Research Catalog
Just how stupid are we? : facing the truth about the American voter
- Title
- Just how stupid are we? : facing the truth about the American voter / Rick Shenkman.
- Author
- Shenkman, Richard.
- Publication
- New York : Basic Books, [2008], ©2008.
Items in the Library & Off-site
Filter by
1 Item
| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Not available - Please for assistance. | Text | Request in advance | JK1764 .S534 2008 | Off-site |
Holdings
Details
- Description
- xii, 210 pages; 22 cm
- Summary
- "In Just How Stupid Are we?, best-selling historian Rick Shenkman takes aim at our great national piety: the wisdom of the American people. The hard truth is that American democracy is more direct than ever - but voters are misusing their political power and neglecting their responsibilities. Americans are paying less and less attention to politics at a time when they need to pay much more. Television has dumbed politics down to the basest possible level, while the real workings of politics have become vastly more complicated. As a consequence, today's voters are far less equipped than their grandparents were to grapple with the challenges facing the nation - and thus far more susceptible to soothing myths, bumper sticker slogans, and raw emotional appeals." "Shenkman offers concrete proposals for reforming our institutions - the government, the media, civic organizations, political parties - to make them work better for the American people. But first, Shenkman argues, we must reform ourselves."--BOOK JACKET.
- Subject
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-196) and index.
- Contents
- 1. The Problem -- 2. Gross Ignorance -- 3. Are the Voters Irrational? -- 4. The Importance of Myths -- 5. Giving Control to the People -- 6. The Power of Television -- 7. Our Dumb Politics: The Big Picture -- 8. Our Mindless Debate About 9/11 -- 9. We Can't Even Talk About How Stupid We Are -- Coda: Hope.
- ISBN
- 9780465077717 (alk. paper)
- 0465077714 (alk. paper)
- LCCN
- 2007052601
- 40015533481
- OCLC
- ocn186348980
- 186348980
- SCSB-5414927
- Owning Institutions
- Columbia University Libraries