Presidency, Populism, & the Decline of Parties w/ Sidney Milkis | BRI Scholar Talks

How did the philosophy of the Progressive Era transform the role of the American government from the American Founding? In this episode of Scholar Talks, BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams talks with Graduate Dean and Professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, Ronald J. Pestritto. Together, they discuss the Progressives' novel views of the Constitution and religion in addition to the impact of Progressivism on current-day governance. In what ways do we see the Progressives' sustained critiques of the Constitution from this era alive in America today?

While there were a variety of factors that led to the end of the Cold War, no one can deny that Ronald Regan played a pivotal role. For the final episode of our Cold War & the Presidency Series, BRI Staff Tony Williams is joined by Stephen F. Knott, professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval War College, as they discuss Reagan's moral vision of the Soviet Union and how it shaped his practical approach to confronting the Soviets. Why did he alter the policies of past presidents like détente and the containment doctrine? What impact did Reagan’s approach to the Cold War have on the American presidency and the end of the Cold War?

Part of the Civil War’s legacy was a shift in the role of the national government. The defeat of the South, Reconstruction, and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment gave the national government growing power over the states and the people. The Fourteenth Amendment gave the national government power (though exactly how much power was still being debated) to ensure state laws did not violate the rights of the freedmen. Additional amendments during the Progressive Era (the 1890s - 1920s) continued this transfer of power to the national government. In the name of giving power to the people, the national government was given power to tax incomes; states lost their representation in Congress, the manufacture and sale of alcohol was banned, and women were given the right to vote.

Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to the Great Depression by asking for - and receiving - much greater powers to intervene in the economy. Congress passed hundreds of bills, created dozens of new offices and agencies, dramatically expanding the size and power of federal bureaucracy. In his 1944 State of the Union address, FDR proposed a “second bill of rights.” The “political rights” in the 1791 Bill of Rights, he argued, had “proven inadequate” for the challenges of the times. While the natural and inalienable rights in the U.S. Bill of Rights are mostly “negative” in nature, the new “rights” FDR proposed were “positive” in nature. Rather than protecting the individual’s natural liberty so he would be free to pursue happiness, FDR’s list of rights was a set of entitlements and services to be provided to certain individuals at the expense of certain others.