Liberty and Coercion: The Paradox of American Government from the Founding to the Present

by Gary Gerstle

How the conflict between federal and state power has shaped American historyAmerican governance is burdened by a paradox. On the one hand, Americans don't want "big government" meddling in their lives; on the other hand, they have repeatedly enlisted governmental help to impose their views regarding marriage, abortion, religion, and schooling on their neighbors. These contradictory stances on the role of public power have paralyzed policymaking and generated rancorous disputes about government’s legitimate scope. How did we reach this political impasse? Historian Gary Gerstle, looking at two hundred years of U.S. history, argues that the roots of the current crisis lie in two contrasting theories of power that the Framers inscribed in the Constitution.One theory shaped the federal government, setting limits on its power in order to protect personal liberty. Another theory molded the states, authorizing them to go to extraordinary lengths, even to the point of violating individual rights, to advance the "good and welfare of the commonwealth." The Framers believed these theories could coexist comfortably, but conflict between the two has largely defined American history. Gerstle shows how national political leaders improvised brilliantly to stretch the power of the federal government beyond where it was meant to go—but at the cost of giving private interests and state governments too much sway over public policy. The states could be innovative, too. More impressive was their staying power. Only in the 1960s did the federal government, impelled by the Cold War and civil rights movement, definitively assert its primacy. But as the power of the central state expanded, its constitutional authority did not keep pace. Conservatives rebelled, making the battle over government’s proper dominion the defining issue of our time.From the Revolution to the Tea Party, and the Bill of Rights to the national security state, Liberty and Coercion is a revelatory account of the making and unmaking of government in America.

Genres: History, Politics, American History, Nonfiction, The United States Of America, Political Science

453 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 3, 2015

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Americans face a paradox when speaking about government. There is a libertarian streak that demands big government get out of our lives, yet people support legislation that imposes extensive moral controls. And while Reagan and his progenitors vilify 'welfare queens,' middle-class working Americans expect a robust schedule of government benefits, without even realizing it.

Considering the following story told by the late Senator Hollings of South Carolina:

"A veteran returning from Korea went to college on the GI Bill, bought his house with an FHA loan, saw his kids born in a VA hospital, started a business with an SBA loan, got electricity from TVA and, later, water from an EPA project. His parents, living on Social Security, retired to a farm, got electricity from REA and had their soil tested by the USDA. When his father became ill, the family was saved from financial ruin by Medicare and a life was saved with a drug developed through NIH. His kids participated in the school lunch program, learned physics from teachers trained in an NSF program and went to college with guaranteed student loans. He drove to work on the Interstate and moored his boat in a channel dredged by Army engineers. When floods hit, he took Amtrak to Washington to apply for disaster relief and spent some time in the Smithsonian museums. Then one day he got mad. He wrote his Senator an angry letter - "Get the government off my back", he wrote. "I'm tired of paying taxes for all those programs created for ungrateful people!"

It seems the American people have a poor grasp of the government's role in their lives.

This book focuses on the development of the central state. From a meager beginning to the current incarnation of Leviathan. Gerstle uses the story of the post office, the Agrarian Adjustment Act, Labor-Capital relations, among many others to demonstrate how a central government with limited constitutional powers could tame market forces from crashing the economy. And more importantly, how the federal government has broken the power of the states both in terms of revenue collection and 'great society' type initiatives.

His chapters on the election and primary process are extremely relevant in this primary presidential season. How can the constitution of a representative democracy not mention the process or funding of elections?!? That explains the primary mess evident on the nightly news. Not to mention the near-total power of this nation's two dominant political parties. The history of their development is fascinating.

Liberty and Coercion is an essential read for those trying to understand the benefit of central government. But more, how our limited government constitution proved inadequate for our needs and the methods of increasing the central government's authority.

[Bonnieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different lens on American history, the constitution, the continuing battle between central government and states rights: this is a well-researched, documented and written study.

Excellent macro-history of the U.S. framed within the strategies of central state building in the U.S. as we came up against ‘constitutionally affirmed limits placed on the central state’. Gerstle identifies and argues throughout that three key strategies has allowed the federal government to push the constitution to extend its powers. These strategies included Exemption, when the central government freed itself from constitutional constraints, as in the 14th amendment; Surrogacy, when the central government used the Commerce, Postal, and Taxation clauses as surrogates to increase the size and influence of the federal government, i.e., prostitution & pornography controls; and Privatization, initiatives undertaken by the central state to get private groups to do work that the Federal government was not authorized to do, i.e., transcontinental railroad, ‘civilization of Indians’, and Americanization of immigrants.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I opened this book hoping to learn about the tensions that exist between the US federal government and the states' exercise of power. I closed it considerably better informed than I have ever been.

