Special Topics in Political Science (390-0-27)

Topic

American Politics and Policy from the New Deal

Instructors

Anthony S Chen
847/467-0515
2001 Sheridan Road, Room 6115

Meeting Info

2001 Sheridan GPC/SESP 3447: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

We live in a time of extremes. American political elites are deeply polarized, and economic inequality is the highest it has been in decades. Illiberal impulses have flared up in nearly every corner of our political system, most spectacularly in the Republican Party. At the same time, neither party has proven capable of forging a truly durable electoral majority, and the country has lurched back and forth between incompatible visions of American democracy. Public policy has fractured, coming significantly undone in some areas (e.g., financial regulation), while holding fast for now in other areas (e.g., Social Security). How did we get here? This course explores the thesis that the current extremes of our national situation stem from the persistent inability of our constitutional and political order to cope with the demands of globalization, postindustrialization, and multiracial democracy. Students will examine how the contours of the "risk settlement" embedded in the New Deal were set—that is, how Americans developed institutions that protected them (albeit imperfectly and incompletely) against the vicissitudes of life in a modern economy. They will then consider how this policy accommodation was challenged and transformed in subsequent decades, first by the events of the long 1970s, then by the events of the 1990s, and then again by the global financial crisis and its aftermath. Cross-listed with SOCIOL 376-0-20

Class Attributes

Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
SoC Additional Distro