The Stark Regime and American Democracy: A Political Interpretation of Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men

Joseph H. Lane

American Political Science Review, 2001, vol. 95, issue 4, 811-828

Abstract: Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men is a political novel that deserves the serious study of political scientists interested in understanding the formative effects of American democracy. A careful reading of the novel that is informed by the classical approach to the analysis of regimes reveals the close connection between the politics of Willie Stark and the politics of modern American democracy. Furthermore, by viewing Stark's actions through the eyes of Jack Burden, a perceptive narrator who is moving toward self-knowledge, we can gain insight into both why modern democracies encourage the formation of a debilitating nihilism among their citizens and the prospects for countering these effects.

Date: 2001
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