Impact of the New Deal

Looking back at the impact of the New Deal on American politics in the 1930s, one is struck both by the actual changes it had on the course of American history and the conceivable changes that were avoided. The New Deal did not revolutionize American politics, but it changed the socioeconomic system in this country dramatically. The New Deal helped protect the- two-party system from threats of those who advocated a one-party system as well as from those who champion a third party movement. The New Deal also transformed basic economic principles of economics from a laissez faire capitalist society to a managed economic system. Had the New Deal not intervened in American life, it seems certain that the forces of discontent would have grown, exposing American politics to radical elements demanding economic redistribution and reactionary elements demanding a "strong man" president to restore law and order. This research examines the events of the 1930s that led to the New Deal and the role of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in forming a new society. The New Deal is further scrutinized for its continuing impact on party politics, social services and the American economy today.

Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression

Economic conditions in the United States between 1919 and 1928 are sometimes touted as having been prosperous. That is not exactly the case. In the course of that decade, net capital formation (creation of new capital goods) in relation to national income was 14%

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s projects and ensured the right of labor to organize. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) gave immediate employment to hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans in restoring national parks and natural resources. A Public Works Administration (PWA) dispensed money for community reconstruction projects, another program to provide employment opportunities for those out of work. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) offered emergency short-term employment to 4 million Americans within a matter of weeks. Many of these programs were considered minor short-term fixes, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps. But these programs proved immensely popular and so many were extended beyond their scheduled termination dates. The experimental hodgepodge of ideas had taken shape as the New Deal program based heavily on Keynesian economic theory. Finally, in 1934 the political parties began to assume distinct philosophies on the proper role of government in the economy. Business and financial interests became increasingly hostile toward New Deal policies and surged back into the Republican fold. Meanwhile, a New Deal coalition took shape in which farmers, laborers, urban immigrants, blacks and other minorities, and small business

Category: Government - I