Preview
  • The Divided States of America

  • Why Federalism Doesn't Work
  • By: Donald F. Kettl
  • Narrated by: Terrence Bayes
  • Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (9 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Divided States of America

By: Donald F. Kettl
Narrated by: Terrence Bayes
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

An innovative system of power sharing that balanced national and state interests, federalism was the pragmatic compromise that brought the colonies together to form the United States. Yet, even beyond the question of slavery, inequality was built into the system because federalism by its very nature meant that many aspects of an American's life depended on where they lived. Over time, these inequalities have created vast divisions between the states and made federalism fundamentally unstable.

Exploring the full sweep of federalism from the founding to today, Kettl focuses on pivotal moments when power has shifted between state and national governments - from the violent rebalancing of the Civil War, when the nation almost split in two, to the era of civil rights a century later, when there was apparent agreement that inequality was a threat to liberty and the federal government should set policies for states to enact. Despite this consensus, inequality between states has only deepened since that moment. From health care and infrastructure to education and the environment, the quality of public services is ever more uneven.

Making an urgent case for reforming federalism, The Divided States of America shows why we must - and how we can - address the crisis of American inequality.

©2020 Princeton University Press (P)2020 Tantor
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Divided States of America

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent historic overview

Great explanation of the complexity of the design of the American experiment. Highly recommend for history lovers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Far Liberal Left

The history for the first third of the book wasn't terrible and the audio was good but by the 2nd third of the book it became extremely dry and started aiming more left and less fact based. By the last 3rd it had completely thrown out any cover of a personal bias and became far left. *Being reviewed by a graduate student studying politics. I am a conservative but can tolerate a solid argument from the other side when well supported. This was not by the last 3rd.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful