Putting People Back in Politics

About the Book

Seldom in America has there been a greater outburst of activism than that following the 2016 elections. Many millions have demonstrated, organized, and contributed to the causes of peace, justice, and good government. Most of them are wasting their time. This short book offers a guide to effective political action. While there are few clear rules of political efficacy, there are ways of doing things that manifestly work better than others. What I have tried to do in this short book is to make the sometimes arcane works of scholars and practitioners accessible to a wider audience. As campaigns and elections become increasingly professionalized and money-oriented, real reform is possible when we put ordinary people back in politics. Here is how.

About the Author

Edward (Ned) Schneier has taught political science at Colgate, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Princeton and the City College of New York. His previous books include Vote Power (Doubleday, 1974), Congress Today (Holt, Rinehart, 1993) and New York Politics (M.E. Sharpe, 2010). Dr. Schneier has worked in the United States Senate and the New York State Assembly; been the president of Democratic clubs in California, New Jersey and New York; run for Congress in 1976; and worked part-time as a lobbyist in Albany. In line with an old New York political tradition, he has been a partner in two Lower Manhattan saloons. The recipient of fellowship awards from the Brookings Institution, the Fulbright Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Schneier lives with his wife Margrit in upstate New York.