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Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change
As author of Citizen Power in 1971, Senator Mike Gravel determined that much of what he wrote then is apropos in America today; hence, the release of Citizen A Mandate for Change that reflects the accuracy of his evaluation of problems then, his current position on a number of issues facing America now, and the process that Americans can undertake to become empowered as lawmakers in partnership with their elected officials. Most chapters of Citizen A Mandate for Change present material from the original book, as well as new information and revised positions. The exceptions are Chapter 2: The National Initiative, and Chapter 7: The War on Drugs. All other chapters cover similar topics in both books, but with the senator's fresh insights for today's world. Each chapter ends with how the National Initiative, once enacted, could help solve the problems presented in that chapter. The Table of Contents is as Chapter 1 - Now It's the Citizen's TurnChapter 2 - The National InitiativeChapter 3 - America's Failure in EducationChapter 4 - Tax Reform - The Fair TaxChapter 5 - The Health Security SystemChapter 6 - National Environmental & Energy PolicyChapter 7 - The War on DrugsChapter 8 - Crime & PunishmentChapter 9 - The Shroud of SecrecyChapter 10 - American ImperialismChapter 11 - Global GovernanceChapter 12 - Who Stole the American Dream?
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 27, 2020
I have to write a book and literature review for this book for school, so here's me getting some stuff out.
Written originally in the 1970s, Senator Mike Gravel updates his book for his run for president in 2008. Obviously, he would end up losing that race and Barack Obama would eventually become president. What's interesting about this book is that his ideas have permeated the zeitgeist of the Left's culture. Many of the chapters of the book were on policy ideas that may have been deemed radical in 2008 (certainly they were in the 1970s) that are now on the platform of nearly every Democrat running for office in the 2020s. It's refreshing to see that the progressive ideas that we are currently fighting for have existed for decades and there will always be people fighting for those ideas. Of course, it's also unfortunate that they haven't been fully realized yet.
This book felt like an overview of many of my views – though I would take Gravel's healthcare plan further to the Left; I'm sure he would do the same at this point with the ACA not living up to the original expectation.
The editing of the book could have been better. There were many instances of "than" and "then" mix-ups. Some parts of his chapters were long and dull, and that may have been because I was already aware of some of the facets he was discussing.
Written originally in the 1970s, Senator Mike Gravel updates his book for his run for president in 2008. Obviously, he would end up losing that race and Barack Obama would eventually become president. What's interesting about this book is that his ideas have permeated the zeitgeist of the Left's culture. Many of the chapters of the book were on policy ideas that may have been deemed radical in 2008 (certainly they were in the 1970s) that are now on the platform of nearly every Democrat running for office in the 2020s. It's refreshing to see that the progressive ideas that we are currently fighting for have existed for decades and there will always be people fighting for those ideas. Of course, it's also unfortunate that they haven't been fully realized yet.
This book felt like an overview of many of my views – though I would take Gravel's healthcare plan further to the Left; I'm sure he would do the same at this point with the ACA not living up to the original expectation.
The editing of the book could have been better. There were many instances of "than" and "then" mix-ups. Some parts of his chapters were long and dull, and that may have been because I was already aware of some of the facets he was discussing.
September 8, 2020
The book provides a brilliant analysis and superb proposals of change for a thriving America. Gravel has done a fabulous job by bringing to light the problems behind close doors that need immediate care.
September 10, 2020
This book is a real eye-opener for the citizens of this glorious nation. Senator Gravel is a true patriot who has always stood by the truth and uncovered many political controversies that were hidden from the public eye.
September 14, 2020
I call this book an absolute stunner. It covers all aspects and areas of the American government’s model, structure and nitty gritty that need tremendous amount of work if we want to thrive as a nation for generations to come.
September 21, 2020
Terrific effort by Senator Gravel to support the National Initiative for Democracy and unveil the loopholes in major departments of our country that are majorly lacking and are a mess such as the educational system and law and order.
September 17, 2020
This is not just a book that lists all that is wrong in our country but also provides eligible proposals to fix the faults and talks in favor of the common American.
February 8, 2009
Mike Gravel, Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change 2/E (Authorhouse, 2008)
Thirty-seven years ago, Mike Gravel published the first edition of Citizen Power amidst the chaos of the Vietnam War. Then came 2008, and Mike Gravel's bid for the Presidency; in the intervening time, not a single thing Gravel had written about had gotten better. In fact, every last one of them had gotten demonstrably worse. What better time for a revamp and update of Citizen Power? The original, unfortunately, had lapsed out of print, and of course no major press wants to publish a book by a presidential candidate who doesn't actually have a shot at the Oval Office (John Hagelin's Manual for a Perfect Government, published when he was making his presidential bid, was published by Maharishi University of Management Press; Michael Badnarik's Good to Be King, published during his presidential bid, was published by Writers' Collective; you get the idea. Now compare the books written by Barack Obama during his presidential bid), so Gravel decided to go the POD route and publish the second edition of the book through Authorhouse. This usually sets off warning bells in my head, as the majority of POD releases I've read have been nightmares of spelling and grammar abuse. Perhaps it's because Gravel was working off a text that had previously been printed by a major publisher, but this one didn't seem to have quite as many mistakes (though they do exist here in larger quantities than one would expect from a major-press book) as is par for this particular course.
