Governing America

by Zelizer, Julian E.

• ISBN13: 9780691150734
• ISBN10: 0691150737
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-02-13
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

In recent years, the study of American political history has experienced a remarkable renaissance. After decades during which the subject fell out of fashion and disappeared from public view, it has returned to prominence as the study of American history has shifted its focus back to politics broadly defined. In this book, one of the leaders of the resurgence in American political history, Julian Zelizer, assesses its revival and demonstrates how this work not only illuminates the past but also helps us better understand American politics today. Governing Americaaddresses issues of wide interest, including the rise of the welfare state, the development of modern conservatism, the history of Congress, the struggle over campaign finance, changing views about presidential power, and national security. Throughout, it addresses four big questions: How have interpretations of American political history changed over time? How have taxes and budgets constrained policymakers? How have changes in the political process defined historical eras? And how have policy and politics interacted on decisions like going to war? Zelizer's answers to these questions are fresh and often surprising, providing compelling new perspectives on modern American politics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Governing America: An Introduction	p. 1
Thinking about the Field	p. 9
Beyond the Presidential Synthesis: Reordering Political Time	p. 11
Clio's Lost Tribe: Public Policy History Since 1978	p. 41
History and Political Science: Together Again?	p. 60
Rethinking the History of American Conservatism	p. 68
What Political Science Can Learn from the New Political History	p. 90
Paying for Government: Taxes, Money, and Fiscal Restraint	p. 105
The Uneasy Relationship: Democracy, Taxation, and State-Building Since the New Deal	p. 107
The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal: Fiscal Conservatism and the Roosevelt Administration, 1933-1938	p. 124
"Where Is the Money Coming From?" The Reconstruction of Social Security Finance	p. 153
Paying for Medicare: Benefits, Budgets, and Wilbur Mills's Policy Legacy	p. 168
The Rules of the Game: The Politics of Process	p. 193
Seeds of Cynicism: The Struggle Over Campaign Finance, 1956-1974	p. 195
Bridging State and Society: The Origins of 1970s Congressional Reform	p. 221
Without Restraint: Scandal and Politics in America	p. 232
Seizing Power: Conservatives and Congress Since the 1970s	p. 259
How Conservatives Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Presidential Power	p. 290
Politics and Policy: The Case of National Security	p. 307
Congress and the Politics of Troop Withdrawal, 1966-1973	p. 309
Détente and Domestic Politics	p. 321
tConservatives, Carter, and the Politics of National Security	p. 335
Notes	p. 351
Index	p. 399
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.