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Populism and the Five Percent Vision
By Zephyr Teachout
I have not yet read David Sirota's new book, The Uprising, but I will nonetheless eagerly recommend it, if only because I think any serious contemplation of populism is worthwhile--and even necessary.
When I say populism--acknowledging that the meaning is contentious, and that I don't know what Sirota's definition is--I mean a few things by it. I mean first, a belief that people have the intellectual and moral capacity to govern themselves, and are in fact better at self-governing than experts who might, on the face of it, appear to be better decision-makers. I mean also that some nontrivial number of citizens and politicians recognize this fact.
One of the most interesting--and disturbing--features of modern politics is the fetishization of expertise at the expense of popular knowledge. In this way, the entire Washington culture is a captured industry, in that staffers and consultants, the bulky satellites of elected representatives, basically accept the premise that "people don't understand" and that the public job of staffers is to spin, not to explain.
(33) CommentsMay 28, 2008
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Thoughts on Borders and Bribery
By Zephyr Teachout
An excellent story by the New York Times yesterday chronicles the rise of border officials accepting bribes:
The pattern has become familiar: Customs officers wave in vehicles filled with illegal immigrants, drugs or other contraband. A Border Patrol agent acts as a scout for smugglers. Trusted officers fall prey to temptation and begin taking bribes.
In 2007, the Inspector General's office had 79 open investigations into "corrupt" border officials from the states bordering Mexico. As one expert in the article notes, people who work the border are especially vulnerable to corruption given the solitary nature of the work and the desperate desire of so many who want to cross. It is, after all, bribery, not force, that breached the great wall of China and allowed the Manchu to conquer.
(52) CommentsMay 27, 2008
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Mad Lib Political Reporting, 2008
By Zephyr Teachout
According to today's New York Times, some Florida Jews are hesitant about Barack Obama. "Some" non-Jews are also, presumably, divided. It's the most blogged-about article of the day, and reading it, I had a strong feeling of déjà vu. This, and every other political article this year, suggests how easy it might be to be a political reporter--if you're willing to accept any ethnic/class/gender/race divisions as the most important information for citizens to know. Don't believe me? Here's a fun mad lib:
Headline: _____[Jews/Blacks/Whites/NonJews/Hispanics/Elderly/Women/Working Class]]Hesistant about _________[Obama/Clinton]; Democrats Fear _____[Adjective] Primary Battle will Splinter Party
Some _______[synonym for top] Democratic strategists worry that _____[ethnic group] will not support _____ [Obama/Clinton]. This much-sought after constituency has voted unevenly, with Clinton winning ___[number] percent of the ____[same ethnic group] vote in ____[State name] and [State name] and Obama winning ____[number] percent of the vote in [State name], after an ____[adjective] battle.
(30) CommentsMay 22, 2008
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Good News for Transparency from Alaska's Senate Race
By Zephyr Teachout
I'm in Alaska this week--a state famous for both beauty and corruption--and the news here is promising for a movement towards open government. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who is running neck-and-neck with Ted Stevens in the race for the US Senate, announced a major ethics pledge this week.
Among other things, Begich campaign promised to ban secret meetings. "[F]rom day one, Mark will post his daily Senate office schedule on his website so every Alaskan knows he is working for Alaska families, not special interests."
If Begich wins--which he can--and follows through on posting his daily Senate office schedule online, he will join Max Baucus and Jon Tester in proving that citizens actually want to know--or at least to know that they could know--what their Senators are doing. You can find Baucus' and Tester's schedules here and here.
(5) CommentsMay 21, 2008
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Victories in Kansas and Missouri for Freedom at the Polls
By Zephyr Teachout
There were two good pieces of news for an engaged electorate in the last few days.
On Friday, Missouri efforts to pass a constitutional amendment that would require voters to bring proof of citizenship to the polls failed to make it to a final vote. Activists opposing the measure estimated that it would have stopped more than 200,000 citizens from voting.
Today, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill that that would have required photo identification to vote. As she rightly said, the bill was allegedly designed to solve a problem that doesnt' exist."
(33) CommentsMay 19, 2008
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The Disappearing Upper Class
By Zephyr Teachout
Edwards, it is hoped, will bring the "working class" vote to Obama. In alternative descriptions, he will help with the "middle class" vote; or what a very tired Clinton might call the "white-middle white-class, white-working, white-vote." This (disappearing) working class population fills the pages of analysis and news. In the New York Times, for example, there are 324 references to "middle class," and 220 references to "working class" in the last three months.
