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Federalism and American History: Insights from the History of Capitalism |
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Abstract:
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Federalism has been a basic fact of American politics since the founding, and political and legal historians, together with historically minded political scientists, have devoted volumes to its evolution over more than two centuries. But for historians working in other fields, federalism has become naturalized and invisible. They seldom consider federalism as a historical force in and of itself. Few have noticed, therefore, how federalism has shaped so many other dimensions of American history. The result has been to distort and impoverish understanding of large swaths of U.S. history—particularly those swaths that comprise the history of capitalism.
This paper argues that federalism deserves closer scrutiny as a “force” in American history—as a structuring presence, which, at any moment in time, exerts a distinctive force that shapes social action. Historians’ ongoing search for “agency” and cultural meaning, which has absorbed so much energy in recent decades, is by no means futile, but it needs to proceed with greater awareness of the structural limits on agency and to consider how political structures can shape cultural meaning.
Gleaning insights from a growing literature on the history of American capitalism, the paper explores the ways in which the failure to appreciate the power of federalism has distorted our understanding of American history. First, the “veil” of federalism has led historians systematically to underestimate the role of the American “state” in economic (and other) affairs throughout our history. This has left historians poorly equipped, among other things, to contribute to current policy debates in the on-going economic crisis. The second section focuses on the distinctive dynamics imparted to economic policymaking by federalism (or the American political structure, more generally)—dynamics that have made political conflict more overt and protracted than in other countries and have often worked to the advantage of business interests. The distinctively American adversarial “culture,” I suggest, is, at root, a pattern of behavior induced by the distinctive American political structure. The last section draws comparisons with the German Empire to highlight the peculiar division of labor in economic policymaking between the American states and the federal government, a division of labor that systematically enfeebled the “state” and, along with it, American labor, while tilting the balance of power towards business.
Although this paper draws insights from the history of American capitalism in the long nineteenth century, when the U.S. experienced momentous changes both in federalism and in its economy, the perspective offered here has the potential to inform other periods and arenas of U.S. history as well. |
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Association:
Name: Eighteenth International Conference of the Council for European Studies
URL: http://www.ces.columbia.edu
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Citation:
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MLA Citation:
| Dunlavy, Colleen. "Federalism and American History: Insights from the History of Capitalism" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eighteenth International Conference of the Council for European Studies, Various University Venues, Barcelona, Spain, <Not Available>. 2013-05-18 <http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p484915_index.html> |
APA Citation:
| Dunlavy, C. "Federalism and American History: Insights from the History of Capitalism" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eighteenth International Conference of the Council for European Studies, Various University Venues, Barcelona, Spain <Not Available>. 2013-05-18 from http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p484915_index.html |
Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Federalism has been a basic fact of American politics since the founding, and political and legal historians, together with historically minded political scientists, have devoted volumes to its evolution over more than two centuries. But for historians working in other fields, federalism has become naturalized and invisible. They seldom consider federalism as a historical force in and of itself. Few have noticed, therefore, how federalism has shaped so many other dimensions of American history. The result has been to distort and impoverish understanding of large swaths of U.S. history—particularly those swaths that comprise the history of capitalism.
This paper argues that federalism deserves closer scrutiny as a “force” in American history—as a structuring presence, which, at any moment in time, exerts a distinctive force that shapes social action. Historians’ ongoing search for “agency” and cultural meaning, which has absorbed so much energy in recent decades, is by no means futile, but it needs to proceed with greater awareness of the structural limits on agency and to consider how political structures can shape cultural meaning.
Gleaning insights from a growing literature on the history of American capitalism, the paper explores the ways in which the failure to appreciate the power of federalism has distorted our understanding of American history. First, the “veil” of federalism has led historians systematically to underestimate the role of the American “state” in economic (and other) affairs throughout our history. This has left historians poorly equipped, among other things, to contribute to current policy debates in the on-going economic crisis. The second section focuses on the distinctive dynamics imparted to economic policymaking by federalism (or the American political structure, more generally)—dynamics that have made political conflict more overt and protracted than in other countries and have often worked to the advantage of business interests. The distinctively American adversarial “culture,” I suggest, is, at root, a pattern of behavior induced by the distinctive American political structure. The last section draws comparisons with the German Empire to highlight the peculiar division of labor in economic policymaking between the American states and the federal government, a division of labor that systematically enfeebled the “state” and, along with it, American labor, while tilting the balance of power towards business.
Although this paper draws insights from the history of American capitalism in the long nineteenth century, when the U.S. experienced momentous changes both in federalism and in its economy, the perspective offered here has the potential to inform other periods and arenas of U.S. history as well. |
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