Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

"VindicatorOnlyofHerOwn" 209

safetyandlibertyofindividualAmericansseemedas threatenedifnot

moresobyunaccountableprivatepowerthanbypoliticianswhointhe

lastanalysisweresubjecttoatleastsomekindofdemocraticcontrols.

C

onservativeswhoopposed theNewDealstateand economic
regulationsfoundtheirownreasonstosupporta vastincreasein
thefederalgovernmentasa resultoftheColdWar.Thelife-and-death
strugglewiththeSovietUnion,thevastexpensesofmoneyandthelarge
standingmilitaryforcesrequiredbythestruggleconvincedmostconser-
vativesthatthefederalgovernmenthadtooutgrowitstraditionalsize.
Otherdevelopmentsoftheperiodalsounderminedthestrengthof
jeffersonianpoliticsintheUnitedStates.Themiddleofthetwentieth
centurywas thehigh-watermarkoftheadministrativestate,atime
whentheAmericanpeopleandtheirelectedrepresentativesincreasingly
feltthatcrucialdecisionsshouldbelefttoexpertsandprofessionals.The
developmentofantibioticsandtheconquestofterrifyingdiseaseslike
tuberculosis,syphilis,andpoliogavescientificmedicineenormouspres-
tige.Scientistsandengineers creatednewmiraclesliketelevisionand
scourgeslikenuclearweapons.
Giventhese newandpowerfultechnologies, itseemed reasonable
thattheaveragecitizenneededtodefertoexpertopinion.Traditionally
jeffersonianshaddenouncedelitesasparasiteswhodeceivedpublicopin-
ionintobelievingthatgovernmentwastoocomplicatedforanyonebut
"experts"tounderstandandadminister.Theclaimsofthoseparasitesto
necessaryspecialknowledgehadnotbeentruein1800,andAmerican
democracyhadputpowerinto thehandsofordinarypeople.
Butwhatifthoseclaimshadbecometrueby1950?Whatiftheques-
tionsofmodernlifereallyweretoodifficultandcomplicatedforordinary
peopletojudge?
Afinalblowcamewiththecivilrightsmovementofthe1960s.Clas-
sicjeffersonianthoughtalwayssawthefederalgovernmentasthethreat
toliberty;stateandlocalgovernmentswereclosertothepeopleandless
likelytoabusetheirpower.Butthecivilrightsmovementputthiscon-
viction tothetest. What ifstatesand localgovernments usedtheir
powertodenycitizenstheirconstitutionalrights?Wasn'titthedutyof
thefederalgovernmenttoassertthepowerofthefederalConstitutionin
defianceofstatediscrimination?Andshouldn'talltruefriendsofliberty
standwiththefederalgovernmentagainsttheusurpingstates?
All these developments powerfully reinforced the central anti-