The United States of Ambition: Politicians, Power, and the Pursuit of Office [Paperback]

Alan Ehrenhalt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 1992

The acclaimed and provocative book that explains why America's politicians are continually disappointing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ehrenhalt asks why we elect and re-elect people who fall pitifully short of our ideals of statesmanship. His unsatisfactory answer: we don't. Those with the right kind of ambition and the ability to "manipulate the instruments of the system" (particularly in fund-raising and campaigning) simply nominate themselves and often succeed in garnering the needed votes. While the crucial task of self-nominees is to manufacture issues and constituencies, according to Ehrenhalt, what matters most is how they look and sound rather than what they say. Reaching across the spectrum of American politics from county courthouse to city hall, from state legislature to presidential primary, Ehrenhalt shows how various candidates and incumbents turn themselves into marketable political commodities. Nothing much new here. Ehrenhalt is executive editor of Governing magazine.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In this stimulating examination of American politics, Ehrenhalt, executive editor of Governing magazine, argues that candidates for public office are increasingly self-nominated, full-time professional politicians. They are people who have the ambition, time, skills, and other resources to win and retain elective office. But they frequently lack other qualities that are needed in our legislative and executive institutions in order for them to function effectively as formulators of coherent public policies. Ehrenhalt presents his case by examining recent developments in selected communities and states, as well as in national politics. His work is grounded in modern political science research, but his clearly written, jargon-free analysis is accessible to general readers and scholars. This is a book that deserves to be widely read. Highly recommended for university and public libraries.
- Thomas H. Ferrell, Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 309 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (May 5, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812920279
• ISBN-13: 978-0812920277
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,482,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Professionalization of Political Life, July 30, 2003

By 

S. Corp (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The United States of Ambition: Politicians, Power, and the Pursuit of Office (Paperback)

The book is a good introduction to a larger topic that deserves a more
thorough treatment than a single volume could do. It examines how and
why the political process has devolved since the Republic was founded,
and in so doing, sheds light on the Supreme Law, the Constitution, and
the kind of country and citizenry it contemplated in its design. The key
idea is that liberty and the rule of law depend ultimately on a certain
kind of civic virtue. If that civic virtue fails, tyranny will prevail,
and no written constitution can prevent it.

To understand where we are today, we need to return to the way things
worked with the country was founded, and the presumptions made about
that by the design of the Constitution. The main thing was that almost
all civic functions were performed not by government employees, but by
amateur citizen volunteers. Most government that affected people's lives
was local, and often consisted only of an elected county judge and an

elected county sheriff, who often served only part-time and had other
sources of income. Most decisions were made by town meetings and juries,
and most law enforcement was conducted by militia, few if any of whom
were paid.

One might think that what happened then was that the demand and supply
of civic functions increased to the point where it was no longer
feasible to have the work done solely by unpaid volunteers, that the
core of civic work needed to be done by full-time paid professionals.
That is part of what happened, of course, beginning with downplaying of
the militia and enlargement of the role of the standing military. But
there is another factor that is often overlooked, and to understand it,
we need to look at elections.

Today it seems incredible, but in the early years of the Republic most
candidates for public office won office without great expenditures of
money or the need to raise the money to pay for the campaign. Most
candidates had developed reputations in other fields, and had only to
announce their candidacy, and make speeches. People would flock to hear
those speeches, which were often fairly thoughtful and erudite, and
newspaper reporters would transcribe and publish every word. People
bought the newspapers that provided the most complete coverage of
campaigns, and the most complete, accurate transcriptions.

In those times, there was not even a /Congressional record/ of the
proceedings of Congress. Newspapers sent reporters to record the
proceedings, and published complete records for public sessions. The
same was true of major trials, which were often reported verbatim. They
could afford to do it because there was a demand for political
information of all kinds.

But that changed. First, newspapers became partisan, and their messages
more predictable, and therefore, less interesting. At the same time,
candidates began making speeches that were less policy analysis and more
appeals to emotion, which also made them less interesting. People bought
fewer newspapers filled with political and legal articles. They turned
away to their private affairs. At the same time, more government tax
collections and spending meant more people feeding at the trough of the
public purse, and more people began to vote their pocketbooks rather
than for what was good for the country. Newspapers found they could
charge for political advertising, and began withholding free media
coverage from candidates who didn't pay for a proportional amount of
advertising. This made it necessary for candidates to raise and spend
more money to get elected, and also provided incentives for special
interests to contribute those funds, expecting favorable treatment or at
least "access".

As more and more civic functions came to be performed by full-time
professionals, volunteerism declined. People would rather vote for taxes
(on someone else) to pay full-time workers, than do their parts in doing
the work themselves. The professionals encouraged this attitude, since
volunteers were seen as competitors at an unfair wage. But while the
economic theory of comparative advantage might suggest it is more
efficient for citizens to work at what they do best, pay taxes, and hire
public employees to do the work, in practice this doesn't work. Once the
trend to professionalism gets under way, volunteerism falls off faster
than government services can expand, no matter at what level of
taxation. There is simply no substitute for personal involvement by
almost every citizen in conducting public affairs at his or her own
expense.

The process we have seen over the last two centuries has precedents in
history, which were studied by the Founders, and they foresaw that the
process would probably occur as it has. The process is corruption.

"Political corruption begins with every voter who votes his pocketbook
instead of for what's good for the country. There is little difference
between the selling of his vote by an elected official and the selling
of his vote by a voter, to whatever candidate promises him some benefit."

That is our predicament. It is up to us to decide what to do about it.

http://www.constitution.org

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating analysis..., February 2, 2008

By 

Karen (Wilmington, Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The United States of Ambition: Politicians, Power, and the Pursuit of Office (Paperback)

This book was written over fifteen years ago. I found it because a newspaper columnist quoted it. Although the examples cited in the book are now dated, it still provides a fascinating, valid analysis of the interplay between electorate interests and legislative actions, from local to national level. The book also describes the enormous changes, since about the 1970s, in how legislators come to be elected. And it touches on how these changes have often added to the disfunctionality of legislative bodies.

Even if you read nothing else, don't miss Chapeter 13, "Self-nomination." Still accurate, and quite timely in this 2008 presidential primary season in which I write. Just a very fine book - interesting, well-written, and a must-read for anyone fascinated by politics.