Democracy for the Few

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 2
Copyright......Page 3
Contents......Page 5
Preface......Page 10
About the Author......Page 13
Beyond Textbooks......Page 14
The Politico-economic System......Page 16
Class Power in Early America......Page 18
Containing the Spread of Democracy......Page 20
Fragmenting Majority Power......Page 23
Plotters or Patriots?......Page 25
Democratic Concessions......Page 27
The War Against Labor......Page 30
Favors for Business......Page 32
Pliable Progressives and Red Scares......Page 34
The New Deal: Hard Times and Tough Reforms......Page 36
Capital and Labor......Page 40
Capital Concentration: Who Owns America?......Page 42
Downsizing and Profiteering......Page 46
Inflation, the Profit-price Spiral......Page 47
Monopoly Farming......Page 48
Market Demand and Productivity......Page 50
The Hardships of Working America......Page 52
Poverty in Paradise......Page 55
The Human Costs of Economic Injustice......Page 57
Corporate Plutocracy......Page 60
Ideological Orthodoxy......Page 62
Corporate Rule and Ruin: Some Examples......Page 64
Left, Right, and Center......Page 65
Public Opinion: Which Direction?......Page 69
Democracy: Form and Content......Page 70
Welfare for the Rich......Page 73
Federal Handouts to Corporate America......Page 75
The Billion-Dollar Bailouts......Page 77
Taxes: Helping The Rich in their Time of Greed......Page 79
Unkind Cuts, Unfair Rates......Page 82
Deficit Spending and the National Debt......Page 83
Some Hidden Deficits......Page 84
The Poor Get Less (and Less)......Page 87
Social Insecurity: Privatizing Everything......Page 89
A Sick Health System......Page 90
The Health Insurance Racket......Page 92
The "Socialist" Medical Menace?......Page 94
Buyers Beware, and Workers Too......Page 96
Creating Crises: Schools And Housing......Page 98
"Mess Transit"......Page 100
Toxifying the Earth......Page 103
Eco-Apocalypse......Page 106
Pollution for Profits......Page 107
Government for the Despoilers......Page 109
An Alternative Approach......Page 111
Crime in the Suites......Page 113
Big Crime, Small Punishment (Usually)......Page 116
Class Law: Tough on the Weak......Page 118
The Crime of Prisons......Page 121
A Most Fallible System......Page 123
Sexist Justice......Page 125
The Victimization of Children......Page 127
Racist Law Enforcement......Page 128
The Repression of Dissent......Page 132
Political Prisoners, USA......Page 135
Political Murder, USA......Page 138
The National Security Autocracy......Page 142
CIA: Capitalism's International Army or Cocaine Import Agency?......Page 144
Watergate And Iran-contra......Page 146
Homeland Insecurity......Page 147
A Global Kill Capacity......Page 150
Pentagon Profits, Waste, and Theft......Page 152
Harming Our Own......Page 155
Economic Imperialism......Page 156
Intervention Everywhere......Page 159
Global Bloodletting......Page 160
The Ruling Class......Page 164
Labor Besieged......Page 167
Unions and the Good Fight......Page 169
How Globalization Undermines Democracy......Page 170
He Who Pays the Piper......Page 176
The Ideological Monopoly......Page 180
Serving Officialdom......Page 183
Political Entertainment......Page 186
Room for Alternatives?......Page 187
Democrats and Republicans: Any Differences?......Page 190
The Two-party Monopoly......Page 192
Making Every Vote Count......Page 194
Rigging The Game......Page 195
Money, a Necessary Condition......Page 197
The Struggle to Vote......Page 200
The War Against Imaginary "Voter Fraud"......Page 202
Shady Elections......Page 204
Pale Democracy......Page 209
A Congress for the Money......Page 210
Lobbyists: The Other Lawmakers......Page 213
The Varieties of Corruption......Page 216
Special Interests and Secrecy......Page 218
The Legislative Labyrinth......Page 221
Incumbency and Term Limits......Page 223
Legislative Democracy Under Siege......Page 224
Salesman of the System......Page 228
The Two Faces of the President......Page 231
Feds vs. States......Page 234
A Loaded Electoral College......Page 235
The Would-be Absolute Monarch......Page 238
The Myth and Reality of Inefficiency......Page 245
Deregulation and Privatization......Page 248
Secrecy and Deception, Waste and Corruption......Page 251
Nonenforcement: Politics in Command......Page 253
Serving the "Regulated"......Page 255
Public Authority in Private Hands......Page 258
Regulation and Business Ideology......Page 260
Who Judges?......Page 262
Conservative Judicial Activism (early Times)......Page 265
Circumventing the First Amendment......Page 268
Freedom for Revolutionaries (and Others)?......Page 270
As the Court Turns......Page 271
Conservative Judicial Activism (present Day)......Page 278
Pluralism for the Few......Page 281
The Limits of Reform......Page 284
Democracy as Popular Struggle......Page 286
The Roles of the State......Page 288
What Is to be Done?......Page 290
The Reality of Public Production......Page 296
Notes......Page 302
Index......Page 330