The New Deal: Retrospection, Realignment, or a Reconstituted Polity?

Political scientists and constitutional theorists agree that the New Deal represents a significant change to American life, but they disagree as to why. I provide a first attempt at evaluating the relative persuasiveness of the traditional realignment, economic retrospection, and dualist democracy theories of the New Deal. I leverage early Gallup polls that gauged public opinion on specific New Deal policies, proposed constitutional amendments, and economic perceptions. I find little evidence to support the Achen and Bartels thesis that Americans supported the New Deal only because it worked. Most New Deal policies—even those struck down by the Supreme Court—enjoyed broad, bipartisan support, as did several proposed constitutional amendments to expand federal power. The similarity in findings provides initial evidence that many Americans viewed the New Deal as a constitutionally-significant change.