15 quotes
In the nature of things a political conflict among special interests is never restricted to the groups most immediately interested.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
The failure to understand that unification and division are a part of the same process has produced some illusions about politics.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
Sectionalism tends strongly to depress party organization because elections in one-party areas are won not by competing with the opposition party but by eliminating it.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
There is a perpetual effort of the parties to isolate each other. To say it crudely, all radical proposals for the re-organization of American politics propose to isolate the rich.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
From the standpoint of party politics the margins within which pressure groups operate are limited. If a group divides equally in an election, its impact is zero.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
The vice of the groupist theory is that it conceals the most significant aspects of the system. The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upperclass accent. Probably about 90 per cent of the people cannot get into the pressure system.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
Democracy is a competitive political system in which competing leaders and organizations define the alternatives of public policy in such a way that the public can participate in the decision-making process.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
Since it is not easy to move special-interest groups from one party camp into the other, is it not better party strategy to try to capitalize on the public hostility toward many of these groups than it is to woo them?
The Semisovereign People (1960)
In the competition of conflicts there is nothing sacred about our preference for big or little conflicts. All depends on what we want most. The outcome is not determined merely by what people want but by their priorities.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
The role of conflict in the political system depends, first, on the morale, self-confidence and security of the individuals and groups who must challenge the dominant groups in the community in order to raise an opposition.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
The distinction between public and special interests is an indispensable tool for the study of politics. To abolish the distinction is to make a shambles of political science by treating things that are different as if they were alike.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
The scope and bias of the pressure system do not fit easily into the calculus of party politics. First, the pressure system is much too small to play the role sometimes assigned to it. Secondly, the supposed party neutrality of the pressure groups is largely a myth.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
Political conflict is not like an intercollegiate debate in which the opponents agree in advance on a definition of the issues. As a matter of fact, the definition of the alternatives is the supreme instrument of power; the antagonists can rarely agree on what the issues are because power is involved in the definition.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
One possible synthesis of pressure politics and party politics might be produced by describing politics as the socialization of conflict. That is to say, the political process is a sequence: conflicts are initiated by highly motivated, hightension groups so directly and immediately involved that it is difficult for them to see the justice of competing claims.
The Semisovereign People (1960)
It is the losers in intrabusiness conflict who seek redress from public authority. The dominant business interests resist appeals to the government. The role of the government as the patron of the defeated private interest sheds light on its function as the critic of private power relations.
The Semisovereign People (1960)