Opportunity Politics in the U.S.: Education, Housing, and Credit, 1945-2016

• In Event: Financial Systems and Social Citizenship in American Political Economy

Abstract

In the U.S, state-subsidized credit mediates mortgages needed to access neighborhood schools as well as loans for tertiary tuition. Using a mixed-methods approach, this paper applies a comparative theory of “Opportunity Politics” to analyze political conflicts that have created, reformed, and preserved these institutional features in the U.S. across two historical periods. The early period, covering Civil-Rights era politics over racial exclusion from opportunity, illustrates that efforts by outsiders to expand opportunity in education can trigger insiders to both behaviorally exploit and politically defend rules in interacting domains like housing and credit to preserve exclusive advantage. The later period, marked by liberalization in the run-up to the financial crisis, shows how outsiders may find new coalition partners in opportunity “producer” groups over time in efforts to expand opportunity, even as insiders find political allies with interests vested in status quo institutions that deliver secure advantage.

Author

• Daniel Roberts, Harvard University