Democracy and the Origins of the American Regulatory State

Download or read book Democracy and the Origins of the American Regulatory State written by Samuel DeCanio and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2015-10-27 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political scientist Samuel DeCanio examines how political elites used high levels of voter ignorance to create a new type of regulatory state with lasting implications for American politics. Focusing on the expansion of bureaucratic authority in late-nineteenth-century America, DeCanio’s exhaustive archival research examines electoral politics, the Treasury Department’s control over monetary policy, and the Interstate Commerce Commission’s regulation of railroads to examine how conservative politicians created a new type of bureaucratic state to insulate policy decisions from popular control.