It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States
by Seymour Martin Lipset
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Description
"This work sheds light on the chief factors that explain the failure of socialists to establish a durable party in the United States and provides greater insights into American society and politics. Drawing on rich contrasts with other industrialized countries and extensive comparisons within the United States at the state and city level, the authors eschew conventional explanations of socialism's demise to present a fuller understanding of how multiple factors - American values, political show more structure, and the split between the Socialist party and mainstream unions - combined to seal socialism's fate. Further chapters examine the distinctive character of American trade unions, immigration and the fragmentation of the American working class, Socialist strategies, and repression, concluding with a penetrating analysis of American political exceptionalism up to the present day."--Jacket. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Wow! This book was remarkable in that it was probably the dullest book I've ever read. I am a Socialist and I was very interested in the information these authors had to share, but it was so god damn academic and dry that I couldn't read it for more than 10 minutes at a time.
I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be for this book. "Beginners" to the themes within (Socialism, labor unions, the electoral college, immigration etc.) would be completely overwhelmed and confused, because the authors make no attempt to clarify background information. That would be fine if the book was geared towards people who already have a solid foundation of these issues, but the reasons the authors come up with are nothing new to those of us who have show more studied the Socialist party in this country.
On the upside, I will say that this book was extensively researched. For every point they made, they had pages and pages and pages (and pages!) of graphs and studies and examples to back up their assertions. I can see this being a useful resource for someone writing a paper, but it was definitely way too academic and zzzzzzzz for anyone who's simply interested in the subject. show less
I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be for this book. "Beginners" to the themes within (Socialism, labor unions, the electoral college, immigration etc.) would be completely overwhelmed and confused, because the authors make no attempt to clarify background information. That would be fine if the book was geared towards people who already have a solid foundation of these issues, but the reasons the authors come up with are nothing new to those of us who have show more studied the Socialist party in this country.
On the upside, I will say that this book was extensively researched. For every point they made, they had pages and pages and pages (and pages!) of graphs and studies and examples to back up their assertions. I can see this being a useful resource for someone writing a paper, but it was definitely way too academic and zzzzzzzz for anyone who's simply interested in the subject. show less
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Author Information
68+ Works 1,240 Members
Seymour Martin Lipset: March 18, 1922 - December 31, 2006 American political theorist and sociologist, Seymour Martin Lipset, was born in New York City on March 18, 1922, and educated at City College of New York and Columbia University. Lipset taught at a number of universities, including the University of Toronto, Columbia University, the show more University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, and Stanford University. A senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, he was also a member of the International Society of Political Psychology, the American Political Science Association, and the American Academy of Science. Among Lipset's many works are "Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics" (1960), "Class, Status, and Power" (1953), and "Revolution and Counterrevolution" (1968). He also contributed articles to a number of magazines, including The New Republic, Encounter, and Commentary. Lipset has received a number of awards for his work, including the MacIver Award in 1962, the Gunnar Myrdal Prize in 1970, and the Townsend Harris Medal in 1971. Lipset died on December 31, 2006, as a result of complications following a stroke. He was 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2000
- First words
- The United States, as noted by Alexis de Tocqueville and Friedrich Engels, among many visitors to America, is an "exceptional" country, one uniquely different from more traditional societies and status-bound nations of the Ol... (show all)d World.
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 335.00973 — Society, government, & culture Economics Socialism and related systems Standard subdivisions History, geographic treatment, biography North America
- LCC
- HX83 .L55 — Social sciences Socialism. Communism. Anarchism Socialism. Communism. Anarchism
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 167
- Popularity
- 196,810
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.67)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
