By invitation only: the rise of exclusive politics in the United States

Abstract

Mobilization Only examines the shift in the United States from mobilization (the partisan method of stimulating very high voter turnout in elections) to activation -- the political variant of niche marketing. This more contemporary method which parties, interest groups, and candidates employ, induces particular, finely targeted portions of the public to become active in elections, demonstrations, and lobbying.Traditional partisan mobilization was a crude tool, operating through personal and print communication. It involved broad appeals, often carried through personal conversation with local party workers or through America's then highly partisan press. Political mobilization predominated during election campaigns of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period of peak party power.The shift from mobilization to activation allows organizers to mobilize strategic minorities while cloaking the effort in a misleading guise of popular rule. The vogue of participation is that all should get involved. In fact, as Schier illustrates, the process encourages only a strategically selected few to vote in elections or petition government for their interests. The result is a decline in majority rule in American politics. A must-read for anyone concerned with politics in America.

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