Reflections Of A Radical Moderate

by Richardson, Elliot Richardson

Overview

Written by one of America's most distinguished public servants, Reflections of a Radical Moderate offers a clear-eyed and steady analysis of the state of our democracy and the growth of cynicism among American citizens toward their government. In a series of inspiring and pellucid essays, Elliot Richardson, a stalwart of the liberal wing of the Republican party, explains how American democracy may be at risk. He considers the compulsive pursuit of self-worth as a principal instigator of social conflict-not only between individuals but also among groups. He speculates on the effects of information technology on the American political process and examines the correct role of America in the enforcement of world peace. The result is a humane, optimistic view of national politics from a longtime Washington insider.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813397849
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	08/10/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1320L (what's this?)

About the Author

Elliot Richardson is best known for resigning as U.S. Attorney General rather than heeding President Richard Nixon's order to fire special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. He is the only person to have headed four Cabinet departments. Richardson died in January 2000.

Editorial Reviews

A self-described centrist, Richardson, with a long career in public service, including a stint as Nixon's attorney general, argues here that the moderate tradition combined with common decency offers the best hope for good government. In this collection of thoughtful essays, he examines the troubling cynicism toward politics that many voters express, which has led politicians to make unrealistic promises in order to stay in office. Although our complex problems do not have easy answers, elected officials, according to Richardson, have a moral responsibility to provide leadership by evaluating possible solutions and building citizen consensus before taking action. A liberal Republican who believes that the trend toward bigger government should be reversed, the author nevertheless feels strongly that government has a duty to respond to the needs of all its citizens, and he takes the new Republican leadership to task for demonizing teenage mothers. A reasoned and convincing analysis of what ails us. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Best known as the man who refused to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox during the Nixon administration, Richardson has held a number of elected and appointed positions in federal and state government. Relying on his vast political experience, Richardson critiques the U.S. government today and suggests how it can work better. Unlike his Republican colleagues, Richardson does not call for the arbitrary dismantling of government programs; instead, he urges readers to put their faith in the bureaucracy. Richardson identifies the sources he considers responsible for the currently popular distrust of the federal government and outlines the ever-widening issues facing the government. He also offers a clear vision of the "new world order" in which the United States must take a more active part in resolving both inter- and intrastate conflicts. Richardson's historical analysis is right on the mark, and his recommendations for improving government service across the board are worthy of public debate. His book will wonderfully complement upper-level and graduate courses in political science, particularly public administration, and should appeal to faculty in this area.Patricia Hatch, Emmanuel Coll. Lib., Boston

Library Journal

A humane, optimistic view of national politics from a longtime Washington insider.

Richardson (The Creative Balance, 1976), attorney general in Nixon's last days and a former key official in the departments of state and defense, asks us to remember all that is right in American politics: "Every transfer of power from one administration to the next has proceeded without incident. No American politician has ever gone to the chopping block . . . There has never been even a hint of conspiracy to take over the White House and oust the President. And only one president has been forced out of office." American government works, he suggests, because Americans demand accountability and openness and shun ideology in favor of practical idealism; yet, for all that, there is a growing sentiment across the land, fueled by the media, that things have gone badly wrong inside the Beltway. Richardson, a moderate Republican, allows that "politics as usual" may require some fine-tuning: For one thing, he believes that Vice President Gore's National Performance Review Report hasn't gone quite far enough in setting standards for the way federal departments carry out their mandates. But he remarks, borrowing a metaphor from his surgeon father, that "democracy in America is at a complaining stage. We don't have a prescribed course of treatment because we don't have clear diagnoses." And that. he adds, is due to the fact that no one wants to look at the root causes of our troubles, which are milder than we imagine them to be. The disenchantment with which voters view a system that, in Richardson's vision, is right in most respects "invites political quackery." And no quack takes more hits than Ross Perot, for whom the mild-mannered and cordial Richardson seems to have a genuine disdain.

"The cynics are always wrong," Richardson comments. His hopeful book is a welcome relief from the gloom-and-doom polemics that now overfill the current-events stacks.

Kirkus Reviews