Stifling Political Competition (eBook)
VIII, 144 Seiten
Springer New York (Verlag)
978-0-387-09821-0 (ISBN)
Stifling Political Competition examines the history and array of laws, regulations, subsidies and programs that benefit the two major parties and discourage even the possibility of a serious challenge to the Democrat-Republican duopoly. The analysis synthesizes political science, economics and American history to demonstrate how the two-party system is the artificial creation of a network of laws, restrictions and subsidies that favor the Democrats and Republicans and cripple potential challenges. The American Founders, as it has been generally forgotten, distrusted political parties. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution are parties mentioned, much less given legal protection or privilege. This provocative book traces how by the end of the Civil War the Republicans and Democrats had guaranteed their dominance and subsequently influenced a range of policies developed to protect the duopoly. For example, Bennett examines how the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as amended in 1974 and 1976), which was sold to the public as a nonpartisan act of good government reformism actually reinforced the dominance of the two parties. While focused primarily on the American experience, the book does consider the prevalence of two-party systems around the world (especially in emerging democracies) and the widespread contempt with which they are often viewed. The concluding chapter considers the potential of truly radical reform toward opening the field to vigorous, lively, contentious third-party candidacies that might finally offer alienated voters a choice, not an echo.
Stifling Political Competition examines the history and array of laws, regulations, subsidies and programs that benefit the two major parties and discourage even the possibility of a serious challenge to the Democrat-Republican duopoly. The analysis synthesizes political science, economics and American history to demonstrate how the two-party system is the artificial creation of a network of laws, restrictions and subsidies that favor the Democrats and Republicans and cripple potential challenges. The American Founders, as it has been generally forgotten, distrusted political parties. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution are parties mentioned, much less given legal protection or privilege. This provocative book traces how by the end of the Civil War the Republicans and Democrats had guaranteed their dominance and subsequently influenced a range of policies developed to protect the duopoly. For example, Bennett examines how the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as amended in 1974 and 1976), which was sold to the public as a nonpartisan act of good government reformism actually reinforced the dominance of the two parties. While focused primarily on the American experience, the book does consider the prevalence of two-party systems around the world (especially in emerging democracies) and the widespread contempt with which they are often viewed. The concluding chapter considers the potential of truly radical reform toward opening the field to vigorous, lively, contentious third-party candidacies that might finally offer alienated voters a choice, not an echo.
Acknowledgments 5
Contents 6
Introduction 7
Notes 10
The American Suspicion of Parties 11
Notes 27
No Competition Allowed or He Who Controls the Ballot Controls the Election 29
Notes 59
Then Along Came FECA... 62
Notes 80
FECA: The Demopublicans’ Best Friend 83
Notes 112
The State Feeds the Party and the Party Feeds the State 116
Notes 128
Conclusion: Pulling the Plug? 130
Notes 137
Index 139
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 30.11.2008 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Studies in Public Choice |
| Zusatzinfo | VIII, 144 p. |
| Verlagsort | New York |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie |
| Schlagworte | campaign • Campaign Finance Reform • Democrats • Demopublicans • Election • Election Campaign • Electoral Politics • Federal election campaign • Federal Election Campaign Act • Party Politics • Political History • Political parties • Political Science • Republicans • Sozialdemokratische Partei Europas • Third Parties |
| ISBN-10 | 0-387-09821-6 / 0387098216 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-387-09821-0 / 9780387098210 |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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