An Outsider Looks In

Just as there are perceived insiders and outsiders among the candidates in this political season, so are there insiders and outsiders among the journalists who cover them.

Most prominent among the outsiders is William Greider, national correspondent for Rolling Stone and author of “Secrets of the Temple: How The Federal Reserve Runs the Country” and the upcoming “Who Will Tell the People: The Betrayal of American Democracy.”

It’s from this new book that Greider has culled the material for a two-hour “Frontline” special, “The Betrayal of Democracy.” Drawing on 25 years as a journalist, observing everything from the Kentucky state legislature to madcap hustings adventures in the snows of New Hampshire, Greider has built a case that the American people now feel such alienation from their governmental institutions and the political process that the country’s democratic system is threatened with extinction.

“The Betrayal of Democracy” marks Greider’s fourth collaboration with producer Sherry Jones (“Retreat From Beirut,” “Taxes Behind Closed Doors,” “The Disillusionment of David Stockman” and “War on Nicaragua”), whose recent “Frontline” report, “High Crimes and Misdemeanors,” garnered multiple Emmys. Rather than focusing on the specifics of the ongoing Presidential campaign, Grieder is intent on appraising the state of the body politic, which he discussed with writer Robert Koehler.

Since the U.S. was founded as a republic, has it really ever had true democracy?

It was founded as a democratic republic. Thomas Jefferson, who I think of as the soul father of America, spoke of representative democracy. It assumes a civic faith that lies in the accountability of the governing to the governed, in equal protection under the law, a kind of political equality and an understanding that government will speak with forthrightness to the people. The theme of this report is that, in various ways, those ideas have been subverted and altered in very tangible ways.

What are some of those ways?

One of the ironies we focus on is that The New Deal created a new format of governing: Namely, interest groups bargaining over issues, as a way of bringing the excluded into the debate.

This has devolved into what I call a grand bazaar of deal-making. Take the landmark regulatory laws of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s--the Clean Air Act, worker health and safety laws. They set up a bargaining process between corporations and special interests, surrounded by a huge infrastructure of lobbyists, lawyers, think tanks, direct mail, all playing the regulatory game of stalling laws in court so nothing ever seems to get done. There’s a general slippage in which laws are passed, but never come to fruition in the way that we think laws are supposed to.

A specific example of the larger problem is the savings and loan debacle. Both parties kept this out of the public eye, and the press didn’t treat it as a political issue either. All the Washington insiders knew in the summer of 1988 that this scandal was enormous. Because they were both to blame, Democrats and Republicans tacitly agreed that this wouldn’t be a campaign issue. Soon, the taxpayers will be stuck with a huge bill for the collapse of banks.

Doesn’t part of the problem, though, lie with citizens themselves?

First, with the decline of political parties, (citizens) lack the kind of mediating institutions our system requires, and (in the show) we explore the whys and hows of this. For what seemed like good reasons, people have opted out of the one arena--the party system--that guarantees citizens accountability. As an alternative, many have gone for an opposition that’s trapped in the politics of theatrical protest. It can block things that government wants to do, but it’s not really democracy. I might add that politicians are trapped in this system as well.

What I’m saying is that the isolated single-issue politics, which many have embraced for 20 years, will not get you to democracy. It doesn’t build relations with those in power. The only way is the electoral route, whether that’s a third party, or an insurgency within a party, or something else. 1992 is showing the first glimmerings that people are scorning the single-issue approach, and making a little mark on the candidates. For instance, if H. Ross Perot runs for President, he will get a lot of votes.

Is there something to be said, then, for the slogan, “Get the rascals out”?

Voters expressing their anger and tossing incumbents out of office is very therapeutic to the system. It rattles the power relations in government. But that by itself isn’t sufficient to establish a relationship between governing centers and those at large. We still lack the means to build the connective tissue that links citizens to institutions.

Is there hope for change?

It has dawned on elites in the political power centers of Washington, West L.A. and Manhattan that something is wrong, that there’s a widespread discontent among ordinary citizens. But real change is only going to come from people. The cynical response is that it’s impossible in the TV age, and though I think it’s formidable, it’s not impossible.

In fact, TV may be part of the solution: I get into it more in the book than the program, but I’m optimistic that as the younger generation takes charge, they’ll find new ways of making direct and immediate contact with the TV viewer. Now, TV is also elitist and centrally controlled as well. But Jacques Cousteau said that TV has created a new politics for the world where peasants and kids know more than polticians. I think that’s true.

“The Betrayal of Democracy” airs on “Frontline” Wednesday at 8 p.m. on KVCR and at 9 p.m. on KCET and KPBS.