Search results for ""Author Ronald P. Formisano""

Book SynopsisThis data-driven book offers insight into the fallacy of widespread opportunity, the fate of the middle class, and the mechanisms that perpetuate income disparity.Trade ReviewFormisano has written an obituary for a way of American life that is coming to an end. Times Higher EducationTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Web of InequalityThe Founders' VisionAmerican Think They Live in SwedenThe Middle Class and PovertyRising Public AwarenessThe Great RecessionSome Are More Unequal Than Others2. The Myth of OpportunityMobilityEducationThe For-ProfitsEating TuitionRise of the AdjunctsDeath of a Contingent3. The Shrinking Middle ClassThe Lost DecadeThe Geographic DimensionRunning in Place and Falling BehindJobs and WagesWage-Productivity Gap" Why Screwing Unions Screws the Entire Middle Class"Staying Afloat / Sinking in the New Economy4. Keeping the Rich (Filthy) Rich and the Poor (Dirt) PoorRent Seeking and George Washington PlunkittTwo Tax SystemsCorporate Taxes and CEO CompensationThe 47 PercentKeeping the Poor PoorMinimum-Wage Welfare Queens5. Inequality, Life, and Quality of LifeA Tale of Two CountiesStruggling to Make Ends MeetFood Insecurity, or Hunger amid Moocher AgribusinessInequality and HealthTwo Americas?The Spirit LevelAffluenza versus the "Hidden Prosperity of the Poor"6. Political InequalityParticipation and Citizens UnitedPolitical PolarizationDisenfranchisementThe Assault on VotingThe Assault on Voting, ContinuedPrisons and FelonsDeferred Maintenance and Inequality7. The Fracturing of AmericaAmericans Do Care about InequalityThe Founders Cared about InequalityPublic OpinionThe Constitutional Stacked DeckThe Decline of "the Commons"ConclusionAntipoverty ProgramsThe Undeserving PoorThe Undeserving RichPlutocracy on the March, Democracy Trampled UnderfootNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisOffers a new interpretation of populist political movements from the Revolution to the eve of the Civil War and roots them in the disconnect between the theory of rule by the people and the reality of rule by elected representatives. Ron Formisano seeks to rescue populist movements from the distortions of contemporary opponents as well as the misunderstandings of later historians.Trade ReviewFor the People is the most important work in print on the sources and development of the people's unofficial national faith from the Revolution to the Civil War: populism. It is by turns brilliant and arresting. A must read.--Bruce Laurie, University of Massachusetts, Amherst|""The American Revolution established the people's sovereignty as the fundamental principle of the new republic. Yet a direct claim to sovereignty was obscured and blunted by elite political power. Time and again in American history movements have risen to reassert that claim. Deeply grounded in decades of research and writing, Ronald Formisano's For the People presents a foundational synthesis of the first epoch of these populist insurgencies between the Revolution and the Civil War. Reaffirming his long-held position as one of this country's most eminent political historians, Formisano presents a compelling interpretation of how populist movements moved from eighteenth-century modes of violent resistance to nineteenth-century engagement in electoral politics. For the People will be required reading for a generation of historians, political scientists, and students of the American condition.""--John L. Brooke, Ohio State UniversityTable of ContentsContentsAcknowledgments 1 Introduction: Populisms, Progressive and Reactionary 2 The American Revolution and the Anti-Federalist Legacy 3 The Taming of the American Revolution 4 The Rise of New Social Movements 5 Anti-Masonry: A New Kind of Populist Movement 6 Anti-Masonry: Progressive and Reactionary 7 Anti-Masonry, the Parties, and the Changing Public Sphere 8 Two ""Wars"" of the 1840s 9 Epilogue and Prologue: The Know-NothingsNotes Index

