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Conservatives Without Conscience

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Dean is a noted conservative who believed in Nixon's ideals yet questioned his methods. This book is not a knock on the ideals of conservatism, but again on the methods used by the white house. I grew up during Watergate and know many people who were followed and bugged for years. Their only crime was to participate in antiwar demonstrations. A few were involved in the civil rights movement too. There were important lessons for the country and unfortunately many people feel that the ends justify the means. Dean uses facts to illustrate the current admin's propensity to do whatever they like, regardless of the constitutional procedures and limits to the scope of power. Just because you agree with an admin's policies doesn't mean that circumventing democracy is right. Dean made a lot of mistakes but at least he saw the failings of a government that hounded those that disagreed with their policies and used their power for personal vendettas. The book gives good evidence of how the Bush administration is turning towards authoritarism. Several people are ranting that Dean has no credibility, but I could argue that Bush and Cheney are also suspect. These are not the rantings of Dean, but there are facts to document the methods and effects of the executive branch. A good read and an important book for our time.

In "Conservatives Without Conscience," author John Dean makes the observation that seemingly good people will do unconscionable even criminal acts, and put their consciences aside without guilt. Dean wants to know why, and he provides a hypothesis to explain why some will lead people in this direction, and explain why others are willing to follow them.

The author may be well-suited for such a task. As White House Counsel to President Richard M. Nixon, and an admitted Barry Goldwater conservative, he was surrounded by the Watergate Investigation, in which White House staffers conducted burglary, perjury, obstruction of justice, and other crimes, or knew of them, or concealed them, all in the name of their leader, Richard Nixon.

John Dean relies heavily on the work of a social psychologist, Dr. Altemeyer of the University of Manitoba, who has done much work on the theory of authoritarianism. According to Dean, Altemeyer's work in this area has been officially recognized, and he is considered an expert in the field.

Dr Altemeyer categorizes authoritarians as followers and leaders to varying degrees. What he also found was that authoritarians are likely to maintain certain beliefs about themselves which include a deep belief in God, patriotic, conservative, and see themselves as being more moral, ethical, honest, and better people than others in general. Their behavior however, is likely to be less honest, loyal or ethical than others.

Dean attempts to apply this to our modern day politicians of whom he is very selective. He finds a match between Altemeyer's theories and list of traits in people like Dick Cheney whom he contends is the real president, George W. Bush, Newt Gingrich, Bill Frist, Tom Delay and others.

The author provides plenty of anecdotal evidence to support his hypothesis: the president's signing statements, the secret meetings that are withheld from the public because of national security, George Bush's comments: "A dictatorship wouldn't be bad, just so long as I'm the dictator," or "I'm the decider." Newt Gingrich's ability to discard friends once he no longer finds them useful, and of course, Tom Delay who changed the rules of congress, where subterfuge and heavy-handed tactics have replaced debate, discussion, and compromise.

Because of the abiding belief in their leaders, authoritarian followers will put their scruples aside, for the greater good. Examples of these followers were: Attorney General, John Mitchell, G. Gordon Liddy, Paul Ehrichman, H.R. Haldeman, and Charles Colson during the Nixon administration. According to Dean, their modern day counterparts are members of Congress, cabinet secretaries who serve at the pleasure of the president, and millions of others who believe that patriotic Americans are leading them.

The reader should keep in mind that the author is attempting to prove a thesis here but offers no scientific evidence. It does not prove that all the people described earlier fit neatly in this authoritarian theory, nor can it explain their behavior with any certainty.

The one part of this book that is unquestionable is Dean's assertion that Americans must participate in their democratic form of government if it is to succeed. It cannot be simply observed or ignored. If it is, authoritarians will pick it up and take it away. Dean warns that we haven't lost it yet, but we are losing it day by day.

I recommend this book (after the first chapter) because it provided another way for me to look at family members and acquaintances whose rabid or knee-jerk loyalty for anything conservative I could not explain.

At least, now I have an explanation.

John Dean's latest book manages to question his own former political ideals years after they have evolved into something reminiscent of authoritarian rule.

