The People’s Welfare

Law and Regulation in Nineteenth-Century America

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Law, Legal History, History, Americas, United States, 19th Century
Cover of the book The People’s Welfare by William J. Novak, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: William J. Novak ISBN: 9780807863657
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: November 9, 2000
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: William J. Novak
ISBN: 9780807863657
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: November 9, 2000
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

Much of today's political rhetoric decries the welfare state and our maze of government regulations. Critics hark back to a time before the state intervened so directly in citizens' lives. In The People's Welfare, William Novak refutes this vision of a stateless past by documenting America's long history of government regulation in the areas of public safety, political economy, public property, morality, and public health. Challenging the myth of American individualism, Novak recovers a distinctive nineteenth-century commitment to shared obligations and public duties in a well-regulated society. Novak explores the by-laws, ordinances, statutes, and common law restrictions that regulated almost every aspect of America's society and economy, including fire regulations, inspection and licensing rules, fair marketplace laws, the moral policing of prostitution and drunkenness, and health and sanitary codes. Based on a reading of more than one thousand court cases in addition to the leading legal and political texts of the nineteenth century, The People's Welfare demonstrates the deep roots of regulation in America and offers a startling reinterpretation of the history of American governance.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Much of today's political rhetoric decries the welfare state and our maze of government regulations. Critics hark back to a time before the state intervened so directly in citizens' lives. In The People's Welfare, William Novak refutes this vision of a stateless past by documenting America's long history of government regulation in the areas of public safety, political economy, public property, morality, and public health. Challenging the myth of American individualism, Novak recovers a distinctive nineteenth-century commitment to shared obligations and public duties in a well-regulated society. Novak explores the by-laws, ordinances, statutes, and common law restrictions that regulated almost every aspect of America's society and economy, including fire regulations, inspection and licensing rules, fair marketplace laws, the moral policing of prostitution and drunkenness, and health and sanitary codes. Based on a reading of more than one thousand court cases in addition to the leading legal and political texts of the nineteenth century, The People's Welfare demonstrates the deep roots of regulation in America and offers a startling reinterpretation of the history of American governance.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528 by William J. Novak
Cover of the book Christmas in Germany by William J. Novak
Cover of the book Fighting Bob La Follette by William J. Novak
Cover of the book Subduing Satan by William J. Novak
Cover of the book A Woman's Version of the Faust Legend by William J. Novak
Cover of the book The Deepest Wounds by William J. Novak
Cover of the book Transforming the Appalachian Countryside by William J. Novak
Cover of the book A Chosen Path by William J. Novak
Cover of the book Music and the Making of a New South by William J. Novak
Cover of the book Under Sentence of Death by William J. Novak
Cover of the book The Price of Defiance by William J. Novak
Cover of the book Zeb Vance by William J. Novak
Cover of the book Beyond the Founders by William J. Novak
Cover of the book The Tejano Diaspora by William J. Novak
Cover of the book The Great Catastrophe of My Life by William J. Novak
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy