America's Failing Experiment: How We the People Have Become the Problem

(Paperback)

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Written in a provocative, jargon-free style ideal for stimulating classroom discussion, Americas Failing Experiment directly challenges would-be reformers who believe the solution to our current political paralysis is more democracy. Kirby Goidel finds that the fault for our contemporary political dysfunction resides not with our elected officials but with our democratic citizenries. He argues that our elected officials are overly responsive to public opinion which is often poorly informed, incoherent, and uncertain. The result is a more polarized political system, rising inequality, and institutional gridlock. Though not new, these concerns take on deeper political significance in a digital age where information flows more quickly and opportunities for feedback are virtually unlimited. If the diagnosis is too much democracy, the counterintuitive solution runs against our cultural normsless citizen involvement, greater discretion for political elites, and greater collective responsibility.

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Many of the academics who began their teaching and research careers during the troubling and depressing eras of Vietnam and Watergate hoped to contribute to a better political system nurtured by less economic and representational inequality and enlightened by greater wisdom from our informational resources. Hopefully, all of this would lead to more informed, cogent and sophisticated voter choices amidst a complicated political issue environment. These academics are now nearing the end of their careers wondering what happened to these hopes for that better political system. Among the next generation of scholars, Professor Goidel provides us with a lucent description of our problems and a prescription for that transformed and better political system. This work is for all of us who understand that our governmental system and way of life confront enormous problems and challenges yet still dream of better tomorrows. -- Anthony J. Eksterowicz, Professor Emeritus, James Madison University
Are we the people our Founders warned us about Kirby Goidel lays out a compelling case for the sources of government failure in the United States. To no small extent, it resides with us and the institutional changes we made to our political system. These changes increased democratic controls, but also decreased accountability and long-range thinking, leading to a crisis-management approach to governing. In his recovery plan,' Goidel challenges us to think creatively about institutional and constitutional reform to preserve the Republicbefore it is too late. -- Ronald Keith Gaddie, author, Regulating Wetland Protection: Environmental Federalism and the States

Author Bio

Kirby Goidel is professor and fellow in the Public Policy Research Institute and the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. Previously, he was the Scripps Howard Professor of Mass Communication and a professor in the Department of Political Science at Louisiana State University where he also served as director of the Public Policy Research Lab. He is co-editor of Survey Practice, a journal sponsored by the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).