Did Roosevelt's New Deal destroy American democracy?

Did not undermine the democratic system of the United States.

In view of the actual situation at that time and in line with the wishes of the broad masses of people, Roosevelt implemented a series of policies and measures aimed at overcoming the crisis, which was called the "New Deal" in history. The main contents of the New Deal can be summarized by "three Rs", namely, restoration, relief and reform [2]. The results of the implementation of the main measures of the New Deal: "It should be pointed out that Roosevelt's New Deal measures expanded the presidential power in an all-round way, and finally gradually established a new pattern of separation of powers centered on the president. He is a pioneer in the institutionalization of the presidency. "

The main measures of Roosevelt's New Deal include:

1. Reorganize the banking and financial sectors, order banks to suspend business for rectification, gradually restore bank credit, and abandon the gold standard to devalue the dollar to stimulate exports;

2. Industrial revival or industrial adjustment (central measure): prevent overproduction caused by blind competition through the National Industrial Revival Law and the Blue Eagle Action; According to the National Industrial Revival Law, all industrial enterprises formulate fair management rules for their own industries, and determine the production scale, price level, market distribution, wage standard and working days of each enterprise, so as to prevent blind competition from causing overproduction, thus strengthening the government's control and regulation of capitalist industrial production [easing class contradictions].

3. Adjust agricultural policies: give economic subsidies to farmers who reduce farming and production (farmers reduce large areas of cultivated land and slaughter a large number of livestock, and the government pays subsidies) to raise and stabilize the prices of agricultural products;

4. Carry out "work for relief" (the most important measure);

5. Vigorously build public projects to alleviate social crisis and class contradictions, and increase employment to stimulate consumption and production;

6. The government has also established a social security system and passed a social security law, so that retired workers can get pensions and insurance, unemployed people can get insurance money, and mothers with young children and disabled people can get subsidies.

7. Establish emergency relief agencies to provide relief funds for the people.

finance

(1) Save the banking crisis, reform and start to manage the financial system. In order to solve the problem of bank currency shortage, the Roosevelt administration entrusted the Federal Reserve Bank to issue currency according to the bank's assets, and authorized Fuxing Finance Corporation to provide liquidity for banks by purchasing priority shares. In order to restore people's trust in banks, it stipulates that the Ministry of Finance should rectify banks and supervise their reopening. According to the requirements, the Ministry of Finance has taken measures to support large banks with the ability to pay, and eliminated the imperfect banks with the ability to repay without compensation. In order to protect the bank reserves and prevent the outflow of gold, it prohibits the storage and export of gold. (2) On March 20th, the Roosevelt Savings Act was passed, which reduced government expenditure and veterans' allowance by 500 million dollars. (3) By providing securities facts, securities trading and banking services, namely the famous Glass-Steagall method, the reform and management of banks, securities markets and currencies have been strengthened successively. (4) The dollar is decoupled from gold, the dollar depreciates and the gold standard is abandoned. Results: The financial measures were successful. Through the above measures, the Roosevelt administration maintained and strengthened the private ownership of American financial capital, and also strengthened the state's management and control over the financial system.

Because the Great Depression was triggered by a financial crisis triggered by crazy speculation. President Roosevelt's New Deal also began with the consolidation of finance. Among the 15 important pieces of legislation made during the period known as the "100-day New Deal" (from March 9, 65438+March 9, 0933 to June 6, 65438), laws related to finance accounted for 1/3. 1933 when Roosevelt was sworn in as president on March 4, almost no banks in the country were open for business, and checks could not be cashed in Washington. At the request of Roosevelt, on March 9, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, and decided to adopt a separate examination and licensing system for banks, and allowed solvent banks to resume business as soon as possible. From March 13 to March 15, 1477 1 banks were allowed to reopen, while before the crisis, 25,568 banks were eliminated by 1929 banks. Roosevelt's extraordinary measures to rectify finance played a great role in cleaning up the mess and stabilizing people's hearts. Public opinion rated this action as "a lightning bolt in the dark sky". While reorganizing banks, Roosevelt also took actions to improve America's foreign economic position. Since1933 March 10 announced the cessation of gold export, major measures have been taken one after another: on April 5, it was announced that private storage of gold and gold securities was prohibited, and dollar bills stopped being exchanged for gold; /kloc-In April of 0/9, the export of gold was banned and the gold standard was abandoned; On June 5, the public and private debts were abolished and paid in gold; 1934 65438+1October 10, announcing the issuance of US$ 3 billion banknotes guaranteed by state securities, and devaluing the US dollar by 40.94%. Through the depreciation of the dollar, the competitiveness of American goods abroad has been strengthened. These measures have played an important role in stabilizing the situation and dredging the blood circulation of economic life.

agricultural production

During the "Hundred Days New Deal", while solving the banking problem, Roosevelt tried his best to urge the parliament to pass the Agricultural Adjustment Law and the National Industrial Recovery Law successively, and became the right-hand man of the whole New Deal. Roosevelt asked capitalists to abide by the rules of "fair competition", stipulated the scale, price and sales scope of each enterprise, and stipulated the minimum wage and maximum working hours of workers (the original workers worked 55 hours a week with a salary of only 60 cents, and the adjusted standard was: workers worked 40 hours a week with a minimum weekly salary of $65,438+02). So as to limit monopoly and reduce and ease the tense class contradictions. After receiving the reluctant support of large enterprises, Roosevelt then tried his best to win the support of small and medium-sized business owners. He said that it is very important for large enterprises to accept the industrial revival law. "The field that produces fruitful results lies in small employers, and their contribution will be to provide new employment opportunities for 1 to 10 people. These small employers are actually an extremely important part of the backbone of the country, and the success or failure of our plan depends largely on them. " The development of small and medium-sized enterprises has played a positive role in social stability and economic recovery in the United States. In order to implement the new regulations, the government awarded the "Blue Eagle" medal to the enterprises that accepted the regulations, which marked the slogan "We will do our part" in recognition.

Roosevelt's new deal

Another important content of the New Deal is relief work. 1933 in may, congress passed the federal emergency relief law, established the federal emergency relief agency, and quickly allocated various relief funds and materials to the States. In the second year, the simple relief was changed to "work for relief", which provided the unemployed with opportunities to engage in public utilities and safeguarded their self-reliance and self-esteem. In the early days of Roosevelt's administration, more than 6.5438+0.7 million unemployed people and their relatives in China depended on the help and charity of the state government, the municipal government and private charities to make a living. However, compared with such a huge army of unemployed people, this part of the financial resources is tantamount to a drop in the bucket. Only the federal government can solve this complex social problem. The first measure of Roosevelt's New Deal was to urge Congress to pass the plan of the private resource protection group. The plan specially attracts young people aged 18 to 25 who are physically strong and have high unemployment rate, and is engaged in projects such as tree planting and forest protection, flood prevention, soil and water conservation, road construction, opening forest fire lines and setting up forest watchtowers. The first group recruited 250,000 people to work in 65,438+0,500 camps across the state. Before going to the United States to fight in the war, more than 2 million young people worked in this institution, and they opened up more than 7.4 million acres of state-owned forest areas and a large number of state-owned parks. On average, everyone works for 9 months, and most of the monthly salary is used for family support, thus expanding the relief area and corresponding purchasing power of the whole society. For Qian Qian people who depend entirely on states and cities, Roosevelt also urged Congress to pass the federal emergency relief law, set up federal relief agencies, rationally divide the use ratio between the federal government and the states, and formulate preferential policies to encourage local governments to directly help the poor and the unemployed. During the New Deal, there were various relief agencies in the United States, which could be divided into two systems: the Ministry of Public Works (the government allocated more than 4 billion US dollars) and the Ministry of Civil Engineering (the investment was nearly 65.438 billion US dollars). The latter built 65.438+0.8 million small-scale engineering projects nationwide, including school buildings, bridges, dams and dikes. Later, several new relief organizations were established. Among them, the most famous are the project establishment institutions set up by the National Congress with a grant of 5 billion dollars and the National Youth Administration for young people. They employ a total of 23 million people, accounting for more than half of the national labor force. By the eve of World War II, the federal government had spent $654.38+0.8 billion on various projects and a small amount of direct relief expenses, and the American government had built nearly 6,543.8+0,000 airports, 6,543.8+0,200 sports fields and more than 800 school buildings and hospitals, which not only created employment opportunities for craftsmen, unskilled workers and the construction industry, but also provided various jobs for thousands of unemployed artists. The money goes through the pockets of workers, through different channels and consumption, and returns to the hands of capitalists, which has become a "fire water" to stimulate private consumption and personal investment together with government investment.

social security

The second "New Deal" lasted from 65438 to 0935. On the basis of the first stage, the social insurance bill, the national labor relations bill and the public service bill were mainly passed.

