A Preface to Politics — CHAPTER I

1. 1. Politics is not a war between good and bad men; this superstition ruins political values by glorifying the pharisee.
2. 2. The most fruitful distinction in politics is between those who see government as a routine to administer and those who see it as a problem to solve.
3. 3. The U.S. Constitution embodies a mechanical philosophy from the 18th century, attempting to create an automatic governor through checks and balances.
4. 4. Democracy's fear of tyranny leads it to distrust individuals and put faith in automatic contrivances, but real government is always carried on by men.
5. 5. Lincoln Steffens' investigation found that the anatomy of big business mirrors Tammany Hall: power pyramids around individuals not in official seats.
6. 6. Much of what is called corruption is the odor of a decaying political system unable to adapt to economic growth, like the trust movement.
7. 7. The Roosevelt administration gave a taste of what government could be like by centering natural leadership and releasing political invention.
8. 8. Routineers are always unprepared for vast economic and psychological changes, forcing violent revolutions when they refuse to adapt.
9. 9. The labor movement (syndicalism) is a growing force that demands understanding and direction, just as the trust movement did in the 1880s.
10. 10. Washington politicians are largely irrelevant, lacking conception of the nation's needs, and they stifle creative minds like Pinchot, Wiley, and Lindsey.
11. 11. Political thinking needs infusion of contemporary insights to keep habits of mind flexible and adapted to real life.