Politics of Fear: How Republicans Use Money, Race and the Media to Win / Edition 1

by Manuel G. Gonzales, Richard Delgado

Overview

"Lucidly written, widely informed, and uncompromisingly honest — a valuable expose." Michael Parenti "Documents the stunning success of a network of wealthy donors and corporations in creating and sustaining a set of think tanks, legal action groups, and media strategies." Gary Orfield, Harvard University What explains the electoral success of Republicans, particularly of the ascendant neoconservatives who now dominate the Party? Based on a thorough and up-to-date examination of the New Right over twenty-five years, The Politics of Fear proposes some provocative answers, including globalization, new technologies, and a far-reaching network of right-wing think tanks and foundations. As the authors show, all have opened the doors to a new politics of fear successfully waged by the neoconservatives. By manipulating insecurity, the New Right has created an extraordinarily successful populist conservative movement. Utilizing extensive documentation, the authors argue convincingly that the fear of immigrants and racial minorities has served as the most effective tactic in the GOP arsenal, while their approach also implicates gays, feminists, and terrorists. The book explains why Americans have willingly supported a party that promises them security, just as it delivers greater economic and political insecurity. The authors argue that, despite their striking political successes, neoconservatives have delivered to voters a set of policies harmful to working Americans in the way of regressive tax measures, military exploits, tort reform, deregulation, and environmental destruction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594512421
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/15/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Manuel G. Gonzales, Richard Delgado

Table of Contents

Introduction; Chapter One The New Right; Chapter Two Conservative Foundations; Chapter Three Right-Wing Think Tanks; Chapter Four Conservatives and the Mass Media; Chapter Five Modern Conservatism; Chapter Six Conservatism and the Politics of Fear; Chapter Seven Democracy for the Few; concl Conclusion;

Editorial Reviews

Lucidly written, widely informed, and uncompromisingly honest— a valuable expose.”
—Michael Parenti

“Documents the stunning success of a network of wealthy donors and corporations in creating and sustaining a set of think tanks, legal action groups, and media strategies.”
—Gary Orfield, Harvard University

“The authors claim that, by encouraging and manipulating the insecurity caused by technological advances and globalization, the New Right has created a powerful populist movement based on fear. The structure of the movement is carefully documented with an analysis of the journalists, media outlets, and think tanks that promulgate this message. A good addition for academic and public libraries with political collections.”
— Library Journal

From the Publisher

COMMNunberg (Sch. of Information, Univ. of California, Berkeley; Going Nucular) more narrowly focuses on how the Right has taken control of the common political language to move our national politics steadily toward the conservative point of view. Words with powerful symbolic meaning, such as patriotism and terrorism, have been appropriated by conservatives and used skillfully to further their political agenda. As an example, Nunberg notes how the word elite has been narrowed to describe more liberal sectors of society, such as academics or the media, rather than referring to corporate or military leaders who exercise real power. This hijacking of the language is tied to the Right's powerful use of storytelling, going back to the 1960s and then epitomized by Ronald Reagan. Nunberg argues that for Democrats to return to power they must take back the language and tell stories that engage listeners. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal