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

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. Winner of the 1991 Gladys M. Kammerer Award “__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. “This is a persuasive, illuminating study in American political ideas and the disappointments of reform.”—Dean McSweeney, __American Politics Review__ Contents 7 Preface 11 Introduction. The Democratic Wish 15 Part I. State Building and the People 47 1. Representation, Revolution, and Republic 47 2. The Resistible Rise of the Common Man: Jacksonian Democracy 88 3. Administrative Science and the People: The Progressive Movement 111 4. Progressive Administration without the People: The New Deal 143 Part II. The People and Reform: The Political Reconstruction of Class, Race, and Profession 159 5. The Reconstruction of Working-Class Politics 159 6. The Reconstruction of Racial Politics 200 7. The Reconstruction of Medical Politics 267 8. Elusive Community: Democratic Wishes for the 21st Century 336 Notes 353 Index 405

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.