American Political Systems since 1877

American Political Systems Since 1877

Since the end of Reconstruction , the American political system has demonstrated its ability to adapt to changing domestic and foreign policy requirements . Indeed , in the years directly following Reconstruction , attention was necessarily focused on domestic matters . A shift from an agrarian economy to one based largely on industry created a new sets of needs and expectations for the American population . A political movement called Progressivism responded to these needs by calling for reform : monopolies were broken-up corruption was addressed the government provided more services , laws were

enacted to protect women , children , and the large immigrant population food and drug safety was seen to and regulations regarding sanitation and hygiene were established . Many of these reforms necessitated the establishment of governmental institutions such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Labor . Many of these institutions are still in operation today

With the beginning of the United States ' involvement in World War I attention was redirected to foreign matters . Americans became increasingly involved in world affairs , not only through their involvement in the war efforts but also through imperialism (which had begun earlier and had increased rapidly with the acquisition of Guam the Philippines , and Puerto Rico in 1898 . These actions required new governmental institutions or changes to existing organizations

A similar shift was seen with the Great Depression (focus on domestic affairs ) and World War II (focus on foreign policy , and this see-sawing continues to the present day . One of the strengths of...