The Myth of the "Weak" American State.

POLITICAL science; INDIVIDUALISM; REPRESENTATIVE government; POLITICAL doctrines; AMERICANS; STATE, The; STATE power; HISTORY

This article examines the historiography of America. The author contends that most narratives of American history, both traditional and modern, hew to an erroneous framework that diminishes state power in favor freedom and democracy. If the American present is that of increasing executive and administrative power than it logically must have evolved from the past. He believes the void is a product of the discrepancy between the way Americans think of themselves and the way they actually live; between the myth of laissez-fair individualism and the demands for state protection.