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A generation of frustrated aspirations has led many citizens to separate themselves from the formal sytem of power and dwell in rigtheous isolation, comtemptuous of all traditional ways of connecting with governement. They no longer believe in elections as an effective lever of power for citizens. They mistrust the elaborate mchinery of governing. Many no longer believe that federal legislation ifself makes much difference; they have seen too many reform laws eviscerated by the powerful economic interest. Cut off from the real decisions, lacking the resources to compete with the insiders, citizens at the community level lose contact with the content of public issues they care about and, as a consequence, their politcal activism sometimes loses coherence and enery. To overcome this many have develped their own bluntly pratical strategies for how to do politics--rough and direct confrontions with power.
