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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <h-rev...@lists.h-net.org> > Date: July 10, 2020 at 7:40:55 PM EDT > To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > Cc: H-Net Staff <revh...@mail.h-net.org> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-1960s]: Witcher on Andelic, 'Donkey Work: > Congressional Democrats in Conservative America, 1974-1994' > Reply-To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > > Patrick Andelic. Donkey Work: Congressional Democrats in > Conservative America, 1974-1994. Lawrence University Press of > Kansas, 2019. 304 pp. $34.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7006-2803-2. > > Reviewed by Marcus M. Witcher (Huntingdon College) > Published on H-1960s (July, 2020) > Commissioned by Zachary J. Lechner > > Patrick Andelic's Donkey Work argues that the Democratic Party--and > liberalism by extension--did not disappear after George McGovern's > disastrous defeat in 1972. Indeed, Andelic insists that congressional > liberal Democrats successfully limited the effects of the Reagan > revolution even while they failed to produce a coherent ideological > and policy response to conservatism. Andelic decenters the political > narrative from the presidency to Congress and details the efforts of > Democrats to govern from Congress from 1974 to 1994. Finally, he > offers some insight into the evolution of the Democratic Party, the > rise of neoliberalism, and the reasons for the failure of > congressional governance. > > Looking back, many historians claim that conservatism was on the > ascent during the 1970s and that this momentum resulted in Ronald > Reagan's victory in 1980. Andelic reminds readers, however, that > after Watergate and President Gerald Ford's pardon of President > Richard Nixon, Democrats were ascendant. In fact, the 1974 > congressional elections resulted in huge victories for the party: > gaining forty-nine seats in the House and four in the Senate. This > new class of freshman legislators were known collectively as > "Watergate Babies." Although from different districts and > backgrounds, they were "sensitive to minority rights, champions of > the suburban consumer, environmentally conscious, and dovish on > foreign policy" (p. 19). Despite having little seniority, they were > able to play important roles in Congress due to changes in the House > rules. As Andelic demonstrates, after 1974 the Democratic Party was > triumphant. > > Unfortunately for Democrats, determining what type of liberalism to > promote with their majorities in both Houses proved difficult. Many > of the new members believed that "New Deal liberalism was defunct" > and some of them attempted to replace it with "hardheaded, pragmatic > liberalism" that did not overpromise (p. 20). Consequently, the > Democratic Party was at odds with itself when Jimmy Carter won the > White House in 1976. > > Carter came into office controlling both chambers of Congress, but > neither he nor Congress "felt any gratitude to the other" (p. 62). As > Andelic illustrates, both the divisions in the Democratic Party and > Carter's unwillingness to embrace a bold liberal legislative agenda > crippled attempts to fashion a new liberalism. Despite the failure of > Representative Phillip Burton and Senator Herbert Humphrey to gain > leadership positions in 1976, the advocates of a more active liberal > agenda pressed the pragmatic Carter to embrace full employment. The > result was the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, which in its > original form would "have extended a legal right to a job to every > American" (p. 72). Carter insisted that the measure was inflationary > and refused, initially, to support the legislation. Despite polls > demonstrating that the American people supported the measure, Carter > was concerned about the costs. He was not alone in his concerns; many > of the Watergate Babies and business leaders also opposed the more > extreme elements of the bill. Ultimately, a much-watered down version > passed with the support of Carter. > > The election of 1976 gave Democrats a real opportunity to unite their > party around a new political ethos that combined the economic > liberalism of the New Deal and the civil rights liberalism of the > 1960s. Andelic argues, however, that as much as congressional > Democrats hoped to be a coequal branch in governing, they discovered > "that grand visions of a 'New New Deal' would go nowhere without > forceful presidential leadership" (p. 89). Democrats failed to > capitalize on their opportunity to present the American people with a > new and revitalized liberalism. At the same time, Reagan channeled > the disillusion of the American people and promised a new hopeful > conservative agenda that would address both inflation and > unemployment. Andelic argues that although Reagan won an impressive > victory, it was not clear