For those of you who complain just to say "conservatives are always right and liberals are always wrong," you aren't going to like this book because you are clearly not an open-minded and intelligent person. I consider myself to be conservative, but I promise you that the facts stated in this book will not offend anyone. As a matter of fact, this really is Dean's most scientific and unbiased book to date.

Bottom line: for you intellectuals and open-minded people, you will find this a fascinating read. For those of you who are going to bash anything that perhaps challenges your own personal beliefs, avoid this book. But don't give it a poor rating just because you are a conservative.

In his book, "Conservative Without Conscience," John Dean employs his distinctive knowledge and understanding of Washington politics to examine the conservative radical Republican leaders - from Capitol Hill to Pennsylvania Avenue to K Street and beyond. The author not only highlights specific right-wing-driven GOP policies but also probes the conservative mind-set, identifying recurring qualities such as the unbridled viciousness toward those daring to disagree with them, as well as the big business favoritism that costs taxpayers billions. Dean identifies specific examples of how court packing is seeking to form a judiciary that is activist by its very nature, how religious piety is producing politics run amok, and how concealed indifference to the founding principles of liberty and equality is pushing America further and further from its constitutional foundations. To not give away the details, this is a perfect book for those who want to know what's happening at the top levels of the Republican Party. The author presents his text to show what the current right-wing authoritarian is thinking when conflated with the dominating personalities of the conservative leadership that could take the United States toward its own version of fascism. This is a MUST READ book for those who want to learn more about the United States Republican Party and its effect to our society. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

The first thing you must understand about this book is it's title. On first blush, it would probably appear to the average reader to be a vitriolic attack on conservatives in the line of Coulter's attacks on liberals. But you would be quite (if understandably) mistaken. No, Dean's title takes off from the title of Barry Goldwater's famous book, "The Conscience of a Conservative" (in fact, Dean dedicates his book to Goldwater, who was actively working with Dean on this new book until he died). Dean is still a conservative, yet he can read the writing on the wall at least as well as anyone and knows how dangerous and ultimately anti-American the authoritarians within the ranks of conservatism have become and how they're riding higher and higher on that dubious vehicle into American despotism.

This book is above all a rational, scientific book with Dean adopting the role of Carl Sagan in popularizing the too-little known political social science involving authoritarianism, which is predominantly conservative (Stalinism was, social-scientifically speaking, conservative authoritarianism, regardless of the labels one applies to its other elements). It desperately needs to be read by all who wish to be politically aware and those who wish to examine their consciences. Sociology has much to tell us about this complex subject, and John Dean is a direct witness to how conservative authoritarianism can lead us to disaster.

It even explains the strident negative reviews here: conservative authoritarians always take particularly great umbrage when their personalities and attributes and characters are examined honestly and scientifically, for as social scientists have discovered about them, they realize they can't stand up well to scrutiny without inward or outward deception.

I gave half of this book 5 stars and the other half 3 stars. John Dean does a really good job of highlighting the threat of authoritarian conservatism up to the point at which he starts examining "scientific studies," in order to make broad generalizations about conservatives.

Let me state that I'm not a Democrat and I've been closely involved with the Republican party in the past. In college, I was a classic Reagan Republican (you remember...smaller government, personal freedom). I was president of the local College Republicans and a campus coordinator for Bob Dole. Things started to change, however, after 9/11 when my elected government started spying on its citizens, putting people in jail without charges and submitting them to torture, questioning the patriotism of dissenters; all of the things I had once associated with the old Soviet Union. I started to wonder what had happened to the party that I was once a proud member of. The portions of this book that don't deal with the scientific studies helped to answer that question.

As Mr. Dean points out, the modern Republican Party has been hijacked by a small but active group of authoritarian operatives, willing to engage in any act to further their cause. This small group is supported by a loyal core of conservative christians without the intellect to think about the ramifications of what their leaders are doing (I was also deeply involved in the Pentecostal Church in my younger days, so I know this from first-hand experience). You don't need a scientific study to prove that Tom DeLay and Dick Cheney are sociopaths. The facts and the logical arguments that flow from those facts, speak for themselves.