Citizen Power is about exactly what the title promises: putting the citizen back in the driver's seat in this country. It's a position we're supposed to have, and the founding fathers explicitly stated this; Gravel wastes no time in reminding us of George Washington's statement that “[t:]he basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter the constitutions of government” (epigraph to Chapter 2) and describing how it is we're supposed to go about getting back in the driver's seat (it's called the Democratic Initiative, and reading about it alone is worth the price of admission here). The rest of the actual manuscript, which covers the first hundred forty or so pages of the book, spends a chapter at a time addressing one major problem with the current (as of the book's writing; GWB was in power) government, explains why politics as usual in Washington won't cut it (and, by extension, that the people need to be back in power in order to get real change accomplished), and points out possible solutions to said problems. The rest of the book's two hundred thirty-eight pages reprint the expected documents (the Democracy Initiative, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence), but cap it off with the charter of the United Nations, which I don't think I've seen before in a political book. (As a sidelight, it's a very interesting experience to re-read the Declaration of Independence in light of the past eight years of American government. Well worth doing if you haven't done so recently.)
Of course, the only way to find a politician who believes exactly the same things you do is to go into politics yourself (and even then it's an arguable proposition at best), and so you're bound to disagree with at least some of what Mike Gravel says in these pages. You may find he goes too far in some places, or not far enough in others, or that he's entirely off his head in a place or two. But one of the things that really impressed me about Mike Gravel over the course of his presidential campaign (and in the interests of full disclosure, when he garnered neither the Democratic nor the Libertarian presidential nomination, I wrote him in when voting for President in 2008) is how broad-based his appeal was. Hardcore liberals loved his virulent anti-war stance; moderate liberals were fond of his ideas on health care and the environment; conservatives loved his rabid attacks on big government and his Constitutionalism. (And I mean true conservatives, not these abhorrent neocons. Who'd want to appeal to them, anyway?) No matter who you are, really, unless you're a neocon (and the neocons are really a lost cause), there's a part of Mike Gravel's message that's bound to appeal to you. If you didn't take him seriously when he was running for President, pick this up, and maybe you'll start. If you did, and you don't already have this, you owe it to yourself. Citizen Power is very good stuff. *** ½
Thirty-seven years ago, Mike Gravel published the first edition of Citizen Power amidst the chaos of the Vietnam War. Then came 2008, and Mike Gravel's bid for the Presidency; in the intervening time, not a single thing Gravel had written about had gotten better. In fact, every last one of them had gotten demonstrably worse. What better time for a revamp and update of Citizen Power? The original, unfortunately, had lapsed out of print, and of course no major press wants to publish a book by a presidential candidate who doesn't actually have a shot at the Oval Office (John Hagelin's Manual for a Perfect Government, published when he was making his presidential bid, was published by Maharishi University of Management Press; Michael Badnarik's Good to Be King, published during his presidential bid, was published by Writers' Collective; you get the idea. Now compare the books written by Barack Obama during his presidential bid), so Gravel decided to go the POD route and publish the second edition of the book through Authorhouse. This usually sets off warning bells in my head, as the majority of POD releases I've read have been nightmares of spelling and grammar abuse. Perhaps it's because Gravel was working off a text that had previously been printed by a major publisher, but this one didn't seem to have quite as many mistakes (though they do exist here in larger quantities than one would expect from a major-press book) as is par for this particular course.
Citizen Power is about exactly what the title promises: putting the citizen back in the driver's seat in this country. It's a position we're supposed to have, and the founding fathers explicitly stated this; Gravel wastes no time in reminding us of George Washington's statement that “[t:]he basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter the constitutions of government” (epigraph to Chapter 2) and describing how it is we're supposed to go about getting back in the driver's seat (it's called the Democratic Initiative, and reading about it alone is worth the price of admission here). The rest of the actual manuscript, which covers the first hundred forty or so pages of the book, spends a chapter at a time addressing one major problem with the current (as of the book's writing; GWB was in power) government, explains why politics as usual in Washington won't cut it (and, by extension, that the people need to be back in power in order to get real change accomplished), and points out possible solutions to said problems. The rest of the book's two hundred thirty-eight pages reprint the expected documents (the Democracy Initiative, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence), but cap it off with the charter of the United Nations, which I don't think I've seen before in a political book. (As a sidelight, it's a very interesting experience to re-read the Declaration of Independence in light of the past eight years of American government. Well worth doing if you haven't done so recently.)
Of course, the only way to find a politician who believes exactly the same things you do is to go into politics yourself (and even then it's an arguable proposition at best), and so you're bound to disagree with at least some of what Mike Gravel says in these pages. You may find he goes too far in some places, or not far enough in others, or that he's entirely off his head in a place or two. But one of the things that really impressed me about Mike Gravel over the course of his presidential campaign (and in the interests of full disclosure, when he garnered neither the Democratic nor the Libertarian presidential nomination, I wrote him in when voting for President in 2008) is how broad-based his appeal was. Hardcore liberals loved his virulent anti-war stance; moderate liberals were fond of his ideas on health care and the environment; conservatives loved his rabid attacks on big government and his Constitutionalism. (And I mean true conservatives, not these abhorrent neocons. Who'd want to appeal to them, anyway?) No matter who you are, really, unless you're a neocon (and the neocons are really a lost cause), there's a part of Mike Gravel's message that's bound to appeal to you. If you didn't take him seriously when he was running for President, pick this up, and maybe you'll start. If you did, and you don't already have this, you owe it to yourself. Citizen Power is very good stuff. *** ½
June 29, 2008
I read the original Citizen Power back in 1972. As a college student at Alaska Methodist University,I worked for Senator Gravel. Though I have not finished the updated version,the updated version,as well as his Presidential Campaign are more completed examples of what he was thinking back then..
August 12, 2007
as relevant, if not more relevant, today as in 1972
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews