Synopses & Reviews
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 texts on the American political system, DEMOCRACY FOR THE FEW emphasizes the political economy of public policy and who gets what.
Table of Contents
1. PARTISAN POLITICS. Beyond Textbooks. The Politico-economic System. 2. WEALTH AND WANT IN THE UNITED STATES. Capital and Labor. Accumulation and Expansion. Who Owns America? Corporate Concentration. Monopoly Farming. Downsizing and Downgrading. Profit-Price Inflation. Market Demand and Human Need. Productivity, A Mixed Blessing. Desirable Unemployment. The Hardships of Working America. The Human Costs of Economic Injustice. 3. THE PLUTOCRATIC CULTURE: INSTITUTIONS AND IDEOLOGIES. Rule by Corporate Plutocracy. Promoting Ideological Orthodoxy. Right, Left, and Center. Public Opinion: Which Directions? Democracy: Form and Content. 4. A CONSTITUTION FOR THE FEW. Class Power in Early America. Containing the Spread of Democracy. Plotters or Patriots? Democratic Concessions. 5. RISE OF THE CORPORATE STATE. Serving Business: The Early Years. Law in the Service of Business. The Not-So-Progressive Era. War and Red Scares. The New Deal: Hard Times and Tough Reforms. 6. POLITICS: WHO GETS WHAT? Welfare for the Rich. Federal Bailouts, State and Local Handouts. Taxes: Helping the Rich the Their Time of Greed. Unkind Cuts, Unfair Rates. Deficit Spending and the National Debt. Some Hidden Deficits. 7. MILITARY EMPIRE AND GLOBAL DOMINATION. A Global Kill Capacity. Military Waste and Fraud. Pentagon Profits. The Militarys Hidden Diseconomies. Economic Imperialism. The Terror State. 8. HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT, AND HUMAN SERVICES: SACRIFICIAL LAMBS. The Poor Get Less (and Less). Social Insecurity: Privatizing Everything. How Much Health Can You Afford? Creating Crises: Schools and Housing. "Mess Transit": Whats Good for General Motors. Toxifying the Earth. Eco-Apocalypse. Government for the Despoilers. 9. UNEQUAL BEFORE THE LAW. Crime in the Suites. Class Law. The "Tough on Crime" Craze. The Crime of Prisons. The Guilty Innocent. Sexist Justice. The Victimization of Children. Bedroom Police. Racist Law Enforcement. 10. POLITICAL REPRESSION AND NATIONAL INSECURITY. The Repression of Dissent. Political Prisoners, USA. Political Murder, USA. The National Security Autocracy. CIA: Capitalisms International Army or Cocaine Import Agency? Watergate and Iran-Contra. 11. WHO GOVERNS? ELITES, LABOR, AND GLOBALIZATION. The Ruling Class. Labor Besieged. Unions and the Good Fight. Globalization, WTO, and the End of Democracy. 12. MASS