Does American Democracy Still Work? (The Future of American Democracy Series)

225 Pages·2006·0.76 MB·English

by  Alan Wolfe

Does American Democracy
Still Work?

?
Does
American
Democracy
Still
Work?
A L A N WO L F E
Yale University Press New Haven and London
The Future ofAmerican Democracy series aims to examine,
sustain,and renew the historic vision ofAmerican democracy
in a series ofbooks by some ofAmerica’s foremost thinkers.
The books in the series present a new,balanced,centrist
approach to examining the challenges American democracy
has faced in the past and must overcome in the years ahead.
Series editor:Norton Garfinkle.
Copyright © 2006by Alan Wolfe.All rights reserved.This book may not be
reproduced,in whole or in part,including illustrations,in any form (beyond that
copying permitted by Sections 107and108ofthe U.S.Copyright Law and except by
reviewers for the public press),without written permission from the publishers.
Set in Minion type by Integrated Publishing Solutions,GrandRapids,Michigan.
Printed in the United States ofAmerica by R.R.Donnelley,Harrisonburg,Virginia.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wolfe,Alan,1942–
Does American democracy still work? / Alan Wolfe.
p. cm.—(The future ofAmerican democracy)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-300-10859-0(cloth :alk.paper)
ISBN-10: 0-300-10859-1(cloth :alk.paper)
1. Democracy—United States. 2. United States—Politics and government.
I. Title. II. Series
JK1726.W65 2006
320.973—dc22 2006008116
A catalogue record for this book is available from the BritishLibrary.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability ofthe
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity ofthe Council on Library
Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
ONE The New Politics of Democracy 1
TWO Democracy Without Information 24
THREE Democracy Without Accountability 50
FOUR Democracy Without Institutions 75
FIVE Democracy Without Disinterest 106
SIX Democracy Without Justice 137
SEVEN The Rise of Conservative Democracy 166
Notes 191
Index 204

Acknowledgments
Jonathan Brent of Yale University Press was an enthusiastic
backer of this book from the moment I proposed it to him.
Along with his assistant Sarah Miller,he made Yale a wonder-
ful partner for this venture. I am also grateful to my literary
agent Fredi Friedman for making the match.
Three anonymous readers for the Press offered helpful
suggestions,as did one who revealed his name.Since this last
one was someone I have long admired and welcomed as a
friend,I want to extend special thanks to Sandy Levinson for
his advice over many decades—yes,decades.
Norton Garfinkle and Patrick Glynn of the Future of
American Democracy Foundation have been strong supporters
ofthis book,as has been Amitai Etzioni.My thanks to them all.
As usual,my family makes it all possible.

I
The New Politics of Democracy
truggles over American democracy were easier to un-
derstand in the nineteenth and twentieth century than
they have become in the twenty-first.Then,privileged
elites—would-be aristocrats in the North,slaveholders
in the South, the wealthy everywhere—opposed democracy,
and for the simplest of motivations: the more restricted the
franchise,the greater the likelihood these elites would hold on
to their unfairly gained advantages.For the same reason,if in
reverse, groups marginalized by the priorities of their era—
working people, women, racial minorities—wished democ-
racy expanded to shift the benefits provided by government in
their direction.In the old politics ofdemocracy,the left spoke
on behalfofthe people,while the right tended to the business
of the powerful.1 The differences between them were many,
but they were mostly economic.Those who wanted to restrict
the scope of politics, as E. E. Schattschneider pointed out in
1960, emphasized “individualism, free private enterprise, lo-
calism,privacy,and economy in government,”while those in-
tent on expanding it insisted on “equal protection ofthe laws,