How Government Built America

Sidney A. Shapiro holds the Fletcher Chair in Administrative Law at the Wake Forest University School of Law. He is the author of Administrative Competence: Reimagining Administrative Law (2020) and Achieving Democracy: The Future of Progressive Regulation (2014). Previously, he was a distinguished visitor at Oxford University, University of Padua, and SPEA, University of Indiana, Bloomington. He is a founding member and Vice-President of the Center for Progressive Reform. Joseph P. Tomain is Dean Emeritus and Wilbert and Helen Ziegler Professor of Law in the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He is the author of Achieving Democracy: The Future of Progressive Regulation (2014) and Clean Power Energy Politics (2017). He was a distinguished visitor at the American Academy in Rome, the University of Notre Dame, Stanford University, and Oxford University, and served as Fulbright Senior Specialist in Cambodia.

1. Introduction – the historical necessity of government; 2. The founders' America – government and markets; 3. Abraham Lincoln's America – a fair chance; 4. Ida Tarbell's America – markets for everyone; 5. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's America – saving capitalism; 6. Dwight Eisenhower's America – prosperity and anxiety; 7. Rachel Carson's America – saving the environment; 8. John Lewis's America – equal justice for all; 9. Alfred Kahn's America – rebalancing the mix; 10. Ronald Reagan's America – freedom for markets; 11. Mitch McConnell's America – court packing; 12. Donald Trump's America – challenging democracy; 13. Anthony Fauci's America – making government work; 14. Joe Biden's America – much to restore, much to build; 15. Conclusion – going forward.