the American people had given him an > ideological mandate. Although Republicans had captured the Senate, > Democrats still possessed an impressive majority in the House. Reagan > got his tax cuts and some limited spending reductions through > Congress, but when it came to significantly reducing the size and > scope of government, Democrats successfully fought back. > > Andelic joins an emerging group of historians who are demonstrating > the limits of the Reagan revolution in 1980. For instance, he argues > that "after a faltering start, the Democratic Party would prove > surprisingly adept at using Congress to contain the Reagan > administration during the early 1980s" (p. 128). Andelic details > Democrats' successful efforts to defeat Reagan's cuts to Social > Security and concludes that the victory demonstrates "the extent to > which many components of [Reagan's] political agenda lacked a popular > mandate" (p. 145). In short, although Speaker of the House Tip > O'Neill and the Democrats did not implement any new sweeping > measures, they were successful in defending existing programs. > > Andelic concludes by discussing the evolution of neoliberalism and > the emergence of New Democrats in the 1980s and early 1990s. Unlike > other historians who view these movements as reactions to the > electoral success of the Republican Party, Andelic demonstrates that > both had roots in the Democratic Party--dating back to at least the > Watergate Babies of 1974. Ultimately, "all the top-tier [Democratic > primary] candidates" in the 1992 election (Arkansas governor Bill > Clinton, former Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas, and California > governor Jerry Brown Jr.) "were pushing some version of the > 'neoliberal' agenda" (p. 179). > > Andelic should be praised for his thorough treatment of conservative > Democrats and for challenging the extent to which conservatism was > triumphant in 1980. In doing so, he draws on an impressive array of > archival sources, including the papers of Jimmy Carter, Tip O'Neill, > Gary Hart, Timothy Wirth, Jerry Brown, Paul Tsongas, Herbert > Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Morris Udall, among others. He also > consulted newspapers, journals, memoirs, and diaries, and conducted > interviews. The result is a book that is impressively and > meticulously researched. > > Although Andelic has successfully argued for the importance of > Democrats post-1972, there are a couple places where he misses the > mark. For instance, Andelic relies on polling data in 1977 in which a > majority of respondents were in favor of a full employment bill. He > uses this data to claim that even at the highwater mark of the Reagan > revolution, 78 percent of Americans "were in favor of the federal > government doing more to provide jobs for all Americans" (p. 84). The > issue of course with polling like this is that it does not present > the cost of such measures. Respondents are more likely to support > government intervention if they do not consider the expense. After > all, everyone wants access to jobs, healthcare, and education. > Similar polling results can be found throughout the 1990s, 2000s, and > today, when people are not asked to weigh the costs of such programs. > When Americans are presented the costs, however, support for the > programs decreases. In short, it is not clear that these polls > accurately capture the mood of the nation and as a result may have > led Andelic to overstate the political viability of large > governmental programs in the late 1970s. > > Furthermore, Andelic may overemphasize the importance of > congressional Democrats to stunting the Reagan revolution. He seems > to assume that Reagan himself was a radical who wanted to > fundamentally alter the size and scope of government. While Reagan > was indeed a conservative, he was also prudent, and recognized the > limits to what he could accomplish. Likewise, many of Reagan's own > appointees were not on board with the conservative agenda. The > failures of the Reagan revolution were as much the product of a > pragmatic administration as they were the doing of the Democratic > opposition. > > These small criticisms aside, Andelic has written a readable, > well-researched, and convincing history of congressional Democrats > from 1974 to 1994. Despite its focus on Congress, the book > demonstrates the limits of congressional governance and offers a > lesson of caution to any political party that tries to govern from > the legislative branch. For better or worse, the presidency remains > powerful and change will be incredibly hard to enact for the party > out of the White House. > > Citation: Marcus M. Witcher. Review of Andelic, Patrick, _Donkey > Work: Congressional Democrats in Conservative America, 1974-1994_. > H-1960s, H-Net Reviews. July, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54940 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
