Democracy and the Origins of the American Regulatory State

Description

Political scientist Samuel DeCanio examines how political elites used high levels of voter ignorance to create a new type of regulatory state with lasting implications for American politics. Focusing on the expansion of bureaucratic authority in late-nineteenth-century America, DeCanio’s exhaustive archival research examines electoral politics, the Treasury Department’s control over monetary policy, and the Interstate Commerce Commission’s regulation of railroads to examine how conservative politicians created a new type of bureaucratic state to insulate policy decisions from popular control. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. The Modern Regulatory State Chapter 2. State Autonomy in Democratic Societies Chapter 3. Civil War Finance and the American State Chapter 4. George Pendleton and Mass Opinion Chapter 5. The Election of 1868 Chapter 6. The Crime of 1873 Chapter 7. Discretion and the Treasury Department Chapter 8. The Ohio Gubernatorial Election of 1875 Chapter 9. The Compromise of 1877 and Railroad Regulation Chapter 10. Charles Francis Adams Jr. and Bureaucracy Chapter 11. Free Silver and the Democratic Party Chapter 12. The Conservative Origins of the American Regulatory State Conclusion State Autonomy in Democratic Societies Notes Primary Sources Index