Democracy, America, and the Age of Globalization

Because political campaigns in the United States are privately funded, America's political system is heavily biased toward the interests of wealthy campaign contributors. As a result, government policies have largely ignored the growth in income inequality caused by technological change and economic globalization. This omission has been tolerated because most Americans do not support interventionist government policies. They believe that the government serves the interests of the campaign donors rather than the public. This skepticism concerning the public sector's fairness must be overcome before effective programs to offset mounting inequality can be implemented. Though in recent years legislation to reform the financing of political campaigns has been adopted, private wealth continues to dominate the political process. Political cynicism therefore persists. A voluntary system of public funding of candidates for office is required to generate the trust in the public sector necessary to reverse the trend toward inequality.

Table of Contents:
1. The economics of inequality; 2. The politics of inequality; 3. The funding and biases of American politics; 4. History and reform efforts; 5. The problem of government; 6. The need for public financing; 7. Organizing for democracy.

About the Author :
Jay R. Mandle, currently W. Bradford Wiley Professor of Economics at Colgate University, has also taught at Temple University and the University of the West Indies. Mandle has been a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Social Change at the University of California, Berkeley, and twice been a Fulbright Lecturer, once at the University of Guyana and once at Nankai University, China. Among his many publications, Professor Mandle recently published Globalization and the Poor (2003).

Review :
"Too many authors complain about the growth in income inequality without offering a way to solve the problem. Jay Mandle provides a real solution. The voluntary public financing of elections is the way to achieve the deepening of democracy that reversing inequality requires. To achieve that as he suggests, we will have to organize at the grassroots." Alex Cole, Founder, Vassar College Democracy Matters "'Follow the money!' was Deep Throat's advice to the Watergate sleuths. It also summarizes Jay Mandle's important new book. Professor Mandle is an aggressive long-distance runner and the same determination and focus pervade his pursuit of the role of money in America's political failure to stem growing income inequality. His conclusion is that public financing of elections is the sine quo non of doing so. This book represents an important intellectual breakthrough for the emerging movement to democratize this country's politics." Bob Edgar, President (CEO) Common Cause and Former Member of the House of Representatives (7th Congressional District, Pa) "I see this book as a unique contribution to timely and important discussion in all the social sciences and beyond-sociology, political science, history, and economics-about where our society is going and how we respond to rapidly evolving and widespread change in the twenty-first century." Louis Ferleger, Boston University "It is difficult to find two political issues that generate more heat than economic globalization and campaign finance. In this book Jay Mandle (Colgate University) combines the two topics in a thought-provoking manner...The contributions of the book are twofold. First, it unites two heretofore separate research areas in a lively and interesting fashion...Second, it provides an ancillary text book for lower division courses in American politics that will generate considerable classroom discussion. Students will appreciate the lively and concise writing style and the provocative arguments that Mandle makes throughout the book. This book is highly recommended for faculty looking for such an ancillary text." Sean Q Kelly, California State University Channel Islands