Dictators and Democracy

In the face of the Great Depression, democracy receded from many places around the world. Even in the United States, where commitments to democracy were of relatively long standing, many Americans in the 1930s openly admired the efficiency of Mussolini’s Italy. Nevertheless, democracy did not fade from the United States. Indeed, many trends suggested invigorated democratic practice in the country. At the same time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal failed to benefit all Americans equally. Those who suffered most gained the least from this bold new departure in U.S. domestic policy. This workshop explores both the democratic and anti-democratic tendencies of Roosevelt’s New Deal.