Note: This review is for the original 2007 hardcover edition; A paperback version was released last month
Where did it all go wrong with a Republican Party that until two years ago ruled all branches of government and openly talked of enjoying a “permanent" majority in power? How and why did it become so pervasively corrupt, and ignorant of long established rules of law and governmental process?
That is what Nixon-era conservative (and now registered independent) John W. Dean has been diagnosing over the course of an “unplanned” trilogy of New York Times best-selling books during the Bush administration’s two terms: first came the Bush-and-Cheney-bashing Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush (2004). This was followed by Conservatives Without Conscience (2006), an in-depth examination of the party’s ruthless reign of power and how it radicalized the conservative movement he joined in the 1960s in the late Barry Goldwater’s hey-day. His latest, Broken Government (2007 hardcover, 2008 paperback) — named after the late 2006 CNN series of the same name — is an academic and at times angry examination of how hard-right Republicans corrupted all three branches of government.
At the outset, Broken Government is not a rejection of Republican ideals or true conservatism in general, which Dean has said is “cautious but prudent.” It is a rejection of his old party’s lack of respect for co-equal branches and “philosophical disposition toward the processes of government,” which they’ve abused in the name of power. In this respect, the book is different than other Republican books critical of its party’s policies, Kevin Phillips’ 2006 book American Theocracy in particular. It also finds Dean optimistic about our future, that hard-right rule is waning, and that at least one broken branch is currently being repaired. At the same time, Dean flatly states why America needs to punish “authoritarian conservatives” (neocons and social conservatives) who have let the president and vice president have all the unchecked and at times illegal authority they wanted in the name of national security and other areas. His main message? Don’t vote Republican this election cycle.
Before Dean gets knee-deep into the issues, in the book’s preface, he launches a preemptive strike aimed at Republican critics of his, saying that he has not become a “partisan for their enemies [Democrats]” and that he has no interest in either party remaining in power. His only concern is the “well-being of our government.” However, he sort of undermines these statements when writing that because Republicans have placed its own special interests ahead of those of the American people, the only viable alternative to restore our government to its proper functions is the Democrats, whom he says “any objective observer” would conclude puts the needs of the American public first and cares about running the government by its rules and Constitutional mandates. Dean is all but saying vote for a Democratic president and Congress. Thus, he does care who is in power.
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