All in all, this is an excellent book that Liberals, Libertarians and abandoned Republicans should take to heart before it's too late.

Still known as one of the figures in the Watergate cover up, John Dean is an unlikely hero for this liberal. However, the central thesis of his latest book argues that the GOP has been hijacked by extremists who ingeniously pose as moderates. They've taken the `middle America' strategy pioneered by Nixon himself to dangerous extremes--and are doing much worse than Watergate if not stopped.

While parts of the book possibly do come across as self-pity (since he is still trying to salvage his reputation across the political spectrum, of course he would attack an unpopular president) I am also familiar with the `Goldwater conservatism' which is talked about in the book.

The late Arizona Republican Senator, once considered Mr. GOP and the standard bearer of the `New Right' actually was a staunch libertarian, something which has gone over the head of his political descendants--rushing to claim the title, but not the accompanying issue positions and duties. Unlike Goldwater, they are rushing to the side of social conservatives, who want to fight for freedom abroad by denying it to Americans at home.

Therefore it also is quite possible this book is Dean telling the truth--and desperately hoping the audiences will heed his message before any further damage is inflicted upon the country.

Other people could write `exposes' of the Republican Party, but they would not carry Dean's historical weight. Specifically because of who he is--and yes, what role he played in American history, Dean is qualified to write a no-holds barred critique of the current Republican Party's internal problems and the external consequences.

The genesis of this fascinating book is almost as interesting as the findings themselves. In the early 1990's, John W. Dean, former White House counsel under Nixon, teamed with the late former Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona to start an inquiry into the increasing religious orientation of the conservative movement. Upon Goldwater's failing health and eventual death in 1998, Dean took on the whole of the study and has discovered a virulent movement moving closer to authoritarianism. None of this is exactly earth-shattering if you have read Bruce Bartlett's "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy" or Dean's previous book, "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush" or simply listen to Bill Maher or Jon Stewart. What becomes profound from Dean's analysis of the study is how deeply rooted this movement has become in the current political infrastructure and the fact that he writes about all this as an appeal to his fellow conservatives.

Although Dean takes dead aim at Bush for violating the Constitution by making the executive branch the most powerful arm of the government at the expense of Congress, the true leaders of the autocratic conservative movement are, unsurprisingly, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. Dean does not make personal attacks but actually uses findings from the study to isolate the characteristics of their personality types to have us understand why their thinking has become so dominant in policy making. What results is a fearsome picture of encroaching fascism with a twist, for the titular head of the government is portrayed as a weak-minded follower in this schema. Regardless, the core regime of the Bush administration is moving lockstep in mobilizing their agenda in the most clandestine manner by bypassing checks and balances and allowing souring relations with Congress to fragment the Republican Party.

As a staunch member of that party, Dean does not allow his critical appraisal remain purely as a diatribe in his book, as he presents a possible scenario based on the ideas of his co-sponsor, Goldwater, whose conservatism had a libertarian streak while he was in office. No matter how much of a firebrand he was, Goldwater, according to Dean, held onto principles that allowed both parties to debate fairly on issues. Much of this tome could have come across as pure political rhetoric, but the difference here is that Dean is no gerrymandering enemy of the right. One cannot help but think his Watergate experience lends a unique perspective from someone who has experienced the fallout of executive duplicity at his own personal sacrifice. This is an important read, well written and comprehensively documented.

Conservatives Without Conscience" was originally planned as a joint effort with Senator Goldwater ("Conscience of a Conservative"), but ended up as a solo Dean effort due to Goldwater's illness and death. In it, the rise of the new conservative movement over the past two decades has led to disturbingly confrontational, vicious demagoguery and self-righteousness. Dean accounts for this as the result of growing conservative authoritarianism, bolstered by religious fundamentalism's parallel growth.

