Stifling Political Competition How Government Has Rigged the System
Stifling Political Competition synthesizes political science, economics, and history to demonstrate how the two-party system is the artificial creation of a network of laws, restrictions, and subsidies that favor the Democrats and Republicans and cripple
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James T. Bennett
Stifling Political Competition How Government Has Rigged the System to Benefit Demopublicans and Exclude Third Parties
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James T. Bennett George Mason University Fairfax, VA USA [email protected]
ISSN: 0924-4700 ISBN: 978-0-387-09820-3 DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-09821-0
e-ISBN: 978-0-387-09821-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008939848 # Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, LLC 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper springer.com
Acknowledgments
In 1968, when George Corley Wallace ran for president as a third-party candidate, he made a statement that I have long remembered – ‘‘there’s not a dime’s worth of difference’’ between Democrats and Republicans. Arguably, history has more often than not proved Wallace correct – thus this book. I am grateful to many for their assistance with and support of the research and editing of this work. The research would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the Sunmark Foundation and help from the Locke Institute. Research assistance was provided by William Adams and Steven M. Davis. I also owe profuse thanks to my editor, Bill Kauffman, as I am indebted to him for significant contributions to this study. Finally, I must express my unbounded gratitude to my wonderful wife of more than 40 years, Sally, to whom I dedicate this book. Only a saint could have put up with my ranting and raving about politics and economics (and life in general) for more than four decades. Equally important, she has never read any book that I have written, and that for me is a true blessing – the last thing that I want to do after work is to come home and debate my views and defend my work. Sally is the inspiration for much of what I do well and is blameless for the rest. If only every husband were so lucky, the world would be a much happier place. George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia, USA
James T. Bennett
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Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The American Suspicion of Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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No Competition Allowed or He Who Con
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