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Democracy for the few / Michael Parenti.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Parenti, Michael, 1933-2026
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.
- United States.
- Politics and government.
- United States--Politics and government--1989-.
- Elite (Social sciences)--United States.
- Elite (Social sciences).
- Political participation--United States.
- Political participation.
- Physical Description:
- xv, 351 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Edition:
- Seventh edition.
- Place of Publication:
- Boston : Bedford/St. Martin's, [2002]
- Contents:
- 1 Partisan Politics 1
- Beyond Textbooks 1
- The Politico-Economic System 3
- 2 Wealth and Want in the United States 6
- Capital and Labor 6
- Accumulation and Expansion 8
- Who Owns America? 9
- Corporate Concentration 11
- Monopoly Farming 13
- Downsizing and Downgrading 14
- Profit-Price Inflation 15
- Market Demand and Human Need 16
- Productivity: A Mixed Blessing 17
- "Desirable" Unemployment 19
- The Hardships of Working America 20
- The Human Costs of Economic Injustice 23
- 3 The Plutocratic Culture: Institutions and Ideologies 28
- Rule by Corporate Plutocracy 28
- Promoting Ideological Orthodoxy 29
- Right, Left, and Center 33
- Public Opinion: Which Direction? 37
- Democracy: Form and Content 39
- 4 A Constitution for the Few 42
- Class Power in Early America 42
- Containing the Spread of Democracy 44
- Fragmenting Majority Power 47
- Plotters or Patriots? 49
- Democratic Concessions 52
- 5 Rise of the Corporate State 55
- Serving Business: The Early Years 55
- The War against Labor 56
- Law in the Service of Business 58
- The Not-So-Progressive Era 59
- War and Red Scares 60
- The New Deal: Hard Times and Tough Reforms 61
- 6 Politics: Who Gets What? 67
- Welfare for the Rich 67
- Federal Bailouts, State and Local Handouts 70
- Taxes: Helping the Rich in Their Time of Greed 72
- Unkind Cuts, Unfair Rates 74
- Deficit Spending and the National Debt 76
- Some Hidden Deficits 77
- 7 Military Empire and Global Domination 80
- A Global Kill Capacity 80
- Military Waste and Fraud 82
- Pentagon Profits 83
- The Military's Hidden Diseconomies 85
- Economic Imperialism 85
- The Terror State 88
- 8 Health, Environment, and Human Services: Sacrificial Lambs 95
- The Poor Get Less (and Less) 95
- Social Insecurity: Privatizing Everything 97
- How Much Health Can You Afford? 98
- Buyers Beware, and Workers Too 101
- Creating Crises: Schools and Housing 102
- "Mess Transit": What's Good for General Motors 104
- Toxifying the Earth 106
- Eco-Apocalypse 108
- Government for the Despoilers 110
- 9 Unequal before the Law 118
- Crime in the Suites 118
- Class Law 122
- The "Tough on Crime" Craze 123
- The Crime of Prisons 125
- The Guilty Innocent 126
- Sexist Justice 128
- The Victimization of Children 130
- Bedroom Police 131
- Racist Law Enforcement 132
- 10 Political Repression and National Insecurity 139
- The Repression of Dissent 139
- Political Prisoners, USA 142
- Political Murder, USA 147
- Cozy with Right-Wing Violence 149
- The National Security Autocracy 151
- CIA: Capitalism's International Army or Cocaine Import Agency? 155
- Watergate and Iran-Contra 157
- 11 Who Governs? Elites, Labor, and Globalization 164
- The Ruling Class 164
- Labor Besieged 168
- Unions and the Good Fight 170
- Globalization, WTO, and the End of Democracy 171
- 12 Mass Media: For the Many, by the Few 178
- He Who Pays the Piper 178
- The Ideological Monopoly 182
- Official Manipulation 184
- Political Entertainment 187
- Room for Alternatives? 189
- 13 Elections, Parties, and Voters 194
- Republicrats and Demopublicans 194
- The Two-Party Monopoly 197
- Proportional Representation: Making Every Vote Count 198
- Rigging the Game 200
- Money: A Necessary Condition 203
- The Struggle to Vote 207
- Voter "Apathy" and Participation 211
- Democratic Input 214
- 14 Congress: The Pocketing of Power 218
- A Congress for the Money 218
- Lobbyists: The Other Lawmakers 221
- Grassroots Lobbying 224
- Helping Themselves: The Varieties of Corruption 225
- A Special-Interest Committee System 228
- Security, Secrecy, and Fast Track 230
- The Legislative Labyrinth 232
- Term Limits 235
- A Touch of Democracy 237
- 15 The President: Guardian of the System 241
- Salesman of the System 241
- The Two Faces of the President 244
- The President's Systemic Role 248
- A Loaded Electoral College 250
- The "New Federalism" Ploy 252
- The Growth of Presidential Power 252
- The Would-Be King 254
- The Conservative Context 257
- 16 The Political Economy of Bureaucracy 262
- The Myth and Reality of Inefficiency 262
- Deregulation and Privatization 265
- Secrecy, Deception, and Corruption 269
- Bureaucratic Action and Inaction 272
- Serving the "Regulated" 274
- Public Authority in Private Hands 277
- Monopoly Regulation versus Public-Service Regulation 279
- 17 The Supremely Political Court 283
- Who Judges? 283
- Conservative Judicial Activism 286
- Circumventing the First Amendment 289
- Freedom for Revolutionaries? 290
- As the Court Turns 292
- Influence of the Court 300
- 18 Democracy for the Few 306
- Pluralism for the Few 306
- The Limits of Reform 309
- Democracy as Class Struggle 311
- The Roles of the State 314
- What Is to Be Done? 316
- The Reality of Public Production 321.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 0312392508
- OCLC:
- 47864398
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