Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 216
Book Reviews
For many people who still believe the old myth that all cults are religious, this study of
political cults expands our understanding of these social formations. Indeed, some religious
cults may take an interest in the political environment or particular issues, and may have
entire sections or individuals whose purpose is to influence politicians or political outcomes.
Yet the kinds of groups discussed in this book are substantively different in that they
―advocate programs of total social transformation‖ (p. 33). Ultimately, the goal is to seize
state power. In the meantime, the leader(s) create an environment characterized by
ideological totalism, and the members are expected to devote their lives to the group‘s
political mission, be it left or right. The authors‘ premise is that political cults are ―miniature
totalitarian societies.‖ Their danger lies in their efforts at ―seeking money, recruits, and
influence‖ (p. xi). In that regard, these groups tend to siphon money from just causes they
burn out their members and, in some cases of deep disillusionment, turn them away from
further participation in political processes or causes and, despite their rather small
numbers, these groups have a negative impact on political life, skewing causes and issues
in the direction of their own untoward ends. All of this is brought to life through the authors‘
analyses and their descriptions of ten or more cultic organizations, their foundational
ideologies, and their daily practices.
In Part I, Tourish and Wohlforth bring together key points from the classic literature on
persuasion and thought reform, illustrating clearly how they apply to political cults. The
newcomer will learn the essential principles of social psychology that explain most cult
practices, from recruitment to the development of the deployable agent. For those more
familiar with cultic studies, these early chapters serve as a fine reference point and review
of the works of Janis, Milgram, Sherif, Zimbardo, Cialdini, and, of course, Lifton.
On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left
Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth. Published by: Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe,
2000. ISBN: 0-7656-0639-9 (cloth). $34.95
Tabernacle of Hate: Why They Bombed Oklahoma City
Kerry Noble. Ontario, Canada: Voyageur Publishing, 1998. ISBN: 0-921842-56-2
(cloth). $19.95
Tourish and Wohlforth wrote On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left out of their concern
for healthy participation in democratic political processes. While the focus on political cults is
especially important in today‘s climate of terrorism and political repression, more
information on this type of cult is needed in general. Some years back, for example, when
Dennis King published Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism (Doubleday, 1989),
there was very little available about political cults. To locate articles on the subject, one had
to contact Chip Berlet at Political Research Associates in Cambridge, Mass., or other
organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center in Birmingham, Ala., or search the
archives of various weekly independent presses, such as The Guardian or City Paper. My
own writings on the left-wing Democratic Workers Party, first published in the Cultic Studies
Journal in 1992 and then elsewhere, were among the few works drawing connections
between cultic phenomena and the practices of certain political sects. Consequently, On the
Edge is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature in this field.

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 217
First, Tourish and Wohlforth address right-wing groups and their call for white supremacy.
The authors explain the foundations of Christian Identity philosophy within the framework of
the literature on the psychology of prejudice and hate. Groups such as Aryan Nations, Posse
Comitatus, and the Ku Klux Klan are put in their historical context. Similarly, significant
connections are made to such figures as survivalist Randy Weaver (Ruby Ridge) and William
Pierce, author of The Turner Diaries, a book that was influential in the development of
Timothy McVeigh‘s ideological belief system of violence and hate. An interesting addition to
this section is the chapter on Lyndon LaRouche, who, in his own political evolution, traveled
from extreme left to extreme right. LaRouche‘s activities go back to 1947, from Trotskyism,
through the radical Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in the ‗60s, to his own National
Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC), which gradually transitioned further and further to the
right. Discussed are LaRouche‘s links to fascist and neo-Nazi groups and activities, including
his overt anti-Semitism and penchant for outrageous conspiracy theories. Many readers
may not realize the extent of LaRouche‘s involvement in our country‘s political processes.
For example, members of his organization have won primary slots in various state-level
elections and have launched state ballot initiatives and LaRouche regularly runs for
President and proposed himself as economic advisor to President Clinton. These depictions
of some of the white- supremacist groups and the LaRouche variation of fascism provide
ample evidence of our need to take these organizations seriously and to encourage further
study of them.
On the left, Tourish and Wohlforth focus on four groups: two are Marxist in orientation, and
two Trotskyite. The latter two, the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) and the Committee
for a Workers International (CWI) – at least in their U.K. incarnations – affected some
degree of political clout. Nonetheless, most leftist cults tend to be far more ineffectual, often
becoming caricatures of themselves and they tend to have quite small memberships.
Apparently, this has not deterred the leaders of such groups from having lives of excess – in
goods, sex, and/or power – and the followers from leading spartan lives of hard work and
self-denial. The two Marxist groups discussed in the book are the Democratic Workers Party
(DWP) and the Communist Party, U.S.A. (Provisional), a.k.a. the National Labor Federation
(NATLFD). Only NATLFD is still in existence, with small outposts in select cities around the
country. Left-wing groups are best known perhaps for the generation of an alphabet soup of
names (in this case, WRP, CWI, DWP, NATLFD) and their myriad front groups, indicative of
their use of deception in implementing their political programs and as a tool for recruitment.
Tourish and Wohlforth describe this phenomenon in detail, as well as introducing other
important concepts, such as the significance of ―clique formation‖ (p. 157) and similarities
to religious and other forms of guruism and cultism. As an example, the authors make an
interesting analogy between WRP leader Gerry Healy‘s philosophical distortions of Lenin‘s
Philosophical Notebooks and David Koresh‘s belief that he knew the secret meaning of the
Seven Seals. Given that many readers may not be familiar with political cults, their ideas
and terminology, or their actual practices, the authors do an excellent job of drawing
comparisons and making links to discussions in other parts of the book or to other well-
known cult examples. This makes the material less arcane and of greater relevance to more
readers.
Chapters in the remaining three parts of the book feature illustrative groups on the right
and on the left, and select therapy cults known to have a political thrust. While these are
not in-depth studies, they summarize key personalities, developments, and events,
presenting fascinating histories of the growth and evolution of each group, their purported
goals and political activities, along with concise summaries of the basic theoretical and
emotional justifications used by each group to draw in and hold members.