{"product_id":"downsizing-democracy-9781421430676","title":"Downsizing Democracy","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOriginally publushed in 2002. In Downsizing Democracy, Matthew A. Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg describe how the once powerful idea of a collective citizenry has given way to a concept of personal, autonomous democracy. Today, political change is effected through litigation, lobbying, and term limits, rather than active participation in the political process, resulting in narrow special interest groups dominating state and federal decision-making. At a time when an American's investment in the democratic process has largely been reduced to an annual contribution to a political party or organization, Downsizing Democracy offers a critical reassessment of American democracy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA welcome corrective to what has been a stampede in recent years toward blaming citizens . . . How we act is affected by how our government treats us, the processes for influencing decision-making that are available to us and the societal structures that provide us with more or less time, resources, incentive and opportunity to venture into the public sphere . . . But I don't think this book lets citizens off the hook . . . Crenson and Ginsberg have taken an important step in identifying and describing that relationship [between formal democracy and everyday democracy], and their work calls us to pay attention to whether institutional processes today support or undermine everyday democracy.\u003cbr\u003e—Palma J. Strand, \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA thoughtful and useful analysis of present-day democratic decline.\u003cbr\u003e—Kerry Lauerman, \u003ci\u003eWashington Post Book World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDownsizing Democracy\u003c\/i\u003e has the marks of a book that will be remembered. It applies a master thesis to many different facets of American political life, inviting the reader to see a vast array of previously familiar material as if for the first time and as a whole. In the authors' view, we have come to the end of a centuries-long epoch during which government and political elites needed publicly engaged citizenry . . . The authors prosecute their thesis . . . with admirable insight and persuasiveness.\u003cbr\u003e—Hugh Heclo, \u003ci\u003ePolitical Science Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis fascinating book surveys the changing relationship between the U.S. government and the populace that constitutes its whole . . . Highly recommended.\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1. From Popular to Personal Democracy\u003cbr\u003eChapter 2. The Rise and Fall of the Citizen\u003cbr\u003eChapter 3. Elections Without Voters\u003cbr\u003eChapter 4. The Old Patronage and the New\u003cbr\u003eChapter 5. Disunited We Stand\u003cbr\u003eChapter 6. From Masses to Mailing Lists\u003cbr\u003eChapter 7. The Jurisprudence of Personal Democracy\u003cbr\u003eChapter 8. Movements without Members\u003cbr\u003eChapter 9. Privatizing the Public\u003cbr\u003eChapter 10. Does Anyone Need Citizens?\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Johns Hopkins University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408130449751,"sku":"9781421430676","price":35.1,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/downsizing-democracy-9781421430676","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}