The 1996 Election and Populism: Some Readings

The 1996 Election and Populism: Some Readings

How can we understand the 1996 American election? Is it the spectacle described in the media: a horse race between preening candidates, a circus which turns politics into theater? Or are there actually important issues behind the personality contests? Several recent books by political scientists and historians help us to put the forthcoming American election in perspective. I discuss in this article first two books that take a global overview, then a number of others specifically on the American scene, and analyze the readings they afford, especially on populism.

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  • Barber, Benjamin R.Jihad vs. McWorld. New York: Times Books, 1995.
  • Enzensberger, Hans Magnus.Civil Wars. New York: The New Press, 1994.
  • Ehrenreich, Barbara.The Worst Years of Our Lives. New York: Pantheon, 1990.
  • Fukuyama, Francis.The End of History and the Last Man. New York: The Free Press, 1992.
  • Goodwyn, Lawrence.The Populist Moment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.
  • Handelman, Stephen.Comrade Criminal. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995.
  • Kazin, Michael.The Populist Persuasion. New York: Basic Books, 1995.
  • Phillips, Kevin.The Emerging Republican Majority. New York: Random House, 1969.
  • ------.The Politics of Rich and Poor. New York: Random House, 1990.
  • ------.Arrogant Capital. New York: Random House, 1995.