Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-13-2015
Abstract
The nations Cold War battle against the Soviet Union pervasively influenced American law and society as numerous scholars have observed The Cold War for instance spurred the strengthening of civil rights and the capitalist economy The federal government needed to protect civil rights at least symbolically to deflect Soviet denunciations of democracyMeanwhile the ostentatious exhibition and use of American consumer products contrasted American economic prosperity with Soviet struggles Thus during the Cold War the government and the capitalist leaders were bonded together in a struggle against the communist enemy The overriding desire for Cold War victory tempered potential political demands for laissezfaire governanceThis article considers the effects of the end of the Cold War on American law and society The nations Cold War victory generated unanticipated and perverse changes in American democracy The government and capitalists were no longer fighting together against a common foe To the contrary capitalists now seemed to view government as its enemy Demands for laissezfaire policies became common and overt as did denigration of democratic government As a result American democracy transformed into a government system dominated by wealthy individuals and corporationsThe conservative justices on the Supreme Court John Roberts Antonin Scalia Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy have promoted business especially corporate business and protected the economic marketplace from government regulation If this trend continues unchecked it will threaten the constitutional system including both American democracy and American capitalism
Recommended Citation
Feldman, Stephen Matthew, "The End of the Cold War: Can American Constitutionalism Survive Victory?" (2015). Faculty Articles. 128.
https://scholarship.law.uwyo.edu/faculty_articles/128
First Page
262