Benjamin Ginsberg (political scientist)
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Ginsberg is a libertarian
political scientist and professor at Johns Hopkins University
who is notable for his criticism of American politics in which citizens have become "marginalized as political actors" and political parties
weakened while state power has grown. His assessment of the futility of voting along with his notion that the public has an illusion of control over government has caused controversy, and sometimes his explanations have been criticized. He is a co-author, along with Matthew Crenson, of Downsizing Democracy which received critical attention in mainstream newspapers.
studying political science
, Ginsberg earned a bachelor's degree in 1968, a master's degree in 1970, and a doctorate in 1973. At Cornell
, he was an instructor (1972), assistant professor (1973), associate professor (1978), and professor (1983). He became a professor at Johns Hopkins University
in 1992. He won the George E. Owen Award for outstanding teaching and service from the graduating class in June, 2000.
in 1998, suggested there was a "deep-rooted resistance within both parties
to expanding the national electorate," and quoted Ginsberg as saying "Politicians who have risen to power in a low-turnout political environment have little to gain and much to fear from an expanded electorate." Ginsberg added when officeholders talk about "getting out the vote," they generally mean their own voters, not nonparticipants. Ginsberg argued that citizenship
has been undermined by a move to a voluntary military. He believes citizen participation in the military is good since it strengthens patriotism, which means "sacrifice and a willingness to die for one's country." But the switch to a voluntary military eliminates "a powerful patriotic
framework" since "instead of a disgruntled army of citizen soldiers, the military seems to be consisted of professional soldiers and private contractors." Ginsberg suggested that the "government learned the lessons of Vietnam
and has found ways to insulate the use of military force" from society. Ginsberg criticized American leaders for trying to wage war on terrorism
without any sacrifice from citizens: "U.S. leaders have pleaded for what can best be described as defiant normalcy — living, spending and consuming to show that terrorists won't change the American way of life," according to a reporter commenting on Ginsberg's views. Ginsberg has suggested that American political parties have less and less influence.
Ginsberg has commented on campaign strategies; for example, he suggested that a photo of young Bill Clinton
shaking the hand of President John F. Kennedy
, taken by photographer Arnold Sachs, was used by campaign operatives to reinforce the idea of Clinton as "heir apparent" to the Kennedy legacy. He also commented on the tight presidential primary race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
in 2008, and compared the two candidates to "WalMart and Kmart
- they’re occupying the same space." Ginsberg has a cynical outlook, seeing the Republican Party
as courting Jews not for their votes but for their financial contributions. He was quoted as saying: "When the numbers are added up, we will probably find that Jewish money was especially important to the Republicans this year." In another instance, Ginsberg criticized the administration of FDR
for the tactic of having federal investigators sift through tax and financial records of opposition politicians. He's known for speaking bluntly about religious politics: for example, he said "Jews have always been the brains, the wallet and the legs of the Democratic Party," in an interview in 2002. Ginsberg participated in panel discussions about polling and democracy.
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
political scientist and professor at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
who is notable for his criticism of American politics in which citizens have become "marginalized as political actors" and political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
weakened while state power has grown. His assessment of the futility of voting along with his notion that the public has an illusion of control over government has caused controversy, and sometimes his explanations have been criticized. He is a co-author, along with Matthew Crenson, of Downsizing Democracy which received critical attention in mainstream newspapers.
Biography
At the University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
studying political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, Ginsberg earned a bachelor's degree in 1968, a master's degree in 1970, and a doctorate in 1973. At Cornell
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, he was an instructor (1972), assistant professor (1973), associate professor (1978), and professor (1983). He became a professor at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in 1992. He won the George E. Owen Award for outstanding teaching and service from the graduating class in June, 2000.
Downsizing Democracy
This book received serious critical attention from reviewers in major newspapers who explained, and criticized, the analysis of Ginsberg and co-author Matthew Crenson.- A reviewer from the Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
elaborated that the authors commented on dwindling civic participation in America. A newspaper chronicled a pattern of reduced interest in civic groups, using diminished Lions Club attendance from the 1970s to 2004, as an example of the "decline of mass political participation." Civic decline is "not simply a consequence of the decay of civil society brought on by TVTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, suburbanizationSuburbanizationSuburbanization a term used to describe the growth of areas on the fringes of major cities. It is one of the many causes of the increase in urban sprawl. Many residents of metropolitan regions work within the central urban area, choosing instead to live in satellite communities called suburbs...
and busy lives;" rather, Ginsberg and Crenson argue that government regulatory commissionsRegulationRegulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
which were supposed to have served as watchdogs on special interests, have been taken over by those interests. "Citizens became less vigilant and involved, and interests like the bankBankA bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s and railroads came to control the very commissions that were supposed to work on behalf of the public good." Ginsberg criticizes "statutes and judicial rulings" for making advocacy by litigation commonplace, and effectively removing many issues from the political arena.
