The American Political Economy: Politics, Markets, and Power (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

Cambridge University Press, 11/11/2021
EAN 9781316516362, ISBN10: 1316516369

Hardcover, 400 pages, 23.5 x 15.9 x 3.2 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English

This volume brings together leading political scientists to explore the distinctive features of the American political economy. The introductory chapter provides a comparatively informed framework for analyzing the interplay of markets and politics in the United States, focusing on three key factors: uniquely fragmented and decentralized political institutions; an interest group landscape characterized by weak labor organizations and powerful, parochial business groups; and an entrenched legacy of ethno-racial divisions embedded in both government and markets. Subsequent chapters look at the fundamental dynamics that result, including the place of the courts in multi-venue politics, the political economy of labor, sectional conflict within and across cities and regions, the consolidation of financial markets and corporate monopoly and monopsony power, and the ongoing rise of the knowledge economy. Together, the chapters provide a revealing new map of the politics of democratic capitalism in the United States.

Introduction
American political economy
a framework and agenda for research Jacob S. Hacker, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Paul Pierson, and Kathleen Thelen
Part I. Political Arenas and Actors
1. Hurdles to shared prosperity
congress, parties, and the national policy process in an era of inequality Nathan J. Kelly and Jana Morgan
2. The role of the law in the American political economy K. Sabeel Rahman and Kathleen Thelen
3. Collective action, law, and the fragmented development of the American labor movement Alexander Hertel-Fernandez
Part II. Race, Space, and Governance
4. Racial inequality, market inequality, and the American political economy Chloe Thurston
5. The production of local inequality
race, class, and land use in American cities Jessica Trounstine
6. The city re-centered? Local inequality mitigation in the twenty-first century Thomas K. Ogorzalek
7. The political economies of red states Jacob M. Grumbach, Jacob S. Hacker, and Paul Pierson
Part III. Corporate Power and Concentration
8. Mo' patents, mo' problems
corporate strategy, structure and profitability in America's political economy Herman Mark Schwartz
9. Asset manager capitalism as a corporate governance regime Benjamin Braun
10. Labor market power in the American political economy Suresh Naidu
Part IV. The American Knowledge Economy
11. The United States as radical innovation driver
the politics of declining dominance? David Soskice
12. Public investment in the knowledge economy Lucy Barnes
13. Concentration and commodification
the political economy of post-industrialism in America and beyond Ben Ansell and Jane Gingrich
14. The American political economy confronts covid-19 Jacob S. Hacker, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Paul Pierson, and Kathleen Thelen.