Overview

Change is no simple matter in American politics-a fact that Americans have recently learned well. Elections rarely produce the change they promise. After the vote, power vacuums fill with familiar values, if not faces. Promises give way to fiscal realities, hope succumbs to pragmatism, and ambition concedes to inertia. The old tricks of interest groups - confuse, diffuse, scare - prevail over the better angels of American nature.But populist energy can get change making and change-makers back on the right track. The key to success, though, says acclaimed consumer advocate Jamie Court, is getting downright mad. It's anger, not hope, that fuels political and economic change. And in 2010 America, anger rules. But it needs to be vectored and focused if it is to succeed in fueling the type of change that the majority of Americans believe in. If we want that change, the kind that polls show 60 percent of Americans believe in, we need to do more than vote every two to four years or wait for a new president to learn the tactics of confrontation. The Progressive's Guide to Raising Hell is a road map filled with concrete tips and rules of the road that average people can use to force change between elections. How can progressives get what they believed they voted for? Court, a longtime organizer of ballot campaigns and other initiatives, tells readers how to heat up their issue, take grassroots action, organize their community, use publicity to their advantage, employ internet and social media to build support, and get the change they want.

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9781603582933

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Publishers Weekly -Americans angry about the state of their government or the fallout from the BP oil disaster might find in Court's persuasive manifesto a cause for action. As the president of Consumer Watchdog, the California-based consumer advocacy organization, Court has gone toe-to-toe with powerful politicians and corporations--and won. Without straying far from Advocacy 101, Court provides a how-to on taking a stand and making a difference. Following 10 rules of Populist Power, Rousing Public Opinion in a New Media Age explores the use of the Internet to rally and mobilize support. For instance, MoveOn, with over five million members, has become one of the most successful Internet-based political groups in America. Court also outlines how to build a Populist 2.0 Platform using e-advocacy, blogging, social media, and other technologies. Other chapters serve as case studies for taking on energy companies (the author was once recruited into a California task force on gas p

<p> I've often said, 'First we will elect people who we can talk to into positions of power, and then we will hold their feet to the fire so we get real change. This book is the manual for holding Democratic feet to the fire. --Howard Dean, former Chair of the Democratic National Committee and Vermont governor; author of Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform

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