The Corruption of American Politics: What Went Wrong and Why - Hardcover

Drew, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1559725206 ISBN 13: 9781559725200

Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp, 1999

Synopsis

Examining twenty-five years of American politics since the Watergate Scandal, the former New Yorker Washington correspondent concludes that big money and vicious politics have eroded American faith in the political system and bred a generation of sub-standard leaders.

About this title

About the Author

For nineteen years, Elizabeth Drew was the Washington correspondent for the New Yorker. She is the author of eleven books. Her most recent work was Whatever It Takes: The Real Struggle for Political Power in America. In addition to winning the Missouri Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, the Award for Excellence of the Society of Magazine Writers, the Dupont-Columbia Award, and the Ladies' Home Journal Woman of the Year in Communications award, she has received honorary degrees from seven colleges and universities, including Yale, Georgetown, and Williams. She lives and works in Washington, D.C.

From the Back Cover

Acclaim for The Corruption of American Politics, by Elizabeth Drew:

"One of our wisest and most acute observers of the Washington scene turns her formidable skill on the current American predicament and how we got here. The Corruption of American Politics is a deft and original work, combining a devastating critique with strong reasons to be hopeful about our future."--Michael Beschloss

"This is a truly important book. In a compelling narrative style, Elizabeth Drew sets out not just what went wrong with American politics, but why, and offers concrete answers on how to fix it. Anyone who had an uneasy feeling about the state of our political life and of political leadership will find both an incisive analysis of the problem and a prescription for change."--Arianna Huffington

"The Corruption of American Politics is fresh proof that there is no one better on Washington than Elizabeth Drew--to read her meticulous and richly informed reporting is to hit clear water in the swamp of opinion that obscures our political life."--Joan Didion

"I'm a long-time fan of Elizabeth Drew. No one writes more accurately or entertainingly about the mess of American politics. She finds stuff nobody else finds and she knows how to put it together. This is her best book. Read it."--Warren Beatty

Reviews

An up-to-date indictment of an oft-charged institution. A distinguished political journalist, Drew (Showdown, 1996, etc.), formerly with the New Yorker, observes the cesspool of American politics for a living. She argues that politics and politicians have degenerated over the last two decades and that this perception is not just conventional grouching about officeholdersit really is true. Much of what she describes is familiar: the disrespect for public service engendered by constant attacks on government; the mindless partisanship that has poisoned efforts to legislate; and the overriding importance of money, money, money. But Drew pursues these themes in the context of recent events, providing bluntly honest versions of the failed attempts to reform campaign finance and to remove the president from office. The former features two hapless heroes, senators Fred Thompson and John McCain, whose efforts illustrate the loneliness of ``being a reformer in an institution that doesn't want to be reformed'' and the utter intransigence of congressional leaders zealously defending their advantaged positions. Not even a quixotic champion can be found in the impeachment saga, of course, for in it ``an unworthy man overmatched zealous foes who showed no sense of boundaries or proportion.'' Anyone shocked by Drew's revelations has been seriously out of touch with reality, yet the ease with which genuine reform is brushed aside indicates a continued reluctance to recognize that the appalling facts of electoral politics in this country really do matter for the lives of private citizens. This is not, however, a fundamentally pessimistic book. Drew believes there is public interest in reform and that even today's politicians will respond to voters as well as donors if citizens stop assuming that government is inherently evil and start expecting more from officeholders. Should be required reading for anyone who doubts the corrupting impact of money, partisanship, and antigovernment rhetoric in contemporary American politics. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Drew has been writing about Washington for a generation, so she is more than qualified to consider "the debasement of American politics over the past twenty-five years." In Whatever It Takes , she described how campaign finance law was manipulated in 1996; it was said that Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) kept a copy of her book nearby as he headed the Senate committee investigating campaign finances. It comes as no surprise, then, that Corruption is largely about the travails of that committee and the unsuccessful efforts of legislators, including Thompson, John McCain (R-AZ), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Marty Meehan (D-MA), to pass legislation to reform the system. But the same issues central to the campaign reform battle--the dominant role of money, intense partisanship, lack of civility, erosion of trust, institutional failures, lack of leadership--were on display in the impeachment struggle, which Drew also discusses here. True to her years with the New Yorker, Drew never hesitates to deliver opinions; how awful to be one of the legislators she labels a "dim bulb" ! For political junkies and others who care about what happens inside the Beltway, Corruption offers fascinating insider detail. Mary Carroll

Edition details

• Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1559725206
• ISBN 13: 9781559725200
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 278