ISBN10: 0393285022, ISBN13: 9780393285024, [publisher: W. W. Norton & Company 2016-06-21, New York] Hardcover Language: ENG
[London, United Kingdom] [Publication Year: 2016]

ISBN10: 0393285022, ISBN13: 9780393285024, [publisher: WW Norton & Co, New York] Hardcover Hardcover. One of our most eminent historians reminds us of the commanding role party politics has played in Americas enduring struggle against economic inequality. "There are two keys to unlocking the secrets of American politics and American political history." So begins The Politicians & the Egalitarians, Princeton historian Sean Wilentzs bold new work of history. First, America is built on an egalitarian tradition. At the nations founding, Americans believed that extremes of wealth and want would destroy their revolutionary experiment in republican government. Ever since, that idea has shaped national political conflict and scored major egalitarian victoriesfrom the Civil War and Progressive eras to the New Deal and the Great Societyalong the way. Second, partisanship is a permanent fixture in America, and America is the better for it. Every major egalitarian victory in United States history has resulted neither from abandonment of partisan politics nor from social movement protests but from a convergence of protest and politics, and then sharp struggles led by principled and effective party politicians. There is little to be gained from the dream of a post-partisan world. With these two insights Sean Wilentz offers a crystal-clear portrait of American history, told through politicians and egalitarians including Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, and W. E. B. ...
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ISBN10: 0393285022, ISBN13: 9780393285024, [publisher: WW Norton & Co, New York] Hardcover Hardcover. One of our most eminent historians reminds us of the commanding role party politics has played in Americas enduring struggle against economic inequality. "There are two keys to unlocking the secrets of American politics and American political history." So begins The Politicians & the Egalitarians, Princeton historian Sean Wilentzs bold new work of history. First, America is built on an egalitarian tradition. At the nations founding, Americans believed that extremes of wealth and want would destroy their revolutionary experiment in republican government. Ever since, that idea has shaped national political conflict and scored major egalitarian victoriesfrom the Civil War and Progressive eras to the New Deal and the Great Societyalong the way. Second, partisanship is a permanent fixture in America, and America is the better for it. Every major egalitarian victory in United States history has resulted neither from abandonment of partisan politics nor from social movement protests but from a convergence of protest and politics, and then sharp struggles led by principled and effective party politicians. There is little to be gained from the dream of a post-partisan world. With these two insights Sean Wilentz offers a crystal-clear portrait of American history, told through politicians and egalitarians including Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, and W. E. B. ...
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