Today's "social conservatives" (religious right) oppose everything they perceive as liberal, including "activist" judges whose ruling run counter to their beliefs); in fact, it is their organizing principle, and their reason for existence as a group. It also serves as a handy means of rallying the troops, an easy "straw man" (only 18% identify themselves as liberals).

Much of "Conservatives Without Conscience" is taken up with insights from a few experts. One describes right-wing authoritarians (RWA) as generally aggressive towards others when such is perceived as sanctioned by existing authorities, and also accept almost without question the statements and actions of established authorities who agree with their views. At the same time RWAs are intolerant of criticism of their favored authorities - seeing them as unassailably correct. In religious matters, RWA tend to be fundamentalists.

"Dominators" (typically found among those running things) have relatively little moral restraint - it all boils down to what you can get away with. "Fear" is one of their major motivators.

Dean then goes on to apply these two personalities to today's politics and politicians. Congressional conservatives first displayed their authoritarian traits when they reorganized the House in '95 to make it monocratic. Delay and Hastert practically wrote the bills themselves, and in '03, 57% defined them as "emergency," allowing consideration with as little as 30 minutes notice. The proportion of bills with no amendments allowed has risen from 56% in '94 to 76%, when last reviewed. Conference committees exclude Democrats, and may re-write bills and send back up to 1,000 pates for a vote without allowing amendment and requiring a vote within 24 hours.

As for the Senate, they have become more authoritarian by using a parliamentary maneuver to allow a simple majority to cut off debate on Presidential appointments - despite Republicans having done this with some of Clinton's nominations.

At the White House level, Bush's signing statements on new bills amounts to "I'll do what I want, despite what this says." Even more authoritarian is Bush/Cheney's constant use of fear and secrecy. Unfortunately, combining authoritarianism and secrecy produce incompetence, according to Dean.

Bottom Line: Dean's expert source believes about 2025% in the U.S. fit the RWA profile; unfortunately, they are also more politically active than most.

Psychological research is typically dismissed for its lack of causal relationships between two variables. Unlike hard sciences, psychologists cannot put a cause and effect label on an individual's behavior like Newton did with the apple.

However, make no mistake, there is an importance to psychological research, and that importance is underscored in this book by John Dean.

Dean uses the work of political/social psychologist Bob Altemeyer and others in the field to outline the four tenets of behavioral study: 1) describe; 2) explain; 3) predict; and 4) influence.

Dean believes the Bush administration has run the United States with an autocratic hand. Conservatism has become a dangerous movement led by what Altemeyer describes as authoritarian leaders and authoritarian followers. Modern conservatism is a movement that has morphed into a black-and-white world of beliefs about human nature. Dean uses the objective data of Altemeyer to stress that the personalities, which unlike moods do not change very easily, have led to this administration's indifference to principles of liberty and eqaulity set forth in the Constitution.

This description of authoritarianism explains why individuals like Bush, Cheney, Abramoff, Pat Robertson and Tom DeLay push their moral and intellecutal superiority onto the world and expect everyone to step in line. They rarely admit mistakes because that would show supposed weakness in their minds. And since they are conservatives, the answers to any problem have already been established.

Many buy into this thinking, according to Dean, because the tendency of most in society is to follow someone lock step who gives the impression of having all the answers. This is why the Republican Congress and 25 percent of the electorate would follow George Bush no matter what, according to Dean. They are simply weak-minded and fearful of losing their position in society. Fear-mongering is how authoritarians govern.

Finally, Dean's purpose is to influence those moderates and conservatives with a conscience to rise up against the Bush regime and take back our government. Whether he was successful may depend on the 2006 midterm elections.

Of course, this is a political work and its very thesis carries with it an outright dismissal from those who reject the author based on his history in the public eye. Ironically, Dean understands this because he knows the tendencies of those in power and those who blindly follow those in the executive branch.

But Dean's work should not be dimissed. It is an accessible and very readable account of how personality influences politics. This book is partisan, sure, but it is intellectual and rational, unlike recent book's like FUBAR from Sam Sedar or Godless by Ann Coulter.

The bottom line is that personalities create political power. Dean's point is that democracies lose when the autocrats run the show.