdom	p. 170
Political Entertainment	p. 173
Room for Alternatives?	p. 174
Voters, Parties, and Stolen Elections	p. 177
Democrats and Republicans: Any Differences?	p. 177
The Two-Party Monopoly	p. 179
Making Every Vote Count	p. 181
Rigging the Game	p. 182
Money, a Necessary Condition	p. 184
The Struggle to Vote	p. 187
The War Against Imaginary “Voter Fraud”	p. 189
Shady Elections	p. 191
Pale Democracy	p. 196
Congress: The Pocketing of Power	p. 197
A Congress for the Money	p. 197
Lobbyists: The Other Lawmakers	p. 200
The Varieties of Corruption	p. 203
Special Interests and Secrecy	p. 205
The Legislative Labyrinth	p. 208
Incumbency and Term Limits	p. 210
Legislative Democracy under Siege	p. 211
The President: Guardian of the System	p. 215
Salesman of the System	p. 215
The Two Faces of the President	p. 218
Feds vs. States	p. 221
A Loaded Electoral College	p. 222
The Would-be Absolute Monarch	p. 225
The Political Economy of Bureaucracy	p. 232
The Myth and Reality of Inefficiency	p. 232
Deregulation and Privatization	p. 235
Secrecy and Deception, Waste and Corruption	p. 238
Nonenforcement: Politics in Command	p. 240
Serving the “Regulated”	p. 242
Public Authority in Private Hands	p. 245
Regulation and Business Ideology	p. 247
The Supremely Political Court	p. 249
Who Judges?	p. 249
Conservative Judicial Activism (Early Times)	p. 252
Circumventing the First Amendment	p. 255
Freedom for Revolutionaries (and Others)?	p. 257
As the Court Turns	p. 258
Conservative Judicial Activism (Present Day)	p. 265
Democracy for the Few	p. 268
Pluralism for the Few	p. 268
The Limits of Reform	p. 271
Democracy as Popular Struggle	p. 273
The Roles of the State	p. 275
What Is to be Done?	p. 277
The Reality of Public Production	p. 283
Notes	p. 289
Index	p. 317
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Democracy For The Few

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