Beyond the Politics of Disappointment?

by McWilliams, Wilson Carey

• ISBN13: 9781889119182
• ISBN10: 1889119180
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: Chatham House Pub

Summary

A provocative evaluation of electoral trends&BAD:&BAD:distrust of government, desire for a renewal of the American dream, decreasing voter turnout, support for self-government, debate over the shape of political conflict&BAD:&BAD:which McWilliams characterizes as a politics of disappointment. Includes an incisive analysis of the Clinton years and the impeachment trial.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(8)
Presidential Leadership and Changing Parties: The Election of 1980	9	(16)
The Failure of the Primaries	10	(4)
The Democrats: The Necessity of Party	14	(3)
The New Deal Coalition and the New Deal Family	17	(4)
The Republicans and the New Conservatives	21	(4)
Old Virtues, New Magic: The Election of 1984	25	(23)
Reagan and the Politics of the Electronic Age	27	(4)
Leadership: Old Values and New America	31	(3)
The Democratic Prospect	34	(11)
After 1984	45	(3)
Enchantment's Ending: The Election of 1988	48	(23)
Public Life and Private Media	50	(4)
The Parties and the Nominations	54	(3)
Politics and Memory	57	(3)
Liberalism, Politics, and Economics	60	(5)
Liberalism, Values, and Community	65	(3)
Toward Public Renewal	68	(3)
Thinking about Tomorrow Worriedly: The Election of 1992	71	(19)
Economic Disorder and the American Civil Order	72	(3)
The Skeptical Search for an Active Government	75	(2)
Public Life and Private Politics	77	(5)
The State of the Political Parties	82	(1)
Social Issues: The Democrats and Race	83	(1)
Social Issues: The Republicans and Religion	84	(2)
The Emerging American Politics	86	(4)
Uncertainties at Midcrossing: The Election of 1996	90	(19)
Clinton's Victory: The Uncertain Economy	92	(2)
Clinton's Victory: The Uncertain Community	94	(4)
Republican Alternatives, Democratic Responses	98	(4)
Politics and the American Future	102	(7)
Beyond Disappointment?: Exhaustion and Hope in the Elections of 1998	109	(12)
Appendixes	121	(12)
A. The 1980 Presidential Vote	122	(2)
B. The 1984 Presidential Vote	124	(2)
C. The 1988 Presidential Vote	126	(2)
D. The 1992 Presidential Vote	128	(2)
E. The 1996 Presidential Vote	130	(3)
Notes	133	(28)
Index	161	(5)
About the Author	166