Laboratories against Democracy : : How National Parties Transformed State Politics / / Jacob Grumbach.

As national political fights are waged at the state level, democracy itself pays the priceOver the past generation, the Democratic and Republican parties have each become nationally coordinated political teams. American political institutions, on the other hand, remain highly decentralized. Laborato...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Superior document:Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English
VerfasserIn:
Place / Publishing House:Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2022]
©2022
Year of Publication:2022
Language:English
Series:Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives ; 183
Online Access:
Physical Description:1 online resource (288 p.) :; 32 b/w illus. 17 tables.
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Other title:Frontmatter --
Contents --
List of figures and tables --
Preface --
Acknowledgments --
The crises of 2020 --
Part I Federalism and the Resurgence of the States --
1 Introduction --
2 The Mythos of American Federalism --
3 From Backwaters to Battlegrounds --
Part II The Nationalization of State Politics --
4 Who Governs the State-Level Resurgence? --
5 National Activists in State Politics --
6 Partisan Laboratories of Democracy --
Part III Democracy in the States --
7 Laboratories of Democratic Backsliding --
8 Explaining Dynamics in Subnational Democracy --
9 Conclusion --
Appendixes --
Bibliography --
Index
Summary:As national political fights are waged at the state level, democracy itself pays the priceOver the past generation, the Democratic and Republican parties have each become nationally coordinated political teams. American political institutions, on the other hand, remain highly decentralized. Laboratories against Democracy shows how national political conflicts are increasingly flowing through the subnational institutions of state politics—with profound consequences for public policy and American democracy.Jacob Grumbach argues that as Congress has become more gridlocked, national partisan and activist groups have shifted their sights to the state level, nationalizing state politics in the process and transforming state governments into the engines of American policymaking. He shows how this has had the ironic consequence of making policy more varied across the states as red and blue party coalitions implement increasingly distinct agendas in areas like health care, reproductive rights, and climate change. The consequences don’t stop there, however. Drawing on a wealth of new data on state policy, public opinion, money in politics, and democratic performance, Grumbach traces how national groups are using state governmental authority to suppress the vote, gerrymander districts, and erode the very foundations of democracy itself.Required reading for this precarious moment in our politics, Laboratories against Democracy reveals how the pursuit of national partisan agendas at the state level has intensified the challenges facing American democracy, and asks whether today’s state governments are mitigating the political crises of our time—or accelerating them.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9780691218472
9783110993899
9783110994810
9783110994513
9783110994407
9783110749731
DOI:10.1515/9780691218472?locatt=mode:legacy
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: Jacob Grumbach.