Administrative Liberalism and the War on Poverty

As lonely sectarian politics goes into eclipse and “coalitionism” comes to the fore, it behooves radicals to watch their step. The terrain is tricky and full of traps. One danger is a permanent by-product of the New Deal, the phenomenon C. Wright Mills once labeled “administrative liberalism.” It represents the dark side of a virtuous tradition. Liberals have usually been compassionate, warm, civilized, concerned, and understanding. Convinced that most problems are remediable, they are animated by a passionate desire to do something about them. The big trouble begins when, given the chance, liberals try—and fail; too easily exasperated by the intractability of a social problem, they tend to adopt illiberal means...