Politics on a Human Scale

Book Reviews

“With a vast and impressive knowledge of American political history, a skillful pen, and a generous heart, political scientist Jeff Taylor—proud son of Iowa, the Tall Corn State—explores, illuminates, and, yes, celebrates the decentralist tradition in American politics. If you want to know about our heritage of peace, agrarianism, local democracy, and the dispersion of power—that is, if you want to understand the history, personalities, and promise of the human-scale alternative to the American Empire—this is the book for you.”
- Bill Kauffman
professional writer; former aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY); author of Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette, America First!, Look Homeward America, Ain’t My America, and Bye Bye Miss American Empire (among other books).

“Jeff Taylor’s book, Politics on a Human Scale, provides an essential account of the much-touted but practically neglected themes of decentralization and populism in American politics. Taylor shows how the forces of centralization have consistently co-opted much of what is called conservatism and how a human scale politics is not only beneficial to human flourishing but indispensable for a free society. This book is a valuable step in fostering a better future.”
- Dr. Mark T. Mitchell
professor and department chair of Government at Patrick Henry College; editor-in-chief of Front Porch Republic website; co-editor of The Humane Vision of Wendell Berry; author of The Politics of Gratitude: Scale, Place & Community in a Global Age

“Madison thought the House of Representatives should have one member for every 30,000 population. Today there is one for every 720,000. By mid-century there will be one for every million. The Census Bureau predicts a billion people in America by end of the century. Professor Jeff Taylor argues that America has grown simply too large for the purposes of self government. In this comprehensive study which touches all aspects of the topic—constitutional, moral, political, and even theological—he shows how and why power should be devolved back to state and local communities.”

– Dr. Donald W. Livingston

emeritus professor of Philosophy at Emory University; editor of Rethinking the American Union for the Twenty-First Century; co-editor of Hume: A Re-Evaluation and David Hume: Political Writings; author of Hume’s Philosophy of Common Life and Philosophical Melancholy and Delirium: Hume’s Pathology of Philosophy

“Jeff Taylor’s Politics on a Human Scale is a comprehensive and deep ideological analysis of important changes in American political history. With numerous examples, Taylor reveals the power of elitism in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Whatever your ideological orientation, the book is an open invitation to consider the importance of a foundational American political value.”

– Dr. Karl Trautman

political scientist and department chair of Social Sciences at Central Maine Community College; former policy analyst for Democratic caucus of Michigan State Senate; editor of The New Populist Reader; author of The Underdog in American Politics: The Democratic Party and Liberal Values

“This is an ambitious examination of America's traditional rejection of centralized government and its embrace of dispersed power and locally responsive politics. . . . Though the work is at times polemical and informal, students of American politics and history will nevertheless appreciate the rich detail of the narrative and the presentation of an interesting and important perspective on decentralization. Summing up: Recommended. General readers, undergraduate students, research faculty, and professionals. ”

– Dr. Patrick Campbell

assistant professor of Political Science at Ashland University
(Choice, July 2014)

“Jeff is eclectic in his views to the point that I just find him interesting in and of himself, quite apart from his very important book. . . . I don't know that there is a comparable study [on American decentralism] out there so this is the definitive one. [He's] done an important service in writing it.”
– Dr. Thomas E. Woods Jr.
public intellectual and senior fellow in History at Mises Institute
(The Tom Woods Show, June 25, 2014)

“Jeff Taylor offers a well-informed, near-encyclopedic examination of when and how America’s once-dominant political tradition receded. . . . Taylor’s great exemplar of this decentralist tradition is Thomas Jefferson . . . The coming of the New Deal was the death knell of the Bryan/La Follette tradition. Franklin Roosevelt came to office wearing the shredded cloak of Democratic veneration for Jefferson, but soon he was wearing something more like the tunic of Mussolini. . . . [I have a few] criticisms, but they don’t take away from the merits of [his] magisterial work.”

– John McClaughry
founder of the Ethan Allen Institute; Reagan '80 campaign speechwriter; Reagan Administration staff member; former Vermont state legislator
(Reason + email)

“On occasion a political book emerges with such a wealth of information and evidence of discernment that it alters the way an institution is studied or a policy field is understood. This prospect is plausible as its regards Jeff Taylor’s new book on the tradition of political decentralism and community in America as shaped by political party activity. . . . [Taylor] successfully shifts the focus on federalism from its institutional moorings to the way it was scuttled in the Twentieth Century by party politics gone astray. In this respect, the book is unique. . . . Taylor gives decentralization a socio-political quality that other writers fail to adequately convey. . . . Aided by a comprehension of both historical and current party politics, he provides hundreds of insightful details about the migration of both the Democratic and Republican parties away from decentralism as a core political value. . . . The book is packed with elegantly developed historical observations and erudite observations. . . . Taylor examines federalism not merely as a constitutional institution or byproduct of state jealousies, but as a necessary outworking of innate human needs. . . . While the book is challenging because of the enormous amount of information it contains, the fascinating narrative and superb writing make the reading experience pleasant. . . . As a political scientist with courses on federalism and political parties, I know of no other book that brings the two subjects together so insightfully. . . . All things considered, Jeff Taylor provides the best available account of the varied ways partisan interaction and electoral competition shaped decentralism’s development and subsequent demise in America.”

– Dr. Timothy Barnett

associate professor of Political Science at Jacksonville State University; former president of the Alabama Political Science Association
(Front Porch Republic website + Amazon)

“Taylor is charitable to all sides . . . Decentralization is no sure cure for political ills, but that is the point. Government power—contrary to fantasists of both parties—cannot solve all human problems, nor cure the effects of original sin. The argument for widely dispersed power is prudential as much as principled. . . . Having many points of government power reduces the malevolent reach of any one of them. It is a simple truth that has been sent down the memory hole, replaced by the assumption that individual wants must trump, with government power if necessary, the considered views of the community; and that these wants, moreover, must be uniformly enforced across the nation. . . . This book is engagingly written, and the notes and source materials would provide the raw materials for a true conservative renaissance. . . . Taylor, without unduly attributing people’s views solely to their backgrounds, nevertheless puts in fuller context the facts of how political change is effected in this country. This is humane history, in other words, which paints the individual at the center of historical change. Politics on a Human Scale is both solid history and inspiring polemic.”

– Gerald J. Russello
editor of The University Bookman; fellow of the Chesterton Institute, Seton Hall University; adjunct professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; former attorney with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; former member of Bear, Stearns & Co. legal department
(Chronicles)

“Any serious study of how the American federalist system was transformed into the centralized Leviathan State that it is today should include Jeff Taylor’s book Politics on a Human Scale . . . Rather than regurgitating the same simplistic, generalized narrative found in most American history books, Taylor’s narrative, much of which gainsays the conventional wisdom, is a meticulous rehashing of the specific beliefs, behaviors, and connections between several key political figures and the movements which they inspired. . . . Taylor provides the most comprehensive work on the history of decentralism which I have ever come across. This book is a must read for anyone who hopes to have a well-rounded understanding of how America got to this point and where things might be heading from here. There can be little doubt that Dr. Taylor’s contribution to the Jeffersonian tradition will be of great service in the fight to restore Politics on a Human Scale.”
– Johnathan Brown
graduate of JSU with degree in Political Science, with minors in History and Economics
(Reformed Libertarian website)

“Just finished this book and can’t say enough good about it. It is far and away the best political history of the U.S. I’ve ever read. Typical history books and texts cover multiple strands of history, e.g., political, social, economic, wars, etc. This book is not that, but rather a drilled-down history of political perspective in the U.S., focusing especially on the political perspective tension between decentralism vs centralism that runs through the entirety of our nation's life time . . . My personal wish would be that every federal and state legislator would read it. . . . Any Christian who wants to seriously involve himself or herself in the political realm needs to read this book. . . . One warning: whatever your political alignment (or whatever you think it is), you will find it challenged by the content of this book. Also, this is not a quick read, but nothing this thorough and researched would be. . . . I more than like this book. I love it. I want every American to read it, or at least every American who intends to vote in any election. . . . Will this book influence political thinking in this country? I hope so. Taylor breaks political molds that need breaking, exposes political inconsistencies that need exposing, and debunks myths that need debunking. Above all, he offers a new paradigm by which political analysis might be more profitably done.”
– Doug Vande Griend
attorney in Salem, Oregon
(Amazon website + CRCNA website + Pro Rege)

Excerpt from the book’s Foreword

by former Congressman Glen Browder (D-AL)

Jeff Taylor’s new book is an impressive achievement that merges moral purpose with philosophy and politics. This publication is a broad and deep analysis that will require focused attention and basic understanding of American political history. But it will reward the serious student with an intriguing reinterpretation of our federal system. Even casual, page-skipping readers will find fascinating vignettes about the key players and developments in our national democratic drama.

After reading an advance copy of the publication, I find his work intriguing and important in several respects.

(1) First is the author’s openly normative call for “politics on a human scale” and decentralized democracy. Taylor’s moral purpose derives, as he acknowledges, from ancient antecedents such as the Bible and Plato, growing up in Iowa farm country, and, in more structured manner, his reading of Thomas Jefferson’s agrarian philosophy. The prescriptive imperative of his analysis is the hope that individuals and social groups in today’s America—pursuing politics at the human scale—will correct the moral domination and inappropriate accumulation of power in centralized government.

(2) Even more impressive, in my judgment, is Taylor’s comprehensive new analysis, in which he defines and assesses a distinctive decentralist tradition in American political history. His book looks at decentralism through the terrain of culture, politics, economics, and religion; and it involves the values of democracy, liberty, community, and morality. He proceeds chronologically, focusing on crucial turning points in U.S. history when centralists in both major parties assumed an upper-hand over those who favored Jeffersonian democracy.

(3) Third is Taylor’s skillful incorporation of so many philosophers, politicians, ideas, and events into the historic struggle between centralization and decentralization. The sources for this analysis comprise a “who’s who” of political philosophy and thoughtful debate throughout the history of western civilization, and the discussion is replete with virtually every official, opinion-leader, and political development of consequence from the founding of our country to the headlines of the twenty-first century.

The documentary citations—1,200 footnotes and 500 bibliographical sources—attached to this massive compilation represent, by themselves, a gold mine for anyone researching the specific topic of American federalism and the broader history of American democracy.

(4) Finally, I find Taylor’s discussion about the possibility of a different future for American democracy particularly interesting.

While acknowledging the almost-inevitable centralizing course of our history, he believes that contemporary political winds may be blowing in a better direction. He argues that burgeoning social decentralization is straining the current system and ever-bigger government will reach its limits, and he applauds the growing popularity of “dissident voices” on the current scene.

I am convinced that if our political elites would take this book to heart, then we might elevate our national dialogue and perhaps improve the performance of our national democratic experiment.

Jeff Taylor has provided a worthy literary feast. Enjoy!

– Dr. Glen Browder, political scientist
and political leader

former eminent scholar in American Democracy at Jacksonville State University (AL) and distinguished visiting professor in National Security Affairs at Naval Postgraduate School (CA); former member of U.S. House of Representatives; former Alabama Secretary of State; former member of Alabama House of Representatives

Double-blind peer review
of Lexington Books manuscript
(author later revealed to be Dr. Allan Carlson)

Content

This manuscript is a fresh, highly original effort to define a distinctive “Decentralist” tradition in American political life, one that has been misunderstood and mislabeled by most historians, and one of particular relevance to the contemporary American political scene. It grounds this tradition in a solid and compelling analysis of Thomas Jefferson’s ideas and legacy, explains how the authentic democratic values behind “Decentralism” survived the distortions of John C. Calhoun and the apologists for slavery (and later racial segregation), flourished in the ideas and political campaigns of William J. Bryan and Robert La Follette, distinguished itself from the Progressivism of the two Roosevelts and Woodrow Wilson, and struggled to find coherent expression within the often hostile 20^th Century Republican “big tent.”

As a work of broad intellectual/political reinterpretation, the only comparable effort that I can think of is Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind. Published in the early 1950’s, Kirk’s book found and/or constructed a “Conservative” tradition within American thought, at a time when Liberalism of various hues seemed to be the only game in town. Politics on a Human Scale has the potential to redefine American intellectual/political context in a similar way. Its treatment of Bryan and La Follette is particularly important and compelling, rescuing Bryan from those who cast him as a second-rate thinker and La Follette from those who want to hang the Socialist label around his neck.

Scholarship

The author has performed his/her research in a sound and thorough way. A broad understanding of and attention to the existing literature on the relevant questions is clear. The author gives fair attention to the standard arguments regarding his/her key figures, yet succeeds—by and large—in exposing their inadequacies and misinterpretations. The end-noting is comprehensive.

Audience

This book should attract a large and diverse audience. It ably challenges virtually all of the standard interpretations of American political life, from the Left, the Center, and the Right. It leaps beyond the straightjacket of the “Liberal-Conservative” spectrum to reveal a much more interesting and complex American political heritage. It also explains how current anomalies in American politics—such as the growing coalition of “Main Street” and “Wall Street” within the Republican Party and the growing popularity of the “libertarian populism” of Ron and Rand Paul—are clarified when viewed through the “Decentralist” lens. It also fits contemporary iconoclasts in American intellectual life—such as Wendell Berry and Bill Kauffman—within a coherent and rich intellectual tradition.

Accordingly, this manuscript has the potential to win mass-market attention and a wide readership . . . not just in academia, but in and through publications such as The Economist, Time, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. At the same time, it is ideally suited for students in upper- and graduate-level courses in American history and American political thought.

Competition

This manuscript carves its own path, shakes up the standard interpretations, and has no discernible competitor.

Revisions

Politics on a Human Scale focuses on active politicians (e.g., Bryan, Calhoun, Goldwater, Reagan) and only secondarily on intellectual figures. Still, there are some modest misinterpretations and gaps in the argument. Concerning political figures, I would urge a second look at the relationship of Theodore Roosevelt to agrarianism (discussed in Chapter 2). . . . Also, a book focused on “The American Tradition of Decentralism” should probably give some attention to prominent intellectual figures in the 20^th Century who openly argued from a “Decentralist” position (even using the label in self-description) . . .

Recommendation

With considerable enthusiasm, I recommend publication of this manuscript. Its core argument is powerful and compelling; its scholarship is thorough; its reinterpretation of American intellectual-political history is important and illuminating; its writing is crisp and clear; and its potential for critical attention and sales is large. My suggested revisions are modest and somewhat on the margins, and do not detract from the comments immediately above. Moreover, this manuscript casts a good deal of new light on contemporary American politics. It has the potential to shake-up and redefine (in a healthy and welcome way) understandings of both the American past and present held by the reading and thinking population.

Friday, October 4, 2013