The Crisis of American Democracy: The Presidential Elections of 2000 and 2004: Four Lectures

by David North and David North

This volume of lectures is remarkably prescient and historically relevant in light of the recent revelations of NSA spying, drone assassinations and the suppression of Constitutionally-protected... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1875639365
• ISBN13: 9781875639366
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Mehring Books, Incorporated
• Length: 147 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Unparalleled analysis

The US political system is indeed in crisis. A look back at the growth in militarism, spying, renditions, as well as the decaying infrastructure, health care, environment, pollution, food safety, the growth in inequality, concentration of wealth, poverty, homelessness, and countless other measures of the health of society over the past seven years reveals this crisis starkly. Anyone who supported the Democrats in 2004 out of illusions that they would end the war and turn the economy around should read this book before 2008.

The Crisis of American Democracy: the Presidential Elections

Finally, the fog has been lifted. I can think of no other analysis of American society, above all of the significance of the elections mentioned in the title, that comes close to this book in explaning what's happening in the United States today and internationally. Mr. North, and Mr. Van, too, are so readable, logical and persuasive that we must once again reassess what marxism is all about. The writing is as clear as a brook and sharp as a diamond and cuts to the bone: our system has failed and must be replaced. It is the antithesis of liberal whining and radical posturing and, therefore, quite different, in the good sense, from all the claptrap out there. If you really want to understand where we have been, where we are, and where we are going, this book is a must. It should be required reading in schools and universities. Its socio-political and economic analysis demonstrates that Marxism is very much alive; that it never went away. I recommend this book. Aside from being witty, it is provocative as hell.

Excellent political analysis!

The author clearly draws out and explains the significance of both the 2000 and the 2004 elections in the United States. He does not stop at the surface appearance of the attack on democratic rights in the US, but probes into the underlying social relations -- particularly the enormous growth of social inequality -- that is well-documented throughout the text. It is quite an important book, particularly for those of us who might despair at the hope for change in the US! North shows why we are wrong to draw this conclusion. It should also be noted that one of the essays is from 2000. The predictions made then -- that the 2000 election and the decision by the Supreme Court represented an irrevocable break from democratic forms of rule in the United States -- have certainly proven to be quite accurate. This is what he wrote before the final decision of the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore: "What the decision of this court will reveal is how far the American ruling class is prepared to go in breaking with traditional bourgeois-democratic and constitutional norms. Is it prepared to sanction ballot fraud and the suppression of votes? Is it prepared to install in the White House a candidate who has attained that office through blatantly illegal and anti-democratic methods? A substantial section of the American ruling elite, and perhaps even a majority of the Supreme Court, is prepared to do just that. This is because, among this social layer, there has been a dramatic erosion of support for traditional forms of democracy." How true! The remainder of the book is an elaboration on this theme, with an analysis of the first four years of the Bush administration and the 2004 elections.

"Destined to be a Classic of Political Analysis"

No shortage of ink has been spilled attempting to explain Bush's election victory of 2004, as well as the character and significance of his administration. Unfortunately, most of these efforts explain nothing, and are interesting only to the extent that they reveal something of the helplessness, hopelessness, and confusion of liberal intellectuals. Towering high above this din of panic-in-print is David North's "The Crisis of American Democracy: The Presidential Elections of 2000 and 2004." This book represents an outstanding achievement for contemporary socialist political analysis, standing in the tradition of Marx's "Eighteenth Brumaire." In a series of essays characterized by lucid prose and biting wit, North cuts through the dense fog of contemporary politics. For those interested in understanding the Bush administration, I can suggest no better starting point.