[Peace-discuss] The 2012 elections are coming up...

[C. G. Estabrook]

"Elections' being substituted for politics in the US" is so true that it's 
almost un-understandable to many Americans, who've been taught that they're the 
same thing.

The result, not just in the current administration -- altho' the trends are 
clearer there -- is a strong tendency toward a plebiscitary dictatorship.

See now Dana D. Nelson. "Bad for Democracy: How the Presidency Undermines the 
Power of the People" (U. Minn. Press, 2008), which "criticizes how voting for 
president has been idealized as the central exercise of democratic rights in 
America."  Also her "Presidential Power to the People," 
<www.utne.com/2008-09-01/Politics/Presidential-Power-to-the-People.aspx>.

--CGE


LAURIE SOLOMON wrote:
> Taking Naomi Kline’s comments about elections being substituted for 
> substantive politics in the U.S., I submit this for your consideration with
> respect to the 2012 elections, which are just around the corner and which we
> should be beginning to prepare for in the next month or two. Check out the
> link below.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.paulsen.com/pat/
>