The Democratic Wish; Popular Participation and the Limits of American Government, Revised Edition

by James A. Morone

• ISBN13: 9780300074659
• ISBN10: 0300074654
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1998-01-21
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

This prize-winning book reinterprets more than 200 years of American political history as the interplay between the public's dread of government power and its yearning for communal democracy. James Morone argues that Americans will never solve their collective problems as long as they instinctively fear all public power as a threat to liberty. This revised edition includes a new final chapter about contemporary populism, government bashing, and democratic wishes. "The Democratic Wish merits the highest compliments one can accord a public policy book. It spotlights a problem that can no longer be evaded. And it makes you think". -- Alan Tonelson, New York Times Book Review "Morone writes with flair and passion. The fact that he puts forth a provocative argument and provides concise histories of labor, civil rights, and health care politics makes this book especially useful for teaching American politics". -- R. Shep Melnick, Journal of Interdisciplinary History "Morone's contribution to our understanding of state building ... is substantial and profound". -- John S. Dryzek, American Political Science Review "This stimulating reinterpretation of American political history will interest both scholars concerned about the past and citizens concerned about the future". -- Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction. The Democratic Wish	2	(31)
Dread and Yearning	2	(7)
Dynamics of the Democratic Wish	9	(6)
Rival Views of American Political Development	15	(9)
Overview	24	(9)
I. STATE BUILDING AND THE PEOPLE	33	(112)
1 Representation, Revolution, and Republic	33	(41)
Representation	35	(10)
Revolution	45	(11)
Constitutional Contentions: Reconstructing the Republic	56	(16)
Conclusion	72	(2)
2 The Resistible Rise of the Common Man: Jacksonian Democracy	74	(23)
The Setting: Social and Economic Tensions	76	(4)
The People	80	(7)
The People's Bureaucracy	87	(7)
Conclusion	94	(3)
3 Administrative Science and the People: The Progressive Movement	97	(32)
The Political Setting	100	(7)
Progressive Aspirations	107	(12)
Progressive Failures	119	(6)
Conclusion	125	(4)
4 Progressive Administration without the People: The New Deal	129	(16)
Administrative Science Becomes Interest-Group Liberalism	130	(4)
Varieties of New Deal Administration	134	(3)
The Limits of Legitimacy	137	(3)
Conclusion	140	(5)
II. THE PEOPLE AND REFORM: THE POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF CLASS, RACE, AND PROFESSION	145	(194)
5 The Reconstruction of Working-Class Politics	145	(41)
The Patterns of Working-Class Politics	146	(7)
New Deal Labor Policy as Democratic Wish: From NRA to the Wagner Act	153	(21)
A Legitimate Workers' Movement	174	(5)
Conclusion	179	(7)
6 The Reconstruction of Racial Politics	186	(67)
Race Politics before Brown	188	(11)
The Civil Rights Movement: 1954-63	199	(19)
The War on Poverty as Democratic Wish	218	(31)
Conclusion	249	(4)
7 The Reconstruction of Medical Politics	253	(69)
The Autonomy of the Medical Profession	254	(3)
Public Power and the Doctors: 1933-66	257	(8)
Health Policy as Democratic Wish: Costs, Crisis, and Consumers	265	(19)
Decline of Doctors' Power	284	(2)
Snapshots of Five Communities	286	(28)
Conclusion	314	(8)
8 Elusive Community: Democratic Wishes for the 21st Century	322	(17)
Notes	339	(52)
Index	391