In "Democracy at Risk", author Jeff Gates opines that democracy in the United States has actually become a plutocracy. Average citizens have little to no influence with legislators when compared with the access extremely wealthy capitalists have gained from years of dominating the financing of the major political parties. Declining voter turnout suggests that citizens are resigned to a condition of powerlessness, one of many symptoms of an unhealthy democracy.
Against this backdrop, Gates believes that the time is ripe for a new form of populist politics. He boldly sketches out a proposed populist political agenda that he believes could connect with today's disillusioned voters. Gates includes an interesting section where he describes the type of personality an ideal populist Presidential candidate might need to possess in order to attract voters and deal effectively with opposition parties.
As a veteran Beltway insider and architect of the legislation that created ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans) in the 1970s, Gates knows a lot about finance, ownership and public policy. He shows how current laws privilege finance at the expense of labor and the environment but argues that such laws can be changed if the people demand it. Therefore, Gates believes that an important task for a populist party will be to educate the public about the link between concentrated financial power and ownership with economic and environmental sustainability.
Gates writes with knowledge and passion, but at times the rush of ideas is so intense that the book tends to wander off course. For example, there are dozens of brilliant and imaginative ideas sprinkled throughout the text. But this is sometimes confusing for the reader, given that Gates organized the book into four distinct sections; shouldn't these important solutions have been grouped in one place to facilitate ease of reference?
But Gates does in fact reserve section four of the book for his cornerstone idea: "Share Our Wealth", a highly controversial program of wealth redistribution (from the rich to everyone else). Understanding that this proposal will raise more than a few eyebrows, Gates includes a Question and Answer section to address objections to his plan. But while the idea may have some merit, I think that the proposal would generate such intense opposition that it might overshadow and crush the otherwise adminrable populist agenda that the author has successfully envisioned. Indeed, "Share Our Wealth" is an idea of such magnitude that it more rightly deserves a separate book to flesh out the idea more fully and provide the support it needs to make the idea defensible.
Overall, this book in my view accurately diagnoses much of what is wrong with our democracy and proposes some useful populist-flavored solutions, but unfortunately does not convincingly make the case for the "Share Our Wealth" concept. Nevertheless, "Democracy at Risk" is recommended reading for those who may be pondering how a fully-functioning democracy might be restored in this country.
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