Critique de Choice
Berman, a University of Toronto historian, presents a history of party politics, political economy, and public policy in the US over the past 30 years, from the 1964 to the 1992 presidential election. He focuses on the rise of conservative populism, and concludes that it was due primarily to "the politics of race and the globalization of the American economy." Inflation and the tax revolt are presented as secondary causes. Since 1988, according to Berman, conservative setbacks have resulted from "the ending of the Cold War, as well as mounting domestic social and economic difficulties." Berman impressively and evenhandedly summarizes a wealth of history and research in a brief volume, but he is sometimes unclear about the linkages between economic trends and political consequences, and some of his more interesting assertions are undeveloped. More is needed on women's issues and activism. Nevertheless, a fine summary of the most important developments in recent American political history. General; undergraduate.
