[PDF] The Paradox Of The American State eBook

Author : Gary Gerstle
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 470 pages
File Size : 40,62 MB
Release : 2017-10-24
Category : History
ISBN : 0691178216

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How the conflict between federal and state power has shaped American history American governance is burdened by a paradox. On the one hand, Americans don't want "big government" meddling in their lives; on the other hand, they have repeatedly enlisted governmental help to impose their views regarding marriage, abortion, religion, and schooling on their neighbors. These contradictory stances on the role of public power have paralyzed policymaking and generated rancorous disputes about government’s legitimate scope. How did we reach this political impasse? Historian Gary Gerstle, looking at two hundred years of U.S. history, argues that the roots of the current crisis lie in two contrasting theories of power that the Framers inscribed in the Constitution. One theory shaped the federal government, setting limits on its power in order to protect personal liberty. Another theory molded the states, authorizing them to go to extraordinary lengths, even to the point of violating individual rights, to advance the "good and welfare of the commonwealth." The Framers believed these theories could coexist comfortably, but conflict between the two has largely defined American history. Gerstle shows how national political leaders improvised brilliantly to stretch the power of the federal government beyond where it was meant to go—but at the cost of giving private interests and state governments too much sway over public policy. The states could be innovative, too. More impressive was their staying power. Only in the 1960s did the federal government, impelled by the Cold War and civil rights movement, definitively assert its primacy. But as the power of the central state expanded, its constitutional authority did not keep pace. Conservatives rebelled, making the battle over government’s proper dominion the defining issue of our time. From the Revolution to the Tea Party, and the Bill of Rights to the national security state, Liberty and Coercion is a revelatory account of the making and unmaking of government in America.

Author : Seymour Martin Lipset
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 43,22 MB
Release : 2004
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780801442001

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The authors examine the reluctance of Americans to join unions, even though they greatly approve of the institution, comparing the experience of Canada, where union numbers are higher but the approval rating much lower. They uncover deep-seated differences in identity and outlook between the two countries.

Author : Elizabeth Bradley
Publisher : Public Affairs
Page : 274 pages
File Size : 39,92 MB
Release : 2013-11-05
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1610392094

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Considers why U.S. society is believed to be less healthy in spite of disproportionate spending on health care, identifying a lack of social services, outdated care allocations, and a resistance to government programs as the problem.

Author : Bruce Mazlish
Publisher : Stanford University Press
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 16,39 MB
Release : 2007-05-04
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780804767637

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The Paradox of a Global USA describes the vexed relationship between the United States and globalization. On the one hand, the U.S. has vociferously promoted modernization and open markets, both central components of the process of globalization. On the other hand, it appears to be resolutely determined not to live within an institutional framework of globalized authority. As the world's only superpower, the United States is often perceived as championing its own narrow national sovereignty—for example, by opposing the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court, and by taking action in Iraq outside the auspices of the UN. The book treats the paradox of American exceptionalism and globalization as a "local" happening within the broader process of globalization. These essays analyze the ways in which the USA has both played a role in, and reacted against, emerging present-day globalization. Examples are drawn from the fields of history, political science, cultural studies, and economics, making this collection one of the very few to link together so diverse a group of authors and approaches to the subject of global USA.

Author : Jennifer Lee
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
Page : 267 pages
File Size : 49,58 MB
Release : 2015-06-30
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1610448502

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Asian Americans are often stereotyped as the “model minority.” Their sizeable presence at elite universities and high household incomes have helped construct the narrative of Asian American “exceptionalism.” While many scholars and activists characterize this as a myth, pundits claim that Asian Americans’ educational attainment is the result of unique cultural values. In The Asian American Achievement Paradox, sociologists Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou offer a compelling account of the academic achievement of the children of Asian immigrants. Drawing on in-depth interviews with the adult children of Chinese immigrants and Vietnamese refugees and survey data, Lee and Zhou bridge sociology and social psychology to explain how immigration laws, institutions, and culture interact to foster high achievement among certain Asian American groups. For the Chinese and Vietnamese in Los Angeles, Lee and Zhou find that the educational attainment of the second generation is strikingly similar, despite the vastly different socioeconomic profiles of their immigrant parents. Because immigration policies after 1965 favor individuals with higher levels of education and professional skills, many Asian immigrants are highly educated when they arrive in the United States. They bring a specific “success frame,” which is strictly defined as earning a degree from an elite university and working in a high-status field. This success frame is reinforced in many local Asian communities, which make resources such as college preparation courses and tutoring available to group members, including their low-income members. While the success frame accounts for part of Asian Americans’ high rates of achievement, Lee and Zhou also find that institutions, such as public schools, are crucial in supporting the cycle of Asian American achievement. Teachers and guidance counselors, for example, who presume that Asian American students are smart, disciplined, and studious, provide them with extra help and steer them toward competitive academic programs. These institutional advantages, in turn, lead to better academic performance and outcomes among Asian American students. Yet the expectations of high achievement come with a cost: the notion of Asian American success creates an “achievement paradox” in which Asian Americans who do not fit the success frame feel like failures or racial outliers. While pundits ascribe Asian American success to the assumed superior traits intrinsic to Asian culture, Lee and Zhou show how historical, cultural, and institutional elements work together to confer advantages to specific populations. An insightful counter to notions of culture based on stereotypes, The Asian American Achievement Paradox offers a deft and nuanced understanding how and why certain immigrant groups succeed.

