The State You See

The State You See uncovers a racial gap in the way the American government appears in people’s lives. It makes it clear that public policy changes over the last fifty years have driven all Americans to distrust the government that they see in their lives, even though Americans of different races are...

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Autor principal: Rosenthal, Aaron J.
Format: Online
Idioma:anglès
Publicat: University of Michigan Press 2023
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Accés en línia:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/62927
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author Rosenthal, Aaron J.
author_browse Rosenthal, Aaron J.
author_facet Rosenthal, Aaron J.
author_sort Rosenthal, Aaron J.
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description The State You See uncovers a racial gap in the way the American government appears in people’s lives. It makes it clear that public policy changes over the last fifty years have driven all Americans to distrust the government that they see in their lives, even though Americans of different races are not seeing the same kind of government. For white people, these policy changes have involved a rising number of generous benefits submerged within America’s tax code, which taken together cost the government more than Social Security and Medicare combined. Political attention focused on this has helped make welfare and taxes more visible representations of government for white Americans. As a result, white people are left with the misperception that government does nothing for them, apart from take their tax money to spend on welfare. Distrust of government is the result. For people of color, distrust is also rampant but for different reasons. Over the last fifty years, America has witnessed increasingly overbearing policing and swelling incarceration numbers. These changes have disproportionately impacted communities of color, helping to make the criminal legal system a unique visible manifestation of government in these communities. While distrust of government emerges in both cases, these different roots lead to different consequences. White people are mobilized into politics by their distrust, feeling that they must speak up in order to reclaim their misspent tax dollars. In contrast, people of color are pushed away from government due to a belief that engaging in American elections will yield the same kind of unresponsiveness and violence that comes from interactions with the police. The result is a perpetuation of the same kind of racial inequality that has always been present in American democracy. The State You See is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how the American government engages in subtle forms of discrimination and how it continues to uphold racial inequality in the present day.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-999602025-07-17T12:15:40Z The State You See Rosenthal, Aaron J. Public policy, Race and Politics, Public Opinion, Political Participation, American Elections, Political Trust, Political Distrust, Racial Inequality, Policy Feedback, Criminal Justice Policy, Social Welfare Policy, American Democracy, Voter Turnout, Submerged State, Carceral State, Mass Incarceration, Policing, Criminal Justice System, Political Inequality, White Supremacy, Government Visibility, Black Lives Matter, American Political Development thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies The State You See uncovers a racial gap in the way the American government appears in people’s lives. It makes it clear that public policy changes over the last fifty years have driven all Americans to distrust the government that they see in their lives, even though Americans of different races are not seeing the same kind of government. For white people, these policy changes have involved a rising number of generous benefits submerged within America’s tax code, which taken together cost the government more than Social Security and Medicare combined. Political attention focused on this has helped make welfare and taxes more visible representations of government for white Americans. As a result, white people are left with the misperception that government does nothing for them, apart from take their tax money to spend on welfare. Distrust of government is the result. For people of color, distrust is also rampant but for different reasons. Over the last fifty years, America has witnessed increasingly overbearing policing and swelling incarceration numbers. These changes have disproportionately impacted communities of color, helping to make the criminal legal system a unique visible manifestation of government in these communities. While distrust of government emerges in both cases, these different roots lead to different consequences. White people are mobilized into politics by their distrust, feeling that they must speak up in order to reclaim their misspent tax dollars. In contrast, people of color are pushed away from government due to a belief that engaging in American elections will yield the same kind of unresponsiveness and violence that comes from interactions with the police. The result is a perpetuation of the same kind of racial inequality that has always been present in American democracy. The State You See is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how the American government engages in subtle forms of discrimination and how it continues to uphold racial inequality in the present day. 2023-05-10T04:03:47Z 2023-05-10T04:03:47Z 2023-05-09T09:16:39Z 2023 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/62927 9780472075997 9780472055999 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/99960 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/62927/1/9780472903320.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/62927/1/9780472903320.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/62927/1/9780472903320.pdf University of Michigan Press 10.3998/mpub.12393424 10.3998/mpub.12393424 b7359529-e5f7-4510-a59f-d7dafa1d4d17 9780472075997 9780472055999 279 open access
spellingShingle Public policy, Race and Politics, Public Opinion, Political Participation, American Elections, Political Trust, Political Distrust, Racial Inequality, Policy Feedback, Criminal Justice Policy, Social Welfare Policy, American Democracy, Voter Turnout, Submerged State, Carceral State, Mass Incarceration, Policing, Criminal Justice System, Political Inequality, White Supremacy, Government Visibility, Black Lives Matter, American Political Development
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies
Rosenthal, Aaron J.
The State You See
title The State You See
title_full The State You See
title_fullStr The State You See
title_full_unstemmed The State You See
title_short The State You See
title_sort state you see
topic Public policy, Race and Politics, Public Opinion, Political Participation, American Elections, Political Trust, Political Distrust, Racial Inequality, Policy Feedback, Criminal Justice Policy, Social Welfare Policy, American Democracy, Voter Turnout, Submerged State, Carceral State, Mass Incarceration, Policing, Criminal Justice System, Political Inequality, White Supremacy, Government Visibility, Black Lives Matter, American Political Development
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies
topic_facet Public policy, Race and Politics, Public Opinion, Political Participation, American Elections, Political Trust, Political Distrust, Racial Inequality, Policy Feedback, Criminal Justice Policy, Social Welfare Policy, American Democracy, Voter Turnout, Submerged State, Carceral State, Mass Incarceration, Policing, Criminal Justice System, Political Inequality, White Supremacy, Government Visibility, Black Lives Matter, American Political Development
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/62927
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