How States Shaped Postwar America

Nicholas Dagen Bloom convincingly argues that assertive state governments decisively shaped postwar urban America, mostly for the good. Prompted by the failures of federal policy, an unfolding urban crisis, and pleas from fragmenting metropolitan areas, activist governors, both Democratic and Republican, became “operational liberals” as they pursued an “ideologically coherent” effort to aid cities in extending the legacy of the New Deal (pp. 9, 25). Among the other “measurable benefits” of the “indispensable and invisible” work of states, Americans enjoyed extensive highways, abundant recreational areas, a high-quality and remarkably accessible system of higher education, and an admirably clean environment (p. 312). Bloom is an institutional realist, more interested in exploring the process of governmental change than condemning it for failing to meet the standards of its critics, whom he dutifully acknowledges. It could be argued, therefore, that he sets a rather low bar for declaring a golden age. He reports frankly that state efforts facilitated sprawl, aided the prosperous and upwardly mobile rather than the poor, and maintained segregated patterns of development. States reluctantly propped up urban subways but enthusiastically built highways. Hard-won spending increases and creative funding methods (such as New York's “moral obligation” bonds) nonetheless fell short of addressing obvious needs and almost never satisfied urban politicians who saw even robust state support as stingy. Weak enforcement limited the impact of expanded regulatory authority, especially for fair housing and the environment. Deinstitutionalization ended nightmarish conditions in state facilities only to exacerbate urban homelessness while transforming penitentiaries into de facto custodians of the mentally ill

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