| Bridgeport's Socialist New Deal, 1915-36 Contributor(s): Bucki, Cecelia (Author) |
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ISBN: 0252073630 ISBN-13: 9780252073632 Publisher: University of Illinois Press OUR PRICE: $27.72 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2006 Annotation: On November 7, 1933, the Socialist Party of Bridgeport, Connecticut, won a stunning victory in the municipal election, garnering 48 percent of the votes cast in a three-way race and putting Jasper McLevy in the mayor's seat. Probing the factors that coalesced to bring about this third-party success story, Cecelia Bucki provides a discerning portrait of how industrial cities functioned in the early twentieth century and how working people affected urban politics. Bridgeport's Socialist New Deal, 1915-36 explores how labor gained a foothold and then a stronghold in local politics as broad debates over taxes, budgets, city services, and the definition of public good pitted previously unengaged working-class citizens against local business leaders and traditional party elites. Representing the concerns of ethnic working-class communities only weakly allied to the mainstream American parties, the Bridgeport Socialists rode into office on a wave of popular antibusiness anger and New Deal enthusiasm. Once in office, McLevy and his party were hamstrung by legislative measures that gave substantial control of finances to local business leaders. Bucki details the compromise politics of Bridgeport and shows how the local party, after splitting from the Socialist Party of America in 1936, became more narrowly focused and reformist, though still serving as the voice of the working class. The Bridgeport Socialist party's remarkable move from outsider critic to occupant of City Hall illustrates the volatility of politics in the early depression years. It also reveals the curbing influence of conservative business and political interests, not only on the Bridgeport Socialists, but also on themore radical prongs of the New Deal. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - State & Local - New England (ct, Ma, Me, Nh, Ri, Vt) - Political Science | Political Ideologies - Communism, Post-communism & Socialism - History | United States - 20th Century |
| Dewey: 974.604 |
| Series: Working Class in American History |
| Physical Information: 0.88" H x 6.02" W x 8.96" (0.95 lbs) 312 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1900-1949 - Geographic Orientation - Connecticut - Cultural Region - New England - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In November 1933, the Socialist Party of Bridgeport, Connecticut put slate roofer Jasper McLevy in the mayor's seat and nearly won control of the city council. Cecelia Bucki explores how labor gained first a foothold and then a stronghold in local politics as broad debates pitted previously unengaged working-class citizens against local business leaders and traditional party elites. In the heat of the Great Depression, the skilled union craftsmen who made up the bulk of the city's Socialist Party filled a political void created by the crumbling of mainstream parties, the disintegration of traditional modes of ethnic politics, and the city's acute fiscal crisis. In time, however, legislative measures and compromise politics blunted the progressive agenda. The local party split from the Socialist Party of America and became narrowly focused and reformist while still serving as the voice of the working class. A portrait of a stunning moment in American politics, Bridgeport's Socialist New Deal, 1915-36 offers a fascinating look at the volatility of politics in the early years of the Great Depression. |