- A Washington Post reviewer discussed how Ginsberg and Crenson charted the declining importance of citizensCitizenshipCitizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
in America. People are better described as consumersConsumerConsumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
, not citizens. Americans no longer embrace civic responsibility. Many people don't bother to vote, according to one report. The authors argue that the public has chosen to stay aloof from government which it sees as "another service provider." Many factors are blamed for causing this shift, including fewer patronage jobs. Candidates use polls to focus on the dwindling number of persons who actually show up to vote. Increasing court involvement is blamed, as well, for diminishing the role of public sentiment, and the authors see the 1960s civil rightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
movement as having morphed into a litigation struggle about rights and a "middle class" prerogative. Reviewer Kerry Lauerman suggested Ginsberg and Crenson "overstate on occasion" such as characterizing the issues of AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, breast cancerBreast cancerBreast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
, and gun violenceGun violenceGun violence defined literally means the use of a firearm to threaten or inflict violence or harm. Gun violence may be broadly defined as a category of violence and crime committed with the use of a firearm; it may or may not include actions ruled as self-defense, actions for law enforcement, or...
as "the causes of the comfortable." The reviewer criticized the writing style as sometimes "turgid" but concluded overall that the analysis was "thoughtful and useful", but needed more analysis of the role of the mediaNews mediaThe news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
.
- A review in the Independent ReviewIndependent ReviewSeveral magazines, journals, and newspapers have used this title, some of which are:*Independent Review , a now defunct progressive English journal founded, in part, by the historian G.M. Trevelyan in London. Edward Jenks was editor, and members of its editorial board included Trevelyan, G. Lowes...
, a quarterly academic journal, found the writing style to be "well documented" and "analytical" which exposed the "thoroughly corrosive impact of beltway politics on democratic processes and citizen power." The authors suggest that citizens, who used to be the "backbone of the western state," are no longer relevant. While government has grown, influential citizens have been reduced to mere recipients of government services and "marginalized as political actors." Government can raise an army and collect taxes without widespread public support; the withholding tax has made the voluntary component of tax paying less important; a professional military limits the need for citizen soldiers; special interests provide bureaucrats with a substitute for public support. The authors blame, in part, Progressive EraProgressive EraThe Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
reforms such as primaries and recalls and referendums as weakening the parties' ability to mobilize voters. Neither party has much enthusiasm for mobilizing more voters. Group conflict dominates, and government is little more than a "broker for competing interests." Inside-the-Beltway regulatory agencies have a huge advantage over colleagues elsewhere. Ginsberg and Crenson think that increased litigation, caused by lowering the requirements for class-action lawsuits, works to the benefit of special interests who can cause changes beneficial to them without having to energize apathetic voters. The reviewer writes: "the authors trace the civil rightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, consumer, and environmental movementsEnvironmentalismEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
from their beginnings as popularly based struggles to the narrow group causes they have become today." The reviewer suggested that the authors have "acuity" but neglected to consider that "big government itself" may be the problem. The reviewer criticized the argument as having "fallen short" in some respects by focusing on non-elected public officials skilled at channeling power to special interests. The reviewer thinks elected officials still have incentives to mobilize wider publics and to act responsibly. But the reviewer concluded that American government might become "a Frankenstein’s monster of exceptionally powerful officialdom with neither defined goals nor clear responsibility to the American public."
The Captive Public
- A reviewer from the New York Times evaluated Ginsberg's book The Captive Public: How Mass Opinion Promotes State Power. Ginsberg argued that people think they're in control since they vote and answer public opinion polls, but he argues that such control is illusory. He thinks government used tactics such as extending rights of modern citizenshipCitizenshipCitizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
to diverse new groups, such as minorities and women, as well as encouraging votingVotingVoting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...
as an alternative to more dangerous unwanted protests, such as strikingStrike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
or rioting, to tame a wary public. "To vote meant not to strike or riot," and the state preferred citizens to vote rather than have more serious challenges to its power such as lawsuits, protests, organizingUnion organizerA union organizer is a specific type of trade union member or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers....
, parliamentary procedureParliamentary procedureParliamentary procedure is the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies...
