Deadlock and Disillusionment: American Politics Since 1968 is an insightful consideration of the events people, and policy debates that have shaped and continue to influence, even control, the current political era.
- Rejects conventional wisdom that the dominant force shaping recent American politics in the last half century has been the “rise of the Right”
- Considers the achievements and frustrations of each administration, from Nixon to Obama, in its assessment of contemporary U.S. politics
- Features authorship by an expert scholar in the field who takes a thematic rather than a partisan approach to recent American politics
- Offers a concise, comprehensive, and thoroughly up-to-date synthesis of the literature in the field and concludes with a comprehensive bibliographical essay, an aid to student research
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
Introduction: 1968—The End of an Era 1
1 The Politics of Cynicism, 1968–1974 5
The Shaping of a New Majority 7
Conservatism as Reform 16
The Politics of War and Détente 19
Watergate and Its Aftermath 30
2 The Futility of Moderation, 1974–1976 43
The Politics of Forgiveness 44
President as Political Prisoner 48
Détente Derailed 53
3 Dashed Hopes, 1976–1980 60
Fractured Majority 61
Threading the Needle 73
The Abandonment of Idealism 78
4 Dogma and (More) Disappointment, 1980–1988 89
The Rise of the Right 90l+
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