Take Back Your Government

By Robert A. Heinlein

Book Overview

Before the Tea Party, the Coffee Party, the ?Occupy? movement, Ross Perot or even the Libertarian Party, there was Robert Heinlein, a prophetic mastermind, calling to the people to organize in a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671721577
• ISBN13: 9780671721572
• Release Date: July 1992
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Not outdated by far

This work, far from whatmany of the reviewers have claimed, is far from outdated. The people (as well as the footnotes by Jerry Pournelle), who insist it isn't applicable in today's political world have overlooked a key point. This ISN'T a book on how to win a mainstream election as the selected candidate of one of the two major parties. As Heinlein describes "Machines", it is patently obvious to the person who steps back and looks anew, that the mainstream of BOTH major political parties qualify as "machines". This book describes what would be classified by political operatives as a "grassroots" campaign, even though it tries to distinguish it from what "grassroots" meant in 1946. The techniques are valid, if in need for technological updates. Yes, internet, cell phones, scanners, word processors, etc -- ALL have affects that were not fully considered in 1946. Consider, however, the simple word processor: Even the cheapest and most basic is capable of replacing two very expensive tools Heinlein feels are critical -- by allowing "Mail merge" to create "personalized" correspondance without requiring a specialized machine that in 1946 wasn't even available in most small towns and allowing one who is not an expert typist to create them. Likewise desktop creation of much of the hand out literature than in 1946 would have been essentially hired out to professionals. Can you get copies of teh voter's rolls, perhaps even who has voted in which primaries, electronically? Run it through a quick sort in any spreadsheet program, and dump the results to a list of teh very people Heinlein advocated concentrating your efforts on. Instead of spending weeks and moths to do so, one amateur could have it done within MINUTES of receiving the data file. The technological advances have made it EASIER to apply these techniques. But the basic philosophies of integrity (even when you've made a mistake in promising something), determination to adhere to the principles of basic democratic procedures, and most improtantly -- GETTING THE VOTE OUT are just as valid today as ever. One of his most important points -- personal contact with as many likely voters (i.e., "ringing doorbells") matters. One of the biggest blocks (especially in local elections and primaries) of untapped votes is quite simply people who aren't going to the polls to vote on YOUR issue, but rather are going to vote for another issue or office. If these voters step into the booth still undecided about the race you are interested in, there's a very good chance they'll simply vote for the guy they can put a pleasant face to from personal contact -- even if that face belongs to an 18 year old volunteer doorbell ringer. If you've had your people out there ringing doorbells, while the other guy is relying on flashy signs and email spam, guess who that pleasant face is associated with? That's right. . . YOUR candidate or issue. As for his observations on females and the political process. Un

Excellent, not as outdated as they'd have you believe

This is an excellent book. Don't believe the people who say it's outdated. First, most elections are local. County commissioners, mayors, state legislators, some sheriffs, and many more. The techniques outlined in this book *will* get you elected. If you're running for state-wide or national office, of course, these techniques are less applicable, but Heinlein points this out himself. This book works out-of-the-box, no adaptations required. Second, the way most political races are funded, campaign consultants have a definite financial interest in funneling their candidate's budget into less productive, scatter-shot techniques, relying heavily on mass media. Heinlein's reliance on person-to-person selling and volunteer work is the antithesis of this approach. So the consultants always recommend the media-heavy approach and Heinlein's techniques are labeled "naive" or outmoded. Shortly after first reading this book, I decided to follow its instructions about how to get involved. Thing happened pretty much *exactly* as described. Since then, another political professional far more successful than I was told me that he, too, had gotten his start from reading this book. A few points in the book *are* very dated. For example, his comments on women were probably accurate when he wrote them, but that was when women had tightly restricted roles in our culture. Political clubs and salons no longer exist as they did in his day. Those anachronisms are easy to spot and don't detract from his core message. I'm a big fan of Jerry Pournelle, but his liner notes subtract value. As other reviews point out, they're rushed, sloppy, and show little appreciation of the craft of politics, despite a PhD in political science. Most of his footnotes promote the Ross Perot candidacy, argue that Heinlein's approach is no longer applicable, and stop midway through the book. A gifted man like Pournelle can only be forgiven for botching this because he got the book reprinted in the first place. If you're trying to be elected to a local office, even if you could care less about science fiction, this is the book for you.

Incredible

Unlike most political books, which either place a huge reliance on your knowledge of current events/history, or go into such abstract concepts that leave the reader baffled, or are simply just too wordy, this book is for the layman: consise, easy to read, and rapid fire enough to be engaging. For the average joe who is up in arms over the election of ____ (fill in whichever politician you hate most), it offers an insightful view of what to do next. Too bad the price is so high, I think it should be out there for more people to have ready access to.

Heinlein tells us how to win elections. For Liberty.

Originally I was going to write this book review of Robert Heinlein's Take Back Your Government! which was reprinted in 1992. I was going to say unpleasant things about the end notes added for that edition by Jerry Pournelle. And I was going to suggest it as de rigeur reading for anyone interested in having a Libertarian Party of any real substance. In his book, Heinlein gives a detailed summation (which Pournelle dismisses as "obsolete") of how to win an election against "machine" politicians. He shows how to organize a political club. He tells how to ring a doorbell and persuade a voter. He discusses how to organize a grassroots machine to get lots of doorbells pushed and lots of voters persuaded. He tells how to win a primary, and win an election. He shows how to build a political organization based on grassroots, individual support. So, I thought, let's have some Libertarian Party members buy and read this book. They won't find it near the other Heinlein in the Science Fiction section of their local bookstores. They'll have to look through the Political Science section, where few of us dare wander for fear of an avalanche of socialist books caving in under its own weight while we are standing near. More likely, they'll have to order the book special from its publishers, Baen Books. And I thought, let's have thousands of Libertarian Party activists around the country revive politics as it used to be in this country. My dream was a Libertarian Party in which those members who actually vote are actually contacted by candidates and their representatives. My hope was for a small legion of doorbell pushers nationwide to go door to door among dues-paying LP members asking them to vote in the elections. And somewhere in the back of my mind was the fantasy that the LP could become a triumphant mainstream party by being in contact with its own voters, branching out into contacts with independent voters and meeting the occasional Democrat or Republican or Reform party member who can be salvaged for libertarian purposes. Then I read Wendy McElroy and Don L. Tiggre's pieces on individualist anarchism. McElroy had already impressed me by embracing the concept of new country development, while rejecting the entire idea of liberty through political means. Tiggre had impressed me with his favorable review of James P. Hogan's Paths to Otherwhere which I found to be an excellent book. So when I read McElroy's piece rejecting the entire notion of political libertarianism having any value for the individual anarchist with whom I identify myself, I paused for reflection. Then I read Tiggre's comments on recent developments in the Libertarian Party, and I became more convinced than ever that Heinlein's book is important. It is vital if we liberty-minded individualists are to recapture our party from people whose "principles" deny a candidate the right to express himself freely in apparel of his o