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Description

Offering a broad historical perspective, Selfa shows how the Democratic Party has time and again betrayed the aspirations of ordinary people while pursuing an agenda favorable to Wall Street and U.S. imperial ambitions.

He examines the relationship between party leaders and social movements, from the civil rights struggle to the movement to end the Iraq war; reveals the unhappy marriage between U.S. labor and the “party of the people;” and assesses the mixed record of attempts to build a third party alternative.

Further, Selfa argues that the Democrats’ record of backing the rich and breaking promises to its voting base is not a recent departure from an otherwise laudable past, but results from its role as one of two parties serving the interests of the U.S. establishment.

Author Bios

Lance Selfa is a frequent contributor to the International Socialist Review, and writes a column on U.S. politics in Socialist Worker newspaper. He is the author of The Democrats: A Critical History.

More Info

Publication date: August 7, 2012

Table of Contents
Chapter One
“History’s Second-Most Enthusiastic Capitalist Party”

Chapter Two
The Party of Slavery Becomes the Party of the People

Chapter Three
TheRiseof theNewDemocrats

Chapter Four
Social Movements and the “Party of the People”

Chapter Five
Defenders of the Empire

Chapter Six
Can the Left Take Over the Democratic Party?

Chapter Seven
Why Is There No Alternative?

Conclusion
Is the Lesser Evil Good Enough?

Reviews

Blog Posts

Don Lash: "The threats of Trumpism may seem removed from the struggles within the child welfare system. Sooner or later, however, those struggles will have to join the wider resistance to the Trump regime."

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