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From the New Deal to the New Federalism: Presidential Ideology in the U.S. from 1932 to 1982
Author(s) -
Horowitz Irving Louis
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1983.tb01698.x
Subject(s) - federalism , mandate , presidential system , political economy , elite , politics , ideology , new deal , new federalism , fiscal federalism , government (linguistics) , economics , political science , economic policy , dual federalism , administration (probate law) , economic system , public administration , market economy , decentralization , law , linguistics , philosophy
A bstract . The essence of the Reagan mandate is neither taxation nor balanced budgets , rather the reduction of federal government controls and a corresponding growth in state and local controls. This concern is neither Right nor Left, but a response to a growing realization of ineptitudes and inefficiencies seen in all the highly developed industrialized nations. Hence, whether inspired by the “free‐enterprise” doctrines of Reagan in the U.S. or the “socialist” approach of Mitterrand in France, the policy goal of advanced nations is clear: a shift in fiscal priorities and political controls to strike a more realistic balance. The emphasis is upon the social movement aspects of Reagan's New Federalism: the coalition of middle sectors and elite working classes, rather than the “big business” label usually assigned to this administration. Federalism, essentially a social policy, can succeed to the degree that there is an equitable sharing in economic hardships no less than economic gains. But fiscal favoritism, racial inequalities, class dislocations, and similar difficulties can produce its defeat.