Democracy incorporated: managed democracy and the specter of inverted totalitarianism

375 Pages·2017·1.007 MB·English

by  Wolin, Sheldon S

Democracy Incorporated

Democracy Incorporated
Managed Democracy and
the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism
heldon olin
S S. W
PrincetonUniversityPress
PrincetonandOxford
Copyright©2008byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,6OxfordStreet,
Woodstock,OxfordshireOX201TW
AllRightsReserved
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Wolin,SheldonS.
Democracyincorporated:manageddemocracyandthespecterof
invertedtotalitarianism/SheldonS.Wolin.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-691-13566-3(hardcover:alk.paper)
1.Democracy—UnitedStates.2.Corporatestate—UnitedStates.
3.UnitedStates—Politicsandgovernment.4.Politicalscience—History.
5.Politicalscience—Philosophy—History.6.Totalitarianism.7.Fascism.I.Title.
JK1726.W662008
320.973—dc22 2007039176
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailable
ThisbookiscomposedinElectra
Printedonacid-freepaper.∞
press.princeton.edu
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
To Carl and Elizabeth Schorske

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvii
preview 1
chapter one
MythintheMaking 4
chapter two
Totalitarianism’sInversion:
BeginningsoftheImaginaryofaPermanentGlobalWar 15
chapter three
Totalitarianism’sInversion,Democracy’sPerversion 41
chapter four
TheNewWorldofTerror 69
chapter five
TheUtopianTheoryofSuperpower:
TheOfficialVersion 82
chapter six
TheDynamicsofTransformation 95
chapter seven
TheDynamicsoftheArchaic 114
chapter eight
ThePoliticsofSuperpower:
ManagedDemocracy 131
chapter nine
IntellectualElitesagainstDemocracy 159
chapter ten
DomesticPoliticsintheEraofSuperpowerandEmpire 184
chapter eleven
InvertedTotalitarianism:
AntecedentsandPrecedents 211
chapter twelve
DemoticMoments 238
chapter thirteen
Democracy’sProspects:
LookingBackwards 259
Notes 293
Index 339
Preface
As a preliminary I want to emphasize certain aspects of the approach
taken in this volume in order to avoid possible misunderstandings. Al-
thoughtheconceptoftotalitarianismiscentraltowhatfollows,mythesis
is not that the current American political system is an inspired replica
ofNaziGermany’sorGeorgeW.BushofHitler.1ReferencestoHitler’s
Germany are introduced to remind the reader of the benchmarks in a
system of powerthatwasinvasiveabroad, justified preemptivewarasa
matterofofficialdoctrine,andrepressedalloppositionathome—asys-
temthatwascruelandracistinprincipleandpractice,deeplyideologi-
cal,andopenlybentonworlddomination.Thosebenchmarksareintro-
duced to illuminate tendencies in our own system of power that are
opposed to the fundamental principles of constitutional democracy.
Those tendencies are, I believe, totalizing in the sense that they are
obsessedwithcontrol,expansion,superiority,andsupremacy.
The regimes of Mussolini and Stalin demonstrate that it is possible
fortotalitarianismtoassumedifferentforms.Italianfascism,forexam-
ple, did not officially adopt anti-Semitism until late in the regime’s
historyandeventhenprimarilyinresponsetopressurefromGermany.
Stalinintroducedsome“progressive”policies:promotingmassliteracy
and health care; encouraging women to undertake professional and
technical careers; and (for a brief spell) promoting minority cultures.
Thepointisnotthatthese“accomplishments”compensateforcrimes
whosehorrorshaveyettobefullycomprehended.Rather,totalitarian-
ismiscapableoflocalvariations;plausibly,farfrombeingexhaustedby
itstwentieth-centuryversionswould-betotalitariansnowhaveavailable
technologies of control, intimidation and mass manipulation far sur-
passingthoseofthatearliertime.
TheNaziandFascistregimeswerepoweredbyrevolutionarymove-
mentswhoseaimwasnotonlytocapture,reconstitute,andmonopolize
state power but also to gain control over the economy. By controlling
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