, or lobbyingLobbyingLobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
. Schools taught children the benefits of voting with such repetition until it became a "tenacious myth of mass control," in his view. Since elections happen periodically, they limit citizen participation in politics to merely the selection of leaders and keep people away from policy formation. Ginsberg sees public opinion polling as a "subtle instrument of power" since it renders opinions "less dangerous, less disruptive, more permissive, and, perhaps, more amenable to governmental control." He sees policy based not on mass opinion but on managing mass opinion, a kind of giant public relationsPublic relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
project. Reviewer Mark Crispin Miller found Ginsberg's analysis compelling but "a bit too careful to do justice to the complex advertising mechanism that has swallowed up our politics," and found his focus "too narrow", "too simple", with a "libertarian bias." He criticizes Ginsberg's terms as "too crude" such as using "the state" to describe regulatory agencies, and for equating agencies such as the Office of Economic OpportunityOffice of Economic OpportunityThe Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda.- History :...
with Big Brother. Miller criticized Ginsberg for ignoring the "subtle and extensive interrelationships" between government, corporations, advertising agencies and the mass media. Miller thinks Ginsberg underestimated the public, and "has translated his fellow citizens into a featureless manipulated mass, without fears or desires worth taking seriously."
Citizenship, political parties, polling
Ginsberg has criticized the Washington political climate as "toxic", characterized by a "cycle of attack and counterattack" in which minor indiscretions are used as political weapons. Ginsberg sees this as a "structural" problem. While Ginsberg sees voting as a passive and meaningless act which gives the illusion of public control over government, he sometimes criticizes both political parties as having a "resistance" to sincerely working towards increased voter participation. One newspaper reporter, writing about low voter turnoutVoter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
in 1998, suggested there was a "deep-rooted resistance within both parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
to expanding the national electorate," and quoted Ginsberg as saying "Politicians who have risen to power in a low-turnout political environment have little to gain and much to fear from an expanded electorate." Ginsberg added when officeholders talk about "getting out the vote," they generally mean their own voters, not nonparticipants. Ginsberg argued that citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
has been undermined by a move to a voluntary military. He believes citizen participation in the military is good since it strengthens patriotism, which means "sacrifice and a willingness to die for one's country." But the switch to a voluntary military eliminates "a powerful patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
framework" since "instead of a disgruntled army of citizen soldiers, the military seems to be consisted of professional soldiers and private contractors." Ginsberg suggested that the "government learned the lessons of Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and has found ways to insulate the use of military force" from society. Ginsberg criticized American leaders for trying to wage war on terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
without any sacrifice from citizens: "U.S. leaders have pleaded for what can best be described as defiant normalcy — living, spending and consuming to show that terrorists won't change the American way of life," according to a reporter commenting on Ginsberg's views. Ginsberg has suggested that American political parties have less and less influence.
Ginsberg has commented on campaign strategies; for example, he suggested that a photo of young Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
shaking the hand of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, taken by photographer Arnold Sachs, was used by campaign operatives to reinforce the idea of Clinton as "heir apparent" to the Kennedy legacy. He also commented on the tight presidential primary race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in 2008, and compared the two candidates to "WalMart and Kmart
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
- they’re occupying the same space." Ginsberg has a cynical outlook, seeing the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
as courting Jews not for their votes but for their financial contributions. He was quoted as saying: "When the numbers are added up, we will probably find that Jewish money was especially important to the Republicans this year." In another instance, Ginsberg criticized the administration of FDR
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
for the tactic of having federal investigators sift through tax and financial records of opposition politicians. He's known for speaking bluntly about religious politics: for example, he said "Jews have always been the brains, the wallet and the legs of the Democratic Party," in an interview in 2002. Ginsberg participated in panel discussions about polling and democracy.
See also
- History of citizenship in the United States
Books
- The American Lie: Government by the People and other Political Fables
- Presidential Power: Unchecked and Unbalanced (co-authored)
- Downsizing Democracy: How America Sidelined Its Citizens and Privatized Its Public (with Matthew Crenson) The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
- Embattled Democracy (co-authored with Theodore J. Lowi), W.W. Norton, 1995
- Democrats Return to Power
- Politics by Other Means, The Captive Public (co-authored with Martin Shefter), Basic Books, 1990
- Do Elections Matter? (co-edited with Alan Stone), M. E. Sharpe Publishers, 1986
- American Government: Freedom and Power (co-authored with Theodore J. Lowi), W. W. Norton, 1990. Textbook with numerous reprintings.
- The Consequences of Consent
- Poliscide (co-authored with Theodore J. Lowi), MacMillan Publishing Company, 1976
- The Captive Public: How Mass Opinion Promotes State Power. Basic Books, 1986
- Politics by other means (co-authored with Martin Shefter), Basic Books, 1990.
- American Government: Readings and Cases, (co-edited with Theodore J. Lowi and Alice Hearst), W.W. Norton, 1992.
- The Fatal Embrace: Jews and the State, University of Chicago Press, 1993.
- We the People (co-authored with Theodore J. Lowi and Margaret Weir), W.W. Norton, 1997.
- Making Government Manageable: Executive Organization and Management in the 21st Century (co-editor with Thomas H. Stanton) Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004.
- Moses of South Carolina: A Jewish Scalawag during Radical Reconstruction (2010) Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN 978-0-8018-9464-0