Our Politics

Douglas Kane, an American politician and economist, offers readers a straightforward, personal account of what it is like to run for and hold public office—the demands, conflicts, temptations, and rewards created by political, economic, and social forces. Throughout the book, Kane references Illinois and Wisconsin politics. The campaigns of his wife, Kathleen Vinehout, and her years in the Wisconsin senate show that the centralization of political power, the structure of campaign organizations, and the policy decisions that Kane experienced as an Illinois legislator are not unique to any one state.

Our Politics is different from the typical political memoir in that its primary focus is on the forces that have shaped and continue to shape politics. Kane outlines personal and public perceptions of politics and politicians in Illinois; explores the fundamental contradictions underlying the concept of democracy and how they must be dealt with by every politician; and describes the essential nature of politics and how and why the political power structure has shifted. He explores the personal experiences of being a legislator: how a politician decides which way to vote; their relationship to party leaders, fellow legislators, the governor, and voters in their district; and the possibility of change, how it might happen, and the steps that candidates, political parties, activists, and others might take to better our politics with results more to our liking.

While many journalists record politics from the outside, and numerous political memoirs focus on personalities and what happened to whom and when, this book gives an insider’s view of politics at the level of state government. This book is not about those politicians but about our politics, which together we have created and together we must deal with.