Race, Class, and Social Welfare
American Populism Since the New Deal

Racial divisions in the US have fractured the potential for a unified populist movement that supports expanded social welfare benefits.

Erik J. Engstrom (Author), Robert Huckfeldt (Author)

9781108819459, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 October 2022

213 pages, 52 b/w illus. 24 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.322 kg

'This is an outstanding contribution to the great mystery at the center of American politics … In all, this touchstone study provides a superb analysis of the current turmoil in American politics.' P. Kurzer, Choice

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.

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 (With Jack Reilly)
5. Race, Class, and the End of the New Deal in the US Senate (With Fan Lu)
6. Transforming the twentieth-Century House
7. Turning Populism Upside Down
8. Dueling Populists and the Political Ecology of 2016
9. Conclusion: The Dangers of Upside Down Populism.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], History of the Americas [HBJK]