AMST 6011

The American State

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2017-2018.

The American state is depicted by many scholars as small and unusual, and yet in many respects it has been at least as involved in American society and the economy as that of other nations. How is the work of governance carried out in the United States? What kinds of institutional arrangements are employed, and how have they developed? What are the consequences for governance? Answering these questions immerses us in the study of American political development to assess the evolution, character, and scope of the administrative state and of other arrangements-typically channeled through the private sector-through which the nation implements public policies. In the processes, the course grapples with analytical questions about processes of political change and considers a variety of theoretical approaches. Variants of "new institutionalism" will be highlighted, as well as reflections on the puzzles of American exceptionalism. The body of the course will investigate such topics as the development of public bureaucracy, the emergence of the civil service, and the evolution of the regulatory state and the welfare state. The course examines the late nineteenth century through the present, focusing primarily on the twentieth century.

When Offered Spring.

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