At the same time, the "upper class" is vanishing from our language. In the 18 references in the New York Times in the last three months, none are in the context of elections. "Upper class" appears most in quotes, literature review and history, or as a referent to people on the other side of the puddle, as they say, the "upper-class British" way of life appears, as does the "upper-class European" and the upper class voice of a deceased BBC announcer.
In America, we don't have the upper class, apparently. We have, according to many news reports, "elites." There are thousands of references to elites; in the context of politics, a search for "Clinton" and "elite" in the last three months finds 40 results while the blogs are full of concern about various candidates' tendencies to attract elite voters. It sounds like an epithet, when thrown at campaign managers ("you are just getting the elite vote"), but it's a compliment to the people described therein.
(55) CommentsMay 15, 2008
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The World Record for Leapfrogging
By Zephyr Teachout
The map my grandmother suggested we use--"to the left of the hearth, on the far right of the pile of maps"--was published in 1988, but Newport, Oregon hadn't moved, as far as we could tell. She and I set off to find the 101 in her pale green Lincoln Towncar, the kind with the long bench seats that make you feel like you're sitting in a living room. Bill Clinton was going to speak, his fourth speech of the day, and the least likely to have students around. I mentioned this to a friend. "At the very least, maybe you'll find 1988," she said.
"I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar…." the car radio chimed in. A good start. In 1988, Dusty Springfield was collaborating with the Pet Shop Boys, and Foreigner was singing "I Don't Want to Live Without Your Love" while Chicago was singing "I Don't Want to Live Without You" and Bobby McFerrin was making kids hit themselves on every appendage in sync with "Don't Worry be Happy." Guns 'n Roses could inspire a whole school to sing "sweet chiiiild of mii i i ine…", even in school assembly. Since I went to high school in New Hampshire, the school assembly sometimes included Jack Kemp or Bob Dole, too.
What's interesting about remembering 1988 is that it's possible to remember politics without the Clintons being around. But not this rally. Of the dozen or so people I spoke to, a majority, but only a slim majority, were Clinton supporters. The rest seemed to be there to get a piece of the Berlin Wall before it fell. Clinton was part of history, the epitome of politics, best and worst, for Democrats of a certain age, including anyone over 15. They heard he was in town, and that he was a good speaker.
(24) CommentsMay 13, 2008
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Voter Intimidation in Missouri
By Zephyr Teachout
The New York Times reports today about the efforts in Missouri to change the Missouri Constitution--immediately!--to allow the state to pass laws making it much harder for people to vote.
These are the offending sections of the Missouri Constitution:
* "all persons . . . are entitled to equal rights and opportunity under the law," Mo. Const. art. I, sec. 2 * "all elections shall be free and open; and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage." Mo. Const. art. I, sec. 25. * "All citizens of the United States . . . over the age of eighteen who are residents of this state [**23] and of the political subdivision in which they offer to vote are entitled to vote at all elections by the people, if . . . they are registered within the time prescribed by law" Missouri. Mo. Const. art. VIII, sec. 2
(43) CommentsMay 12, 2008
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America 2.3 (Million)
By Zephyr Teachout
"This isn't just an epigram -- life is much more successfully looked at from a single window, after all." - Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby
As we've recently been reminded, 2.3 million votes were cast in the Florida and Michigan primaries, and the Clinton campaign wants those votes translated into seated delegates. The number, repeated, rang a bell--where had I recently heard 2.3 million before?
I set out to find out.
(47) CommentsMay 8, 2008
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On the Ground in NC: The Barkers of Precinct 35
By Zephyr Teachout
Barker –noun 1. an animal or person that barks.
2. a person who stands before a theater, carnival sideshow, or the like, calling out its attractions to passers-by.Precinct 35 in Durham, NC, is one of the highest voting precincts in the state, according to one of the four volunteers who have taken the day off to bark for Hampton Dellinger, running for Lieutenant Governor outside Precinct 35's polling stations. "Up to 10,000 voters, the biggest in a normal year," he says, "and this year…."
The barker for County Commissioner candidate Josh Parker, chimes in. He is late 60s, white hair, brilliant smile and overbite. "I was the first one here at 6:30, and the line was already around to here." Here is about 100 feet away from the polls. Even now, at 10:15, the line snakes out of the fire station, and the waiting voters start talking to each other, out of our legal reach.
(9) CommentsMay 6, 2008
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