The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics [Hardcover]

Ted Halstead (Author), Michael Lind (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2001

“The Radical Center represents new thinking, combining lessons learned from the past with an optimistic view of the future. This book deserves to be read by thoughtful Americans of all generations.” -- John C. Whitehead, former Chairman, Goldman Sachs

“The curse of modern politics is what the technology world calls “legacy code”_inherited taboos, biases, and blinders that prevent most public figures from expressing, or even thinking, original thoughts. The Radical Center shows us how we could deal with a number of intractable public issues, if we were willing actually to think about them rather than just operating by reflex and rote.” -- James Fallows, Chairman, New America Foundation

The hair-breadth closeness of the 2000 elections and the growing number of voters who identify themselves as independents make it clear that most Americans no longer think in terms of the conventional agendas of Left and Right. In The Radical Center, Ted Halstead and Michael Lind boldly announce the death of sixties liberalism and eighties conservatism and the birth of the new philosophy of Radical Centrism. Taking on experts and partisans on both sides of the political divide and explaining why current ideologies and frameworks are ill-suited to the Information Age, they offer a groundbreaking blueprint for updating and remodeling all sectors of American society.

The Radical Center presents irrefutable evidence that many institutions that promoted progress in the twentieth century now retard progress in the twenty-first. Our archaic electoral system fuels increasing disenchantment with politics; our social contract provides neither the flexibility nor the security that American workers require in the new economy; and our schools and communities fail to impart the skills and values that our citizens need. Arguing that the Information Age has produced a more sophisticated citizenry capable of handling greater choices and responsibilities, Halstead and Lind propose far-reaching, pragmatic reforms for the way we organize elections, provide health and retirement security, collect taxes, structure employment, enforce civil rights, and educate our children.

Twice before America has dramatically reconfigured itself–It shifted from an agrarian to an industrial society after the Civil War and then successfully adapted to the massive technological and demographic changes of the early twentieth century during the New Deal era. Uniting a sweeping historical vision with bold policy proposals, The Radical Center shows us how to reinvent our nation once again so that all Americans, rich and poor, can reap the benefits of the Information Age.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This bold book proposes to take American politics in a totally new direction--away from "our rigid two-party cartel" of Republicans and Democrats, and toward a centrism that currently doesn't exist in an electoral sense. "Our nation's politics are dominated by two feuding dinosaurs that have outlived the world in which they evolved," write Ted Halstead and Michael Lind. Both men are affiliated with the New America Foundation, and Lind is the provocative author of The Next American Nation and Vietnam: The Necessary War. They believe the ongoing technological revolution will transform American politics in fundamental ways, and most of The Radical Center advocates specific shifts across a range of issues. The result is a mishmash that isn't so much a set of new ideas as a blend of existing ones. Halstead and Lind want to enact private-school choice for students and parents (a conservative idea), for instance, and also to equalize funding by essentially abolishing the states' role in education (something that might appeal to liberals). Their goal, they say, is to increase personal choices where possible and minimize class inequalities where feasible.

Much of The Radical Center reads like a wonk's fantasy; Halstead and Lind identify policy problems everywhere they look--from voting rights to health care--and suggest solutions with the confidence of technocrats who believe they can remake the world. What they produce is a grab bag that will simultaneously fascinate and frustrate readers who start off ensconced on either the right or left of the political spectrum. How many people will favor both their idea of abolishing all corporate income taxes as well as their notion of implementing a new nationwide tax on consumption? But that's the point: Halstead and Lind try to forge a new politics that takes the best parts of today's left and right and abandons the rest as so much dead weight. The Radical Center is at once jarring and invigorating; readers willing to engage with it will wrestle with hard questions. Many may come away persuaded by large parts of Halstead and Lind's argument. And if the whole project sounds a tad ambitious, there's a reason: "Major political change in the United States, in short, tends to be revolutionary, not evolutionary." If that's true, then consider The Radical Center a manifesto for a new age that's right around the corner. --John Miller

From Publishers Weekly

The U.S. is in crisis, contend Halstead and Lind (Vietnam: The Necessary War; etc.). While revolutions in information technology and biotechnology are fundamentally reshaping the American economy and society, the two major political parties remain stuck within old ideas and policies. More and more Americans have become alienated from the political status quo and yearn for change, say Halstead and Lind (director and senior fellow, respectively, of the think-tank New America Foundation). In this subtle, clear, and provocative work, they offer a comprehensive blueprint for such change. America has succeeded by adapting to new circumstances while maintaining, albeit imperfectly, a balance among its three constituent parts: the market, government and community. All of the authors' wide-ranging reforms aim at strengthening these spheres. If the new economy is typified by high turnover of employees, employer-based health insurance makes little sense. Better would be mandatory individually funded health insurance, with government provision for the truly needy. So, too, should Social Security be replaced by individual retirement accounts, as the graying of America makes the current generational transfer of funds more and more tenuous and contentious. To confront growing inequality in the U.S., the authors believe, all Americans should be given $6,000 at birth as a means of assuring true equal opportunity and a stake in the system; k-12 education should be funded equally on a per pupil basis by the federal government rather than relying on highly unequal property taxes or regressive state and local sales taxes. Politically, new electoral processes should open up the system to new parties and candidates. There is something here for everyone to cheer or jeer, but in carefully tying together their myriad reforms, the authors present a remarkably coherent vision for the renewal of America. Agent, Kris Dahl, ICM. (Sept. 18)Forecast: The authors will promote this book in N.Y. and D.C., and thanks to Lind's reputation as someone who defies the usual right-left split, it should get attention on the news talk shows and from the pundits.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1 edition (October 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385500459
• ISBN-13: 978-0385500456
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,240,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is it! The opening document for citizen-governance, November 15, 2001

