120,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

We're Moving! 🚚 We’ll be closed Fri, Sat & Sun. Open and Shipping again on Monday πŸš€

The Democrats

A Critical History (Updated edition)
4.02 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 204 ratings, 37 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Democrats by Lance Selfa offers a broad historical perspective on the Democratic Party's consistent prioritisation of Wall Street interests and U.S. imperial ambitions over the hopes and needs of ordinary people. It explores the uneasy relationship between party leaders and social movements, from civil rights to anti-war protests, and critiques the party's historic alliance with labour. Selfa also evaluates the challenges and failures of third-party alternatives amidst this backdrop.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$4500

International Supplier

This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.

AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is well-suited for readers interested in political history, US politics, social movements, and critiques of mainstream political parties. It appeals particularly to those looking to understand the systemic challenges within the Democratic Party and its impact on progressive change.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

"A smart, readable history of the Democrats that reminds us of the party's allegiance to capital."Indypendent

Author will be available for broadcast news outlets Advance review copies available, at BEA Pacifica and NPR radio tour to be pitched Excerpts in The Indypendent, TruthOut Advertising in The Progressive Published to coincide with the DNC Promotion on dedicated book website TK Publicity and promotion in conjunction with the author's speaking engagements CBSD galley box and giveaways

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Offering a broad historical perspective, Selfa shows how the Democratic Party has time and again betrayed the aspirations of ordinary people while pursuing an agenda favourable to Wall Street and U.S. imperial ambitions.

He examines the relationship between party leaders and social movements, from the civil rights struggle to the movement to end the Iraq war; reveals the unhappy marriage between U.S. labour and the party of the people; and assesses the mixed record of attempts to build a third party alternative.

Further, Selfa argues that the Democrats' record of backing the rich and breaking promises to its voting base is not a recent departure from an otherwise laudable past, but results from its role as one of two parties serving the interests of the U.S. establishment.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised for its rigorous critique, The Democrats is described as essential reading for anyone interested in American politics. Robert W. McChesney calls it a compelling challenge to the notion of the Democratic Party as a progressive force. Roger D. Hodge highlights Selfa's portrayal of the party as the "graveyard" of social movements, explaining why reform efforts have frequently faltered. The book's new chapter on the Obama era further elucidates the party's role in sidelining substantial change.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781608461929

Publisher: Haymarket Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 August 2012

Country: United States

Imprint: Haymarket Books

Edition: Revised

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 143.0mm

Height: 215.0mm

Weight: 368g

Pages: 260

About the Author

Lance Selfa is an editor of and contributor to International Socialist Review. He edited The Struggle for Palestine (Haymarket, 2002). He lives in Chicago.

More from Politics & Current Affairs

View all
  • One Last Question, Prime Minister
    From Muldoon to Luxon, untold stories from the House of Parliament Barry Soper has spent close to five decades questioning New Zealand's prime ministers.From the imposing, larger-than-life characters of Rob Muldoon and David Lange, to the golden age of Helen Clark and John Key, and the post-Covid era of Jacinda Ardern and the 'Chrises', Soper's insight and nose for a...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Facing Up to Our Future
    New Zealand's traditional β€œshe'll be right” optimism is no longer adequate to the challenges facing the country.Β  Facing Up to Our Future: Challenges and Choices for New ZealandΒ brings together 21 of the country's leading thinkers to confront the long-term pressures shaping the nation's next decades. Edited by Emeritus Professor Peter Davis, the collection ranges widely, covering issues as diverse as...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Regime Change
    From the two reporters who have covered him more closely than perhaps anyone else over the past decade comes this definitive portrait of Donald Trump in the White House and the first year of his second presidency. Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented reporting from deep within the administration’s most closely guarded rooms, Regime Change takes the reader into...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    A Different Kind of Power
    #1 New Zealand bestseller #1 Amazon bestseller #2 Audible bestseller #3 New York Times bestseller #3 Sunday Times bestseller #4 Australian bestseller From the former prime minister of New Zealand, then the world’s youngest female head of government and just the second to give birth in office, comes a deeply personal memoir chronicling her extraordinary rise and offering inspiration to...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Different Kind of Power
    Ockham Winner
    A Different Kind of Power
    What if we could redefine leadership? What if kindness came first? Jacinda Ardern grew up the daughter of a police officer in small-town New Zealand, but as the 40th Prime Minister of her country, she commanded global respect for her empathetic leadership that put people first. This is the remarkable story of how a Mormon girl plagued by self-doubt made...
    Hardback
    $4799
    Elsewhere:
    $5999
    (7)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Signed Copy
    New Release
    Go Hard or Go Home
    From the front bench to rock bottom:Β Go Hard or Go HomeΒ is Kiri Allan's fearless memoir of ambition, disruption and survival in NZ politics and beyond. Kiri Allan's six-year political career spanned some of the most challenging times in recent history. Events a government might encounter once in a generation stacked up: a terrorist attack, a volcanic eruption, destructive and deadly...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four
    In the drab and oppressive world of 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell introduces us to Winston Smith, a man haunted by the omnipresent surveillance and control exercised by the Party and its enigmatic leader, Big Brother. Winston works diligently at the Ministry of Truth, where his job is to alter historical records to fit the ever-changing narrative dictated by the...
    Paperback
    $1299
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Cauldron
    How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah of Iran and change the world?Why did Bin Laden attack the USA - and why did the USA destroy Saddam?How did Britain and France carve up the Middle East - and why did the Kurds never get their own state? THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE MAKING OF TODAY'S MIDDLE EAST: A SPELLBINDING...
    Hardback
    $4999
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Handmaid's Tale
    The bestselling dystopian classic that became a cultural phenomenon and inspired an award-winning TV series. THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER Go back to where it all began with the dystopian novel behind the award-winning TV series. 'As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it.' Guardian I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no...
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World
    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shameless, Brian Tyler Cohen explores how Republicans have abused power, how Democrats have refused to exercise power when they held it, and how progressives should wield power if they are fortunate enough to win a free and fair election in a post-Trump world. The Day After: How to Wield Power in...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.