Shrinking Democracy and Expanding Trade-New Shape of the Imperial State

Shrinking Democracy and Expanding Trade New Shape of the Imperial State James Petras Steve Vieux The new configuration of state power by neoliberalism depends upon the destruction of the chief 'countervailing powers' of the post-war boom years. The resulting organisational vacuum at the grass roots is the prime structural precondition for the growth of the ultra right. Unions, civil rights organisations and public interest groups have been the primary victims of this collapse of pluralism. It is a mistake for the Left to await salvation from the mechanical swing of the political pendulum or an economic crisis.