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Title: Changing the Powers That Be: How the Left Can Stop Losing and Win by G. William Domhoff ISBN: 0-7425-2491-4 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield (Non NBN) Pub. Date: February, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Changed My Thinking
Comment: With Ralph Nader expected to announce whether he will run for President this time around, I (an unrepentant Nader 2000 supporter) think this book constitutes the strongest argument I have seen for why he should not.
Domhoff's 108-page book is put together with the precision of poetry, and I hesitate to summarize it. It has convinced me of a number of things, including that I should call myself an egalitarian rather than a progressive and that we egalitarians should form Egalitarian Democratic Clubs within the Democratic Party. With regard to Nader, it has convinced me that his third-party campaign in 2000 was misguided and that he should not attempt one now.
It is only very reluctantly that I can be convinced to blame Al Gore's loss on Nader. My reasons for arguing otherwise have long included that Gore did not lose but only came close enough to losing to have the election stolen, that Gore came close to losing because he was a terrible candidate who, among other things, ignored the need to appeal to Nader's supporters, and that many of Nader's supporters were new voters who might have voted for no one had he not been on the ballot.
But the facts remain that Nader won more votes than the difference between Gore and Bush in more than one state, that Nader's predictions regarding Bush have proved disastrously wrong, and that Nader and his staffers made comments suggesting that defeating Gore was his intention (Domhoff cites a March 4, 2001, Philadelphia Inquirer article).
I have often been saddened to see egalitarians express more anger toward Nader than toward Bush. But the case Domhoff makes is one for building coalitions and preventing infighting. Domhoff suggests that had Nader run in the 2000 Democratic primaries and lost graciously, he could have significantly influenced Gore, helped Gore win, and begun the necessary task of reforming the Democratic Party. Domhoff offers arguments drawing on the history of political parties in many countries to make a compelling case that reforming the Democratic party is much more likely to succeed than creating a powerful third party in the United States.
Domhoff points out that most of Nader's examples of cases in which third parties have influenced the US political agenda come from the nineteenth century, before the use of state primaries, which "have been the main source of new programs since World War I."
Domhoff suggests that Nader might have won between 5 and 25 percent of the vote in every Democratic primary in 2000. That might be right. But I'm not sure he isn't overestimating voters' understanding of the system. Domhoff makes a strong case that public citizen number one, Ralph Nader, lacks a basic understanding of what is possible in our political system. Yet he assumes that Democratic primary voters understand the difference between a primary and a general election.
If that were the case, where would "momentum" come from? Why would voters be backing centrist candidates more as their votes become less necessary for victory? Why would people who support Dennis Kucinich's platform (which is quite similar to Nader's) and who believe Kucinich would be the strongest candidate against Bush choose to back Kerry in a primary based on his "electability"? It seems to me possible that Nader would have ended up with totals as a Democrat not too much higher than what he got running as a Green.
I could be underestimating, however, if the 2000 experience is - as seems possible - a major cause of 2004 primary voters' passion for and confusion over "electability." Jesse Jackson did not face the same nonsensical spoiler arguments in primaries that have been faced by Kucinich and Al Sharpton. If this misuse of a general election spoiler argument in a primary is a new phenomenon, the question of whether it will last seems critical.
Domhoff's book is not entirely about Nader. He uses Nader's campaign as a jumping off point for laying out a program for egalitarian politics. Domhoff proposes establishing egalitarian Democratic clubs (EDCs) to "lay the basis for the future takeover of the party in the same way liberals [took over] the California state party with their California democratic clubs in the 1950s." It would have been helpful for him to elaborate on how exactly to start these clubs.
But Domhoff does offer powerful insights into American politics and a general guide to what sort of movement is needed going forward. He advocates reframing "progressive" or "working class" struggles as "egalitarian" in order to be more descriptive and inclusive.
