America's political class under fire : the twentieth century's great culture war / by David A. Horowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Horowitz, David A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social classes--United States--History--20th century.

Social classes.

Elite (Social sciences)--United States--Public opinion--History--20th century.

Elite (Social sciences).

Classism--United States.

Classism.

Intellectuals--United States--Public opinion.

Intellectuals.

Public opinion--United States--History--20th century.

Public opinion.

History.

United States.

United States--Politics and government--20th century.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xii, 290 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2003.

Summary:

The struggle between twentieth-century conservatives and progressives in the United States has been shaped by a pervasive distrust of America's social guardians -- those academic specialists, government planners and social service providers whose expertise has played an increasingly important role in the nation's political life since the Progressive Era. In America's Political Class Under Fire, David A. Horowitz provides a sweeping chronicle of the manner in which critics viewed and censured these socially oriented intellectuals. From the Scopes trial to fluoridation experimentation, the Ku Klux Klan to McCarthyism, the New Deal Brains Trust to the post-Vietnam generation, Horowitz sheds new light on the conflicts between modernizing and traditional influences in the United States and their impact over the country's political culture.

Contents:

Introduction: America's Controversy with the Guardian Class 1

1. Secular Liberalism on Trial in the Turbulent 1920s 13

2. Shadow Government: The Brains Trust Under Fire, 1932-1936 37

3. The Welfare State and Its Discontents, 1936-1941 63

4. Planners versus Enterprisers: The Free World at Home during World War II 85

5. Pledging Allegiance: The Political Class and Cold War Loyalty, 1946-1952 109

6. Hidden Persuasions: The Disputed Agenda of 1950s Policy Elites 135

7. Zero Sum Governance: Social Interventionists and Race Politics, 1954-1968 155

8. Class War: The Liberal Establishment Besieged, 1968-1980 179

9. Far from Paradise: Social Guardians in the Postmodern Era, 1980-2001 203

Conclusion: The Political Class and American Democracy 221.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [273]-275) and index.

ISBN:

0415946905

0415946913

OCLC:

51804807