Politics in the Trenches: Citizens, Politicians, and the Fate of Democracy

"I lived in this community for twenty years, and everyone I came into contact with trusted and liked me. As soon as I got on the city council, it meant an instant loss of credibility. All of a sudden, anyone who didn't like what I was doing would immediately challenge my integrity and motives." The above quote, unfortunately, appears to reflect the feelings of a majority of both the constituents and elected officials in the United States. In an effort to enlighten and elevate the average American citizen above the level of an armchair analyst, Thomas J. Volgy, after fourteen years in public office and a thirty year career as a political scientist, wrote Politics in the Trenches: Citizens, Politicians, and the Fate of Democracy. "Politics is a constant process of conflict over values and policy positions". Everyone who's taken a government or civics class, has voted, or knows anyone in politics should know this. In Trenches, Volgy feels it's necessary that all citizens know and remember this point to continue the American democratic experiment. Without our social capital, our democracy "will wither and die." How true... Volgy's most important ideas presented in Politics in the Trenches are (in no specific order): the Founding Fathers were pragmatists, rather than ideologues; local governance and involvement in the local laboratory is key to the connection between citizens and national ideologies, including direct democracy and representation; negative portrayals and simplification of complex issues in "time bites" by the American media create an artificial closeness; whether the news is actually useful; campaign finance is strongly needed to level the playing field and allow for a modest turnover so more people can be a part of the experiment. The supposition that the framers of the Declaration Of Independence and the Constitution were pragmatists flies in the face of most previous research, but after its introduction in the text, it is only used as an idea to construct our governing system as a laboratory. Using local level government as the main area of discussion is a good tactic; direct contact with elected officials is easiest here, and results of the political experiment are first seen at home. Volgy, in addition, has the most experience at a local level. The artificial closeness created by media, along with a false image, perhaps contributes the most to a nation of individuals unknowing, uncaring, or unwilling enough to become involved in the political process. Roughly 50-60 pages of the text are devoted to increasing the reader's awareness of media effects. Chapter eight is a treatment of the different forms of media and the technologies that drive them. Throughout the book, television is the most consistently criticized for its false perception and shallow coverage of political events. As Volgy wrote, "Over forty years of addiction to television has taught us that nearly all problems are solvable in half-hour sitcoms and hou

I had to read this book for an Intro to Political Science course, and even though PolySci isn't my favorite subject, I really enjoyed this book. Volgy brings us in the daily life of a local politician, and we can witness first hand how they work a lot behind the scenes to make a better life within their communties. A lot of people (like me) are "free-riders" who don't really know a lot of how things in our communties happen. He also brings in how the media only covers interesting stuff, and doesn't give him enough time to really say what is going on. He has a 30 second window, to try to talk of what he is doing. Great book! I could not put it down...