Liberty and Coercion is a superb work of political history. There was much in these pages that was completely new to me. The chapter on the New Deal's reforms of the agricultural sector was especially informative.

I had not realized that the Bill of Rights did not originally extend to the states. Gerstle's account of how the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren worked to make the Bill of Rights applicable to the states demonstrates the importance of the judicial branch of the federal government in expanding the powers of the central state.

This book is not aimed at a general audience. Readers with a solid grounding in US history will benefit from Gerstle's cogent critique of the paradoxes inherent in American governance.

[tea_for_two · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most enlightening books I've ever read. This should be required reading for anyone who has even the slightest interest in how America became the way it is today.

[Ari Weinberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first time I have revisited this text since last fall. In opening it back up for my comprehensive exams, I was reminded immediately of it's engaging prose and argument. This second time around, I am especially appreciating how Gerstle refreshes a history of US government through a state-focused lens and an eye for the process in which our current state came to be. I'm really glad I got to read this again!

[Serge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Part II (Improvisations 1860s-1920s) and Part III (compromises 1920s-1940s) sweeping, well-researched and well-argued. I plan to use Chapters 6 and 7 in my AP US History class when we discuss the New Deal. I have never read a better account of the role of agrarian populist in the centralization of federal power and influence. By contrast, I am still struggling to understand the bookends (Part I Foundations and Part IV American Leviathan) around these amazing chapters ( which I understand Gerstle has covered in other books, most notably the Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order). The theoretical construct of the central government escaping its constitutional constraints through exemption, surrogacy and privatization needs more evidence. Voluntarism and its role in late nineteenth and early twentieth century was the most convincing of the few examples given. I appreciated the role of substantive due process and incorporation in creating the jurisprudence necessary for an expanded federal scope of power. Some great observations are also made with respect to the enlarged franchise (beyond landholders) and its concurrent influence on turning regional conflict into national conflict. I also thought Gerstle drew persuasive parallels between the rise of the national security state and the rise of what he calls the American Leviathan. The hypocrisy of the Conservative revolt from the late 1960s forward is explored with an eye for the changing meanings of "limited government" ( his remarks about the federalization of criminal justice are particularly on point). All of this to say that I enjoyed this book that I initially thought was about state police power.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully intricate history of the twin impulses of American political life: the movement toward a more powerful state, and away from one. Gary Gerstle tracks this contradiction across its many different dimensions―from the states to the federal government, and from private morality to public policy―to shed much-needed light on the deep-seated conflicts of the present.
David Runciman, author of The Confidence Trap

[Jim Araby · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title says it all. Gary Gerstle's brilliance is in writing the story of America and its formation as struggle between states' rights and the federal government. It is surprising to think about how each modern American political party has switched back and forth between what is the most "sacred" cow of American government.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very different events, shaped by countless of individuals, most of whom are never mentioned everywhere. Or, one can chose the simpleton version of Gerstle: there are gods (Democracy, Government) with their own will, and heroes (this or that character) with strong personalities, all battling in an epic superhero show to convince the sheep to vote the way Gerstle wants them to.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A review of the development of the Federal government from the relatively weak institution trying to hold the states together enough to chase out the British to today (written in 2015) where it is integral in many areas of all citizens lives and the states have lost most of their power.

[Julian Pritchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on the scope of federal power in American history. Gerstle contrasts the "big government" of the FDR era with the "government is the problem" Reagan era. The way this book is written wasn't the most engaging, but it's not bad.

[A Ter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This clearly needs a post-script to address what has played out since it was finished.

[Joseph Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packed with salient points, but damaged by its author's inelegant lexis and liberal bias.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little out of date, given the "45" era, but still very relevant.

[Bookforum Magazine]

"But Gerstle has not simply written a history of an abstruse nineteenth-century theory with some suggestive parallels to the present. The triumph of Liberty and Coercion is the way he links the asymmetries of the country's two foundational theories of power to the largest political problems of the past hundred years."

–Charles Petersen on Gary Gerstle's Liberty and Coercion: The Paradox of American Government from the Founding to the Present in the February/March issue of Bookforum

To read the rest of this review, go to Bookforum:
http://bookforum.com/?pn=inprint&...

[Tonya Covarrubias · Rating 5 out of 5]

The State/Federal government relationship throughout American history is examined in a fantastic way in this book. Historical events we know and love can been seen through a new light. Current events' roots can be traced back with this new history and it provides insights into how we got to where we are as a country. Highly recommended for anyone who loves policy, history, politics or current affairs.