From classical to progressive liberalism: ideological development and the origins of the administrative state

Foster, David ORCID: 0000-0002-5835-9652 and Warren, Joseph (2024) From classical to progressive liberalism: ideological development and the origins of the administrative state. Journal of Politics, 86 (2). 720 - 733. ISSN 0022-3816

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Abstract

Early support for expert policy making through administrative agencies was rooted in concerns over political power. In a context of formal universal male suffrage, late nineteenth-century liberals (typically well-educated, urban professionals) opposed policies to regulate business out of fear of working-class radicalism. Yet by the 1910s, liberals supported economic regulation—through administrative agencies. We use a formal model to show how potential policy feedback effects made an antibusiness coalition between liberals and populists unachievable and how, by diminishing feedback effects, agencies facilitated a successful coalition to regulate business. Because administrative agencies guaranteed a central policy-making role for credentialed urban professionals, liberals could support farmers and industrial workers against big business while no longer fearing the rising power of their coalition partners. In this way, the strategic dilemma created by a changing distribution of power among social groups explains the development of broad political support for bureaucratic agencies.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jop/current
Additional Information:	© 2024 Southern Political Science Association
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General) E History America > E151 United States (General)
Date Deposited:	22 Apr 2024 13:12
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2024 00:53
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/122726

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