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Title: Public Opinion, Organized Labor, and the Limits of New Deal Liberalism, 19361945
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2011
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Abstract: The seemingly wide opening for liberal domestic policy innovation by the U.S. federal government in theearly-to-mid-1930s gave way to a much more limited agenda in the late 1930s and 1940s. The latter yearssaw the consolidation and gradual extension of several key programs (e.g., Social Security and Keynesianmacroeconomic management), but also the frustration of liberal hopes for an expansive cradle-to-gravewelfare state marked by strong national unions, national health insurance, and full employment policies.Drawing upon rarely used early public opinion polls, we explore the dynamics of public opinion regardingNew Deal liberalism during this pivotal era. We argue that a broadly based reaction against labor unionscreated a difficult backdrop for liberal programmatic advances. We find that this anti-labor reaction wasespecially virulent in the South but divided even Northern Democrats, thus creating an effective wedge issuefor Republicans and their Southern conservative allies. More generally, we find that the mass public favoredmost of the specific programs created by the New Deal, but was hardly clamoring for major expansions of thenational governments role in the late 1930s and 1940s. These findings illuminate the role played by theSouth in constraining New Deal liberalism while also highlighting the tenuousness of the liberal majority inthe North.
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Authors: Caughey, Devin; Schickler, Eric
Periodical (Full): Studies in American Political Development
Issue: 2
Volume: 25
Pages: 162-189
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other
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