The American Political Economy
Politics, Markets, and Power

Drawing together leading scholars, the book provides a revealing new map of the US political economy in cross-national perspective.

Jacob S. Hacker (Edited by), Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (Edited by), Paul Pierson (Edited by), Kathleen Thelen (Edited by)

9781009014861, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 November 2021

400 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.73 kg

'The authors are afraid of neither unpleasant topics nor big conclusions. The texts successfully deal with key institutional aspects of the contemporary American economy, and in this sense the volume is important both for its empirical insights and for its conceptual breakthroughs. … [the book] can be read by all interested political scientists as it is broad and accessible enough, and it should be read by all researchers in the social sciences who deal with comparative institutional analysis and the American economy as it represents a relevant contribution to these topics.' Josip Lu?ev, Annals of the Croatian Political Science Association (translated from Croatian)

This volume brings together leading political scientists to explore the distinctive features of the American political economy. The introductory chapter provides a comparatively informed framework for analyzing the interplay of markets and politics in the United States, focusing on three key factors: uniquely fragmented and decentralized political institutions; an interest group landscape characterized by weak labor organizations and powerful, parochial business groups; and an entrenched legacy of ethno-racial divisions embedded in both government and markets. Subsequent chapters look at the fundamental dynamics that result, including the place of the courts in multi-venue politics, the political economy of labor, sectional conflict within and across cities and regions, the consolidation of financial markets and corporate monopoly and monopsony power, and the ongoing rise of the knowledge economy. Together, the chapters provide a revealing new map of the politics of democratic capitalism in the United States.

Introduction
American political economy: a framework and agenda for research Jacob S. Hacker, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Paul Pierson, and Kathleen Thelen
Part I. Political Arenas and Actors: 1. Hurdles to shared prosperity: congress, parties, and the national policy process in an era of inequality Nathan J. Kelly and Jana Morgan
2. The role of the law in the American political economy K. Sabeel Rahman and Kathleen Thelen
3. Collective action, law, and the fragmented development of the American labor movement Alexander Hertel-Fernandez
Part II. Race, Space, and Governance: 4. Racial inequality, market inequality, and the American political economy Chloe Thurston
5. The production of local inequality: race, class, and land use in American cities Jessica Trounstine
6. The city re-centered? Local inequality mitigation in the twenty-first century Thomas K. Ogorzalek
7. The political economies of red states Jacob M. Grumbach, Jacob S. Hacker, and Paul Pierson
Part III. Corporate Power and Concentration: 8. Mo' patents, mo' problems: corporate strategy, structure and profitability in America's political economy Herman Mark Schwartz
9. Asset manager capitalism as a corporate governance regime Benjamin Braun
10. Labor market power in the American political economy Suresh Naidu
Part IV. The American Knowledge Economy: 11. The United States as radical innovation driver: the politics of declining dominance? David Soskice
12. Public investment in the knowledge economy Lucy Barnes
13. Concentration and commodification: the political economy of post-industrialism in America and beyond Ben Ansell and Jane Gingrich
14. The American political economy confronts covid-19 Jacob S. Hacker, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Paul Pierson, and Kathleen Thelen.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Comparative politics [JPB], Sociology [JHB], History of the Americas [HBJK]