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Lewis H. Lapham
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Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and Stifling of Democracy Hardcover – June 17, 2004

by Lewis Lapham (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
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Stating that there has never been a greater need for democratic reform in the form of organized public protest, a history of American political dissent charges the Bush administration with forsaking democracy in favor of preserving the American oligarchy. 40,000 first printing.
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  1. Print length
    192 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Press HC, The
  4. Publication date
    June 17, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    5.32 x 0.83 x 7.86 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1594200173
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1594200175
  8. See all details
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4.1 out of 5 stars
17 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Jazzyjava
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lao Tzu & Janet2
    Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    Thank God for Lewis H. Lapham and other voicesof dissent in these times. A good read.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Maureen
    4.0 out of 5 stars Gag Rule
    Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Condition fair.
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  • Michael S. Scheibinger
    5.0 out of 5 stars Do We Deserve Democracy? Probably Not.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2004
    In another characteristically bleak journey down into the depths of his adjective-laden dark side, Lewis Lapham develops his thesis that the politically slothful and intellectually comatose citizens of the United States of America are about to forfeit their dwindling democracy due to general ignorance and a pervasive lack of participation. The usual culprits are here for the blaming: the failings of public education, the media, political extremists on both sides of the equation, apathy, the general ignorance of historical precedent as harbinger, etc. Lapham lays it down in his own inimitable and slightly awkward style, and as usual, his stance is firmly grounded in fact and perfectly logical and believable.

    The George W. Bush administration is horrifying and monstrous, but not so horrifying that it doesn't have any historical parallels in U.S. politics. While McCarthyism is an obvious and convenient comparison, closer parallels can be drawn with Woodrow Wilson's administration (corporate hegemony, war as diversionary tactic, the stifling of dissent, all on a grand scale), and this is all entertainingly called out by Lapham, which makes for interesting reading.

    Lapham blames public education for illiteracy in America, which he extrapolates out to those individuals reading and comprehending at a level slightly higher than 'functional' ("street signs and restaurant menus"), and estimates to be about 1/3 of the population. While our educational system does suck, I would like to see more causal emphasis placed on families - a topic that Lapham doesn't touch in this book. America's educational sorting machine is completely useless and superfluous, and is no longer even salvageable enough to be the focus of any real attention or concern, or even ridicule, so why bother? (there I did it, just when I was totally convinced that nobody on earth is capable of 'one-downing' the grizzled Lapham).

    Predictably, much of Lapham's bile gets slathered over the American 'news' media, which of course deserves nothing but scorn. What else is new? The people who will take the time to read this book are newshounds and cynics to a man, already happily singing and playing in Lapham's dour band. If this book were released on CD so that illiterate America could partake of its bitter pleasures, would they? I doubt it.

    People like Lapham - erudite, superintelligent, respected in their fields - I wonder if they feel empty and weightless (albeit with all their bills paid) as their copy goes to press. These writers are not going to change any hearts and minds. Lapham will have no fresh faces to cry out, "I told you so!" to after what remains of America's democratic system has been drained, dismantled, and replaced by an abomination of the court, only to control and manipulate illiterate Americans by then reduced to nothing but a horde of savages conscripted to do its preemptive will.

    Lapham understands that Americans are too lazy and cowed to be effective at doing democracy any more. In order to get back in the laboratory and continue the grand experiment, we may have to break down the doors that are currently barred and bolted by George W. Bush's secretive and diabolical clan. Lapham calls for a revolution, but be careful, it might get violent! Well, maybe this will come to pass, but literature will not light the fuse. If the American majority allows itself to be coaxed up onto the world-domination bandwagon, then it better be ready to waste a serious amount of lives; it can't happen without a full-on draft. Whether or not America will be willing to allow it remains to be seen.

    Except for a few places where Lapham goes completely over-the-top, I agree with him completely - but then, which of his readers wouldn't? Look at the other reviews here, all sung by the choir. Lapham's work is great stuff and makes for very good company. Enjoy it while our democracy goes crawling off into a corner to die for lack of care and feeding. American citizens' finally bidding democracy adieu really should come as no great shock or surprise - as Lapham reminds us, its happened to almost every other country that has ever tried it.

    Lewis: trim those adjectives! Everyone else: subscribe to Harper's and get your monthly anti-optimism booster, courtesy Lewis Lapham and his cadre.
    29 people found this helpful
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  • James Eickelberg
    4.0 out of 5 stars On Point
    Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    Timely and incisive, but does anyone read this kind of book other than those who already agree with the author?
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Michael D. Chlanda
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brutally honest assessment of speech in Bush's America.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2006
    This book tells (in brutal detail) how this [pick your adjective] (as it's hardly an administration so much as a regime) uses, or better to say, misuses, the 'Patriot Act' and 'Homeland Security' to stifle, with the help of the people, and the media (especially), dissent in America. With emphasis on Bush and his people, Lapham tells it like it is. Hopefully, people will read this book and take notice, and create a "debate" in this nation, on the war, the economy, and other importance issues to replace the "monologue" coming from the right wing of the country. People share some responsibility in letting these people (Bush and others) suppress the free expression we are supposed to have, using 9/11 as an excuse. When someone like Ann Coulter can trash the widows and others who lost people on 9/11, but there isn't allowed a rebuttal, something is wrong. This is the kind of one sided and dictatorial view that's pervading the nation right now, and Bush and his people are attempting to suppress it. Lapham Rocks! A must read for most people (of course, right wingers, like Coulter, would vehemently disagree. She ought to be glad she's in a country, so far, that allows her right to be wrong, too bad she doesn't support it.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Sean Mulligan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great History of Civil Liberties in the United States
    Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2009
    Mr. Lapham shows the connection between the Bush Administration's attacks on civil liberties such as the PATRIOT ACT and the undermining of Habeus Corpus and earlier repressions such as the McCarthyite Red Scare during the 1940's and 50's and Palmer Raids during the Wilson Administration. Contary to the common perception that Wilson was a great Liberal President, Lapham denounces Wilson was a self riteous autrocrat who disdained the rights of people who disagreed with him.

    Lapham includes many good explanatory notes and citations for other good works on the history of Civil Liberties in the United States.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Jda2602
    5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Lapham
    Reviewed in Canada on July 10, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    So eloquent one sometimes wonders whether the eloquence overwhelms the substance. But it seems equally substantial. Recalls the outrageous behaviour of Worldcom and the Supreme Court's role in the Bush-Gore presidential election. Particularly helpful in understanding the media.
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