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"Politicians are polarized. Public opinion is volatile. Government is gridlocked. Or so journalists and pundits constantly report. But where are we, really, in modern American politics, and how did we get there? Those are the questions that Byron E. Shafer aims to answer in The American Political Pattern. Looking at the state of American politics at diverse points over the past eighty years, the book draws a picture, broad in scope yet precise in detail, of our political system in the modern era. It is a picture of stretches of political stability, but also, even more, of political change, one that goes a long way toward explaining how shifting factors alter the content of public policy and the character of American politicking. Shafer divides the modern world into four distinct periods: the High New Deal (1932-1938), the Late New Deal (1939-1968), the Era of Divided Government (1969-1992), and the Era of Partisan Volatility (1993-2016). Each period is characterized by a different arrangement of the same key factors: party balance, ideological polarization, issue conflict, and the policy-making process that goes with them. The American Political Pattern shows how these factors are in turn shaped by permanent aspects of the US Constitution, most especially the separation of powers and federalism, while their alignment is simultaneously influenced by the external demands for governmental action that arise in each period, including those derived from economic currents, major wars, and social movements. Analyzing these periods, Shafer sets the terms for understanding the structure and dynamics of politics in our own turbulent time. Placing the current political world in its historical and evolutionary framework, while illuminating major influences on American politics over time, his book explains where this modern world came from, why it endures, and how it might change yet again."-- Provided by publisher.

"We live in a time of hyper political polarization that makes governing extremely difficult. How did we get here? In this book Byron Shafer explores American politics from 1932 to the present to understand the underlying patterns of American politics and how changes in these patterns have affected policymaking. He divides American politics since 1932 into four periods. He argues that American politics during this time can be examined by looking at changes in the balance between the political parties; ideological polarization (or the distance on policy issues between contending forces); and substantive conflict over policy. These are set in the context of external demands for government action (i.e. depression, war, civil rights) as well as the institutions of American government (separation of powers and federalism) that structure how groups compete over government policy"-- Provided by publisher.

Preface: an American political pattern?

Birth pangs of the modern world: the political structure of the high New Deal era, 1932-1938

The long arm of the New Deal: the political structure of the late New Deal era, 1939-1968

The rise of participatory politics: the political structure of an era of divided government, 1969-1992

A political structure for the modern world: the era of partisan volatility, 1993-2016

Conclusion: stability and change in American politics, 1932-2016.

Political culture > United States.

United States > Politics and government > 1933-1945.

United States > Politics and government > 1945-1989.

United States > Politics and government > 1989-