Long-range Public Investment: The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal

Robert D. Leighninger

Univ of South Carolina Press, 2007 - Social Science - 265 pages

In this comprehensive survey combining architectural and social policy studies, Robert D. Leighninger Jr. reappraises the enduring achievements of public investment during the New Deal era. Leighninger argues that, though these initiatives produced the lasting backbone of the U.S. physical and cultural infrastructure, the value of these long-range investments is now being forgotten. In response Leighninger systematically assesses the schools, housing, bridges, roads, power plants, courthouses, hospitals, museums, stadiums, zoos, parks, and other public facilities built under the auspices of the New Deal. Many of the structures are still in use today.

Although a multitude of studies have focused on specific agencies, Leighninger offers an exhaustive survey of all the building agencies established as part of the New Deal. In addition to reviewing the large- and small-scale objectives of such operations as the Public Works Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, Works Progress Administration, and Tennessee Valley Authority, Leighninger applies the New Deal experience to current public policy issues. He evaluates the impact of public works on stimulating the economy, the role of public jobs in a national employment policy, the means of financing infrastructure, and the paradox of viewing public works as pork.

Leighninger concludes that the physical accomplishments of the New Deal have served as the core of the U.S. education, health, recreation, transportation, justice, and civic administration facilities for decades. These findings, he contends, will not only remind current generations of their indebtedness to the New Deal programs but also spark renewed debate about the long-range implications of public works versus pork barrel politics.

Long-Range Public Investment: The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal is augmented by fifty-eight photographs.

Contents

• Public Works in American History: 3
• The Civilian Conservation Corps 193342: 11
• The Public Works Administration 193335: 35
• The Civil Works Administration 193334: 43
• The Works Progress Administration 193543: 55
• The Public Works Administration 193542: 80
• The Tennessee Valley Authority 1933: 102
• Housing: 118
• Resettlement: 136
• Economic Stimulus: 173
• Public Jobs: 183
• Federalism: 197
• The Paradox of Pork: 208
• Notes: 219
• Index: 255

About the author

Robert D. Leighninger Jr. has edited the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare for more than twenty years, and he serves as a project adviser to the California New Deal Legacy Project. He is a sociologist at Arizona State University and the author of Community Assets: The Legacy of the Public Works Administration in Louisiana.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Long-range Public Investment: The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal; Social Problems and Social Issues (Univ of South Carolina) Series; Social problems and social issues
• Author: Robert D. Leighninger
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press, 2007
• ISBN: 1570036632, 9781570036637
• Length: 265 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Social Work