Race, Class, and Social Welfare

American Populism Since the New Deal

Erik J. Engstrom, Robert Huckfeldt

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781108836920
• eBook ISBN:
  9781108871334
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

What makes it so difficult to enact and sustain comprehensive social welfare policy that would aid the disadvantaged in the United States? Addressing the relationship between populism and social welfare, this book argues that two competing camps of populists divide American politics. Regressive populists motivated by racial resentment frequently clash with progressive populists, who embrace an expansion of social welfare benefits for the less affluent, regardless of race or ethnicity. Engstrom and Huckfeldt uncover the political forces driving this divided populism, its roots in the aftermath of the civil rights revolution of the mid-twentieth century, and its implications for modern American politics and social welfare policy. Relying on a detailed analysis of party coalitions in the US Congress and the electorate since the New Deal, the authors focus on the intersection between race, class, and oligarchy.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• 1 American Politics and Social Welfare
• 2 Politics at the Intersection of Race, Class, and Oligarchy
• 3 Civil Rights, Social Welfare, and Populism
• 4 Civil Rights and Populism: The 1957 Civil Rights Act in the US Senate
• 5 Race, Class, and the End of the New Deal in the US Senate
• 6 Transforming the Twentieth-Century House
• 7 Race, Class, and a Transformed Political Economy: Turning Populism Upside Down
• 8 Dueling Populists and the Political Ecology of 2016
• 9 Conclusion: The Dangers of Upside-Down Populism
• Bibliography
• Index