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Book SynopsisThe first mass political parties appeared in the United States in the 1830's, as the majority of adult white males identified ardently with the Democratic and Whig parties. Ronald Formisano opens a window on American political culture in this case study of antebellum voting and party formation in Michigan. Examining the social bases of voter commitTable of Contents*Frontmatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. vii*Tables, pg. ix*Acknowledgments, pg. xi*I. The Historical Problem of Party Formation, pg. 1*II. Michigan and the Party System, pg. 15*III. Economic Interest, Elites, Classes, and Parties: 1837-1852, pg. 31*IV. Party, Antiparty, and Political Character, pg. 56*V. Alien Suffrage and Party Formation, pg. 81*VI. Moral Society v. Laissez Faire Ethics: Evangelicals, pg. 102*VII. The Whigs and the Moralization of Politics, pg. 128*VIII. Religious Groups and Parties: 1837-1852, pg. 137*IX. Ethnocultural Groups and Parties: 1837-1852, pg. 165*X. Preparation for Change: 1844-1852, pg. 195*XI. The Old Farty Structure Shakes: 1853, pg. 217*XII. Rise of the Anti-Democratic Coalition: 1854-1855, pg. 239*XIII. The Crusade for White Freedom, pg. 266*XIV. Republicans and Democrats: 1854-1860, pg. 289*XV. Party, the Antiaristocratic Impulse and the Evangelical Revival, pg. 325*Appendices, pg. 333*Index, pg. 349

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Book SynopsisFormisano's brief history certainly gives us clues.Trade ReviewFormisano merits attention for providing even-handed perspective on and clarifying misconceptions about America's recent political phenomenon... The author makes valuable clarifications: the Tea Party and the religious right are not synonymous, and there are factional disputes... His most trenchant observation might have emerged from a Pirandello play: 'Its partisans and critics alike, as if reading tea leaves, often see in it what they wish to see.' within. Publishers Weekly Formisano examines the conditions that gave birth to the Tea Party and whether it is genuinely grassroots or directed by corporate interests and billionaires. A helpful primer on a movement that is changing the American political landscape. -- Vanessa Bush Booklist Written in a brisk, journalistic fashion, this informative book is an excellent snapshot of the Tea Party as it seeks to make further inroads in the political arena. Library Journal Formisano is a highly respected authority on the history of populist movements. In an evenhanded way he writes of the origins of the Tea Party or Tea Parties (there are many competing factions), in resentments against so-called 'elites,' and various alliances and rejections at the grass roots. Lexington Herald-Leader One of the most orderly presentations of this recent history I have read... Take a few hours in the waning days of summer to read The Tea Party: A Brief History so that you can explain to your students why the Paul Ryan candidacy is history in the making. -- Claire Potter Tenured Radical, Chronicle of Higher Education A fine and easy introduction to a brand new party and its concepts, recommended for any general collection strong in American history and politics. Midwest Book Review A succinct but enlightening history of the Tea Party in the US. Choice Formisano offers more than a mere primer to the Tea Party's history, In addition to looking behind the movement's founding myths, he establishes interesting links between Christian conservatives' biblical fundamentalism and the constitutional originalism espoused by many Tea Partiers. -- Claudia Franziska Bruehwiler Political Studies ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductions1. Reading Tea LeavesAstroturf or Grassroots Populism?Parties, Anti-Parties, and Populism2. The Rise of the Tea PartyThe Search for the Rosa Parks MomentMedia and Money3. Political Payoff in the 2010 Midterm ElectionsTea Party AscendantEvangelicals and the Tea Party4. The Tea Party and the Religious RightConstitutional and Biblical FundamentalismThe Christian Right and Machismo5. The Tea Party and Big BusinessLibertarian Fundamentalism versus Christian FundamentalismDeveloping Strains in the AllianceFrustration with Politics as UsualImmediate Precursors of Tea Party RebellionLibertarianism with Benefits7. The Tea Party and American Political CulturePredictions and AssessmentsThe Roots of the Tea Party's GrassrootsPostscriptNotesIndex

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