Suburban Consensus -- Continued

What Fueled Consensus?

Prosperity

Desire to Return to "Normal"

Epitomized by the suburban ideal

What threatens Consensus?

The balance between "fitting in" and Conforming

particularly difficult as culture is nationalized through television

Rebellion

Rebel Without a Cause: the answer is individual adjustment

Social worker with a gun

 

 

Politics of expertise

I have called this PROMINISTRATIVE POLITICS

PROfessionals, married to admINISTRATIVE structure in government 

proministrative politics is very different than social movements we will study in a few weeks

INSULATED

                SECRECY because much is classified

increasingly, it is HIDDEN; or Beyond the technical capcity of citizens

 But because this is a democracy, there is also a PUBLIC side

 When secret policies burst upon the scene, they get more publicity than ever

They also need publicity to get funding

Mechanism that animates proministrative politics is iron triangle

Iron Triangles bundle: interest groups; congressional subcommittee; government agency

Proministrative Politics only works because of excpetional period of trust in experts:  1945-1965

Nuclear airplane as case study

example of proministrative politics that remains secret

Sputnik: a case study in the expansion of expert authority

America turns to experts in crisis

but experts also crucial to changing face of the Cold War: technological prestige

National Defense Education Act

Expertise goes public:  "catching up" to the Soviets in Space

NASA: all the facets of proministrative politics

including the promotional component:

No bucks, no Buck Rogers