Author : Steven M. Gillon
Publisher : Wadsworth Publishing Company
Page : 480 pages
File Size : 39,80 MB
Release : 2006
Category : History
ISBN : 9780618660865

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This narrative text for courses in recent American history emphasizes political participation and popular culture. Its main theme is the relationship of Americans to their government—for example, how Americans as a people remain skeptical of big government even as they expect it to facilitate large programs such as Social Security. The Second Edition features a range of content enhancements, including increased coverage of events from 1970 to the present. In addition to the author's vivid, accessible writing style, the text maintains its focus on the tension between popular culture and social realities, the dynamics of minority groups and their place in American society, and the ambivalent feelings of many Americans concerning the U.S.'s role in the world during the postwar period. New! Coverage of the 1960s has been reorganized to include separate chapters on the Great Society and Vietnam. These new chapters bring clarity to a chaotic decade. New! The author has included more coverage of women—particularly their role in the rise of the New Left and in the development of Feminism—and more information about U.S. involvement in the Middle East as a foundation for understanding the war on terrorism. New! Each chapter contains up to three primary sources. New documents include excerpts from Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique; Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Montgomery bus boycott speech; and excerpts from the 9/11 Commission's final report. Unlike most postwar American history books that tend to emphasize the 50s and 60s, The American Paradox includes extensive coverage of the 1960s to the present.

Author : Katherine Isbester
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 417 pages
File Size : 16,65 MB
Release : 2011-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1442601965

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What becomes clear throughout is that there is a paradox at the heart of Latin America's democracies. Despite decades of struggle to replace authoritarian dictatorships with electoral democracies, solid economic growth (leading up to the global credit crisis), and increased efforts by the state to extend the benefits of peace and prosperity to the poor, democracy - as a political system - is experiencing declining support, and support for authoritarianism is on the rise.

Author : Leigh H. Edwards
Publisher : Indiana University Press
Page : 514 pages
File Size : 38,44 MB
Release : 2009-02-25
Category : Music
ISBN : 0253220610

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Throughout his career, Johnny Cash has been depicted—and has depicted himself—as a walking contradiction: social protestor and establishment patriot, drugged wildman and devout Christian crusader, rebel outlaw hillbilly thug and elder statesman. Leigh H. Edwards explores the allure of this paradoxical image and its cultural significance. She argues that Cash embodies irresolvable contradictions of American identity that reflect foundational issues in the American experience, such as the tensions between freedom and patriotism, individual rights and nationalism, the sacred and the profane. She illustrates how this model of ambivalence is a vital paradigm for American popular music, and for American identity in general. Making use of sources such as Cash's autobiographies, lyrics, music, liner notes, and interviews, Edwards pays equal attention to depictions of Cash by others, such as Vivian Cash's publication of his letters to her, documentaries and music journalism about him, Walk the Line, and fan club materials found in the archives at the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, to create a full portrait of Cash and his significance as a cultural icon.

Author : Monica Prasad
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 40,12 MB
Release : 2012-12-31
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0674071549

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The Land of Too Much presents a simple but powerful hypothesis that addresses three questions: Why does the United States have more poverty than any other developed country? Why did it experience an attack on state intervention starting in the 1980s, known today as the neoliberal revolution? And why did it recently suffer the greatest economic meltdown in seventy-five years? Although the United States is often considered a liberal, laissez-faire state, Monica Prasad marshals convincing evidence to the contrary. Indeed, she argues that a strong tradition of government intervention undermined the development of a European-style welfare state. The demand-side theory of comparative political economy she develops here explains how and why this happened. Her argument begins in the late nineteenth century, when America’s explosive economic growth overwhelmed world markets, causing price declines everywhere. While European countries adopted protectionist policies in response, in the United States lower prices spurred an agrarian movement that rearranged the political landscape. The federal government instituted progressive taxation and a series of strict financial regulations that ironically resulted in more freely available credit. As European countries developed growth models focused on investment and exports, the United States developed a growth model based on consumption. These large-scale interventions led to economic growth that met citizen needs through private credit rather than through social welfare policies. Among the outcomes have been higher poverty, a backlash against taxation and regulation, and a housing bubble fueled by “mortgage Keynesianism.” This book will launch a thousand debates.