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics (Hardcover)

Those who have bought "The Cultural Creatives" by Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson, or "IMAGINE: What America Could be in the 21st Century", will not only be thrilled by this book, they will understand that the "citizen-centered" system of governance is finally achievable and imminent--we should all try to buy, read, discuss and relate this book to the Congressional elections in 2002 and the Presidential election in 2004.

This book is *loaded* with common sense. It is absolutely not a political spin manual, a manifesto for revolution, or a ponderous think tank "blue sky" prescription for curing all the ills of the world. This book has three simple focal points and they are powerful:

1) More Americans identify themselves as Independents than as either Republicans or Democrats, and the way is open for a new "radical centrist" choice of leadership;

2) The original social contract that placed highly educated experts in charge of everything (government, corporations, even non-profits), taking care of the largely ignorant masses, is *history*. The people are smart, the people are connected, and the people want *choices* rather than ideologically-contrived menus.

3) Young adults are the key to the future and will decide the next few major elections, but only (a huge caveat) if leaders of vision and charisma can come forth with truthful options grounded in reality--the authors are carefully critical of political "triangulation" that seeks to manufacture false representations of common interest, only to betray those the moment after election.

The bottom line in this book is that the artificial trade-offs imposed on the people by menu- and elite-driven party politics are no longer acceptable nor enforceable, and the opportunity now presents itself for the voting public to remake the government from the outside in.

They focus on the core segments and core values that make America great: the market with its liberty; the state with its equality of opportunity; and the community (including religions) with its solidarity and nurturing of civic virtues.

Among the core negatives they identify where citizens could and should be free to choose rather than accept imposed combinations, are:

1) Elections tied to rigid political parties that have veto rights over candidates, and selections that allow minority winners where more than two candidates split the majority vote.

2) Pension and health care programs tied to organizations rather than individuals--trapping individuals and constraining innovation.

3) Educational systems tied to mass conformity rather than individual customization--with gross inequalities across counties and states because property taxes fund education, rather than a national normalized program with equal investments for every child.

4) Tax systems tied to loopholes, patronage, and earnings, rather than to consumption and savings (tax breaks for savings).

5) Immigration policies tied to old needs for low-skilled labor instead of new needs for high-skilled labor and the protection of the nation from dilution, disease, and excess demands on our tax-payer funded safety nets.

There are many other gems in this well-written and self-effacing book. The authors come across as very sensible, very devoted to America and its values, and very much ahead of the curve.

They conclude that major renovations of our society usually result from a combination of three factors: an external shock to the system; the emergence of new political alliances, and the availability of compelling new ideas for social reform.

They specifically note that an obstacle to innovation is the lack of a well-formed political worldview among both the new generation of young voters, and the new elites (most of whom have eschewed politics).

While they say that realignments are not excepted in the next presidential or congressional cycle, but rather over the next ten to twenty five years, I believe they underestimate the power of the Internet and self-organizing groups such as represented by the Cultural Creatives.

I hope the authors consider launching a "Journal of Citizen Governance" and a web-site where citizens' can self-organize, because unlike the cultural creatives and the imaginative individuals who focus in niche areas, these two authors have finally "cracked the code" in a common sense manner that anyone can understand and anyone can act upon.

This is a unique and seminal work that could influence the future of national, state, and local politics, and hence the future of the Nation. This is *very* well done.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Ideas, Good Read, October 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics (Hardcover)

This book is a quick read but still offers up many thought-provoking discussions covering a wide range of issues facing America today. What I enjoy most about the book is that it objectively confronts many issues (like Social Security) that would be considered untouchable by current politicians. Their ideas are refreshing and definitely not a regurgitation of old-school thinking.

Although I would agree with some of the other reviewers in the respect that the authors tend to throw out some statements without backing them up, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in domestic policy and the future of American politics.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too bad our politicians don't read books like this, June 21, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics (Paperback)

The meat of this book is not so much the specific proposals that the authors offer. Instead, the real point of this book is: Our nation has undergone three revolutionary transformations -- from colony to independence (1770's to Civil War), from agrarian to early industrial (Civil War to 1930's), and from early industrial to full industrial (Depression to 1970's). We are now in the throes of a fourth revolution. Unlike the previous three revolutions, our political system is not up to the challenge because our two parties, who have a stranglehold on the levers of power, are each controlled by the most extreme elements within their parties -- at a time when we need consensus and cooperation, not extremes. You may disagree with their specific proposals, you cannot disagree with their analysis of the situation.

Here's my recommendation: Buy TWO copies of this book. Keep one, pass one on to someone you know who is in a position of power and influence -- senator, representative, newspaper editor, state legislator, and the like.