Loss of Confidence: Politics and Policy in the 1970s

At the beginning of the decade, a confident American public and its leaders still embraced the government activism that was the legacy of the New Deal. But grave doubts about the efficacy of public policy—fueled by Watergate, Vietnam, stagflation, energy crises, and intensely controversial social policies—undermined this public trust as the decade wore on, until by the end tax revolts were breaking out across the country. Describing government as the problem, not the solution, Ronald Reagan broke with tradition to set a political and policy agenda that has been dominant ever since. These experts from two disciplines bring their special insights to bear in dissecting the key developments of this decade that have transformed American politics in the last quarter of the century. The contributors are Ballard C. Campbell, Joseph Hinchliffe, J. David Hoeveler, Sidney M. Milkis, Alice O’Connor, Paul J. Quirk. David Brian Robertson, and John T. Woolley. Like the other titles in Issues in Policy History, this book reprints a special issue of .