| Description |
1 online resource (vi, 256 pages). |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Administration and accommodation : before 1913 -- The elite reformers in exile : 1913-1918 -- After the armistice : spring 1919 -- The budget debate : 1919-1920 -- The dark horse : 1920-1921 -- Early success : spring and summer 1921 -- Equal protection under law : 1921-1923 -- Backlash : spring and summer 1923 -- Southern strength : 1923-1924 -- Congressional counteroffensive : spring 1924 -- Low expectations : 1924-1927 -- The great engineer : 1929-1931 -- Dashed hopes : 1930-1933. |
| Summary |
"The years after World War I have often been seen as an era when Republican presidents and business leaders brought the growth of government in the United States to a sudden and emphatic halt. In When Good Government Meant Big Government, the historian Jesse Tarbert inverts the traditional story by revealing a forgotten effort by business-allied reformers to expand federal power-and how that effort was foiled by Southern Democrats and their political allies. Tarbert traces how a loose-knit coalition of corporate lawyers, bankers, executives, genteel reformers, and philanthropists emerged as the leading proponents of central control and national authority in government during the 1910s and 1920s. Motivated by principles of "good government" and using large national corporations as a model, these elite reformers sought to transform the federal government's ineffectual executive branch into a modern organization with the capacity to solve national problems. They achieved some success during the presidency of Warren G. Harding, but the elite reformers' support for federal antilynching legislation confirmed the worries of white Southerners who feared that federal power would pose a threat to white supremacy. Working with others who shared their preference for local control of public administration, Southern Democrats led a backlash that blocked enactment of the elite reformers' broader vision for a responsive and responsible national government. Offering a novel perspective on politics and policy in the years before the New Deal, this book sheds new light on the roots of the modern American state and uncovers a crucial episode in the long history of racist and antigovernment forces in American life"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Federal government -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Public administration -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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United States -- Politics and government -- 1913-1921.
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United States -- Politics and government -- 1919-1933.
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HISTORY / United States / 20th Century |
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Federal government |
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Politics and government |
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Public administration |
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United States |
| Chronological Term |
1900-1999 |
| Genre/Form |
History
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Tarbert, Jesse. When good government meant big government New York : Columbia University Press, [2022] 9780231189729 (DLC) 2021038276 |
| ISBN |
9780231548489 electronic book |
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0231548486 electronic book |
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9780231189729 hardcover |
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9780231189736 trade paperback |
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