ISBN: 0458995002 - Persuaders: Influence Peddling, Lobbying, and Political Corruption in Canada (3 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Missing dust jacket; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.

Condition: Very Good. Methuen, 1985. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. A tight, clean and unmarked copy-There is a mythology about governments, especially ours. We're supposed to have the good system, the clean system - not perfect, maybe, but at least honest. As we are told in texts and civics classes, in newspapers and on TV, here the people speak, legislators listen, and laws are then made for the good of all. Paul Malvern doesn't believe a word of it. In Persuaders he compellingly documents how power and influence really operate in Canadian life, how the heart of the political system has been corrupted by a corporatist approach to governing which subverts our liberal-democratic values and traditions. He sets the stage by examining the real Canadian Tradition of graft, corruption, patronage, and influence peddling from the earliest days of our history and by casting a jaundiced eye on the real world of politics, federally, provincially, and municipally. Next up are the actors on this stage, the lobbyists, pressure groups, interest groups, power brokers, influence peddlers, whatever. These are the people who can get their messages into the "proper" channels, who can whisper in significant ears, who can make the deals with the political and bureaucratic elites, working the system for their own benefit, rather than the good of the people. Malvern examines the strategy, tactics and organization of ideological lobbies (the left, the right, feminists), tribal lobbies (multicultural groups and promoters of bilingualism) and the lobbies of greed (business, governments, and media). Here is a world of manoeuvring, of trial balloons, of rhetoric and hollow stances, a political system permeated by dissembling and hypocrisy such that many leaders of lobby groups are simply careerists, using their organizations as vehicles for their own advancement, standing ready and willing to be co-opted by governments dangling sinecures and perks. Is this the death of democracy? It doesn't have to be. Persuaders presents a few simple, practical ideas that would do much to restore some power to the individual citizen, as well as some civility to our political life. Paul Malvern holds degrees in political science, library and information science, and business administration. An expert on financial systems, he bailed out of the corporate environment after ten years in the computer industry. While still active in that industry, he is also the co-host of a television series, Perspectives on Canada, dealing with society, politics, and economics. His previous book, written with George Vandenberg, was Fighting Back: Tax Evasion and the Great Canadian Tax Revolt. - and - The Setting of the Game; Influence Peddling: A Great Canadian Tradition; The Real world of Politics: The Federal and Provincial Settings; Municipal Politics: Earth Mother or Money Machine; The Ideological Lobbies; The Holier Than Thou Left; The Holy Terrors of the Right; Combat in the Erogenous Zone: Sexual Politics; Tribal Loyalties and Lobbies; The Multicultural Mosaic; Forked Tongues: Bilingualism; The Lobbies of Greed; Dialling for Dollars: Business and Government; Dialling for Dollars: Corruption; The Media: All the Public Opinion You Can Buy; How to Get in on the Graft; Teach Yourself Influence Peddling; The Morass and How to Get out of It; The Death of Democracy?; What Is to be Done? 350 pp.…

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 350 pgs. Includes dust jacket. Blue board hard copy with gilt title and author's name on spine. No highlighting or underlining. Document how power and influence really operate in Canadian life, how the heart of the political system has been corrupted.…