Domhoff also argues for a politics based on a market economy rather than "central planning." I think his notion that egalitarians lean toward promoting central planning is overstated if he means by it much more than the several cases in which he himself says non-market solutions work best. But Domhoff makes an excellent point that "research shows that markets need guidance from government to operate well, and that there is no inevitable trade-off between equality and efficiency, or between equality and freedom, within a market system. More equality might even mean more efficiency, not less, and it can certainly mean more freedom for more people." Promoting understanding of this point could work wonders to reverse policies that benefit only the wealthy but which others support in hopes of trickle-down effects.
One point that I wonder about in Domhoff's discussion of the economy is his support for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Later in the book he praises the Living Wage Movement for, among other things, working through the market, but here he seems to suggest that an ideal solution to poverty is for the government to make up the difference between the poverty wages companies pay and a living wage. This seems to place central planning ahead of market strategies unnecessarily, and in the process to risk discouraging work as well as disheartening workers.
Rating: 3
Summary: Which Way for the Left?
Comment: G. William Domhoff attempts to identify the mistakes of the U.S. Left and proposes a strategy that he believes would lead to greater progressive influence and political success in his new book, "Changing the Powers That Be".
The suggested winnining strategies are not novel and have been used by certain sectors of the Left with positive results; unfortunately, according to Domhoff, many "egalitarians" (a term he prefers over "progressive" or "socialist") undermine their efforts by persisting in errors which stem from dated theories and left-wing mythologies.
Professor Domhoff makes many compelling arguments that merit close attention from those searching to clear new avenues for the Left; however, the book does not address important concerns that many U.S. progressives would have in implementing the program. This is particularly true regarding his proposal that Leftists enter the Democratic Party. Furthermore, the Professor ignores the complexities of implementing his ideas in a neo-liberal, "post-fordist" United States; there is no mention of globalization and more than once while reading the book, it occured to me that Domhoff felt a certain nostalgia for fordism and that he verged on breaking into song over the New Deal and F.D.R. In fact, Domhoff's program contains a series of liberal "pis-allers".
Now such nostalgia over the liberal welfare state is problematic
in the context of globalization. Corporations and financial institutions can transfer money and jobs fairly fast these days.
One can imagine a great deal of demagogery created by the Right when the Left tries to pass laws to make liberal reforms. We would see a hastened capital flight from this country. I am not saying that demanding such reforms is wrong; I am saying that Professor Domhoff's vision is short-sighted in this regard and
he does not touch on the issue of the need for a global struggle against capital and, with the exception of advocating non-violent demonstrations, his strategy is pretty much limited to making political changes through the ballot box.
The book does, at least obliquely, grapple with a key question for the Left: are we strong enough to fight for more radical changes now, or is it better to set our sights on a short term goal of some minor reforms, and thereby strengthen the Left so that it can launch more ambitious struggles in the future? It is a question worth pondering. The only problem is that Domhoff's vision is one of simply reforming capitalism through an alliance with Liberals, not getting rid of it at any time in the future.
Domhoff's chapter on markets is provocative, if schematic; the chapter on keeping leaders accountable is sublime. The section on foreign policy stinks.
Rating: 5
Summary: Rx for the Left
Comment: The insightful analyses and practical strategies presented in Domhoff's compact, highly readable book offer a promising blueprint for reinvigorating the political Left. A compelling blend of realism and idealism, "Changing the Powers That Be" is strongly recommended for anyone needing plausible hope for a more just, egalitarian American society--and an achievable plan for its realization.
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Title: Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth by Joe Conason ISBN: 0312315600 Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Pub. Date: 25 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Long Detour: The History and Future of the American Left by James Weinstein ISBN: 0813341043 Publisher: Westview Press Pub. Date: 13 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Who Rules America? Power and Politics by G. William Domhoff ISBN: 0767416376 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages Pub. Date: 29 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $38.70 |
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Title: The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception by DAVID CORN ISBN: 1400050669 Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Incoherent Empire by Michael Mann ISBN: 1859845827 Publisher: Verso Books Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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