Blue eagle sign

Industry law and other laws and regulations to consolidate the achievements of the New Deal in the form of legislation. Roosevelt believed that if a government "can't take care of the elderly and patients, can't provide employment opportunities for the strong, can't inject young people into the industrial system, and let the shadow of insecurity hang over every family, then it is not a government that can or should exist", and social insurance should be responsible for the whole life from cradle to grave. To this end, the Social Insurance Law was enacted. According to the law, all wage workers who retire at the age of 65 can get a monthly pension of 10 to $85 according to different salary levels. Regarding unemployment insurance, Roosevelt explained: "It can not only help individuals avoid relying on welfare when they are dismissed in the future, but also alleviate the impact of economic difficulties by maintaining purchasing power." The source of insurance money. Half of the insurance premium is paid by employees and employers, equivalent to 65438+ 0% of workers' wages, and the other half is distributed by the federal government. This social insurance law reflects the strong desire of the broad masses of working people and is welcomed and praised by the vast majority of Americans.

On May 24th, Roosevelt delivered a widely-watched speech to Congress on the legislation of minimum wage and maximum working hours. The speech admitted that "one third of the population in China can't eat well, dress well and live well, and most of them are engaged in agriculture or industry". "We must bear in mind that our goal is to improve rather than reduce the living standards of those who are now malnourished, poorly dressed and living in poor conditions. We know that when a large part of our workers are unemployed, overtime and low-level wages cannot increase national income. " Because Congress did not take action on the bill, Roosevelt introduced the bill again on June 65438, 20021October, until June 65438, 2004. This is the fair labor standards act (also known as the Law on Wages and Working Hours). Its main regulations include 40 hours of working hours per week and a minimum wage of 40 cents per hour; It is forbidden to use/kloc-children under 0/6 years old, and it is forbidden to use/kloc-workers under 0/8 years old in dangerous industries. With the development of economy, the provisions of the minimum wage will be adjusted in the future. Although these social legislations belong to the category of social improvement, they are very beneficial to the broad masses of the people, especially the working class. In order to solve the problem of federal funds for the social insurance system, Roosevelt first implemented a progressive tax based on income and assets. The net income of $50,000 and the legacy of $40,000 will be levied at 365,438+0%, and the legacy of more than $5 million will be levied at 75%; In the past, the corporate tax was always 65,438+03.75%. According to the tax law 65,438+0935, the tax rate of companies with incomes below $50,000 is reduced to 65,438+02.5%, and the tax rate of companies with incomes above $50,000 is increased to 65,438+05%.

superiority

Roosevelt's New Deal had a far-reaching impact on the United States and the world at that time. (1) It not only basically overcame the economic crisis in the 1930s, but also caused the long-term upward trend of the postwar American economy. Therefore, it has extended the life span of the American economy. This is the fundamental role of the' New Deal'. (2) The New Deal played the most direct role in getting rid of the Great Depression crisis. (3) The New Deal prevented the United States from taking the fascist road. It is obviously unrealistic to equate Hitler's fascist dictatorship with Roosevelt's New Deal reform and regard it as birds of a feather. (4) Due to the implementation of the New Deal, the United States quickly recovered its economic strength and played an important role as an "arsenal of democratic countries" during the Second World War. It laid a material foundation for the victory of the anti-fascist war. (V) The implementation of the New Deal has provided valuable experience for policy formulation. After the war, successive American governments basically inherited the measures of Roosevelt's New Deal under the new conditions before the 1980s, and adopted various anti-crisis measures, such as state intervention in the economy, adjustment of production and relaxation of contradictions. The welfare state measures initiated by the New Deal are still an important means to consolidate the rule of monopoly capital.

deficient

Of course, the New Deal also has some shortcomings. The New Deal caused huge government and deficit expenditure, which greatly expanded the power of the Federation and reduced the sense of responsibility of state and local governments and individuals. Howard zinn, a new school, pointed out that the defect of the "New Deal" was that it failed to solve the following fundamental problems: how to make the enormous natural wealth and amazing production potential benefit all Americans. The political problems inevitably caused by this problem have not been solved, that is, how to organize ordinary people to convey the tragic situation caused by this crisis to national leaders in a more subtle way, and how to make millions of people in the richest countries in the world aware of their daily struggle for survival in a very urgent period. By around 1939, the Great Depression was over and many ills of capitalism still existed. The liberal Loktenberg pointed out that the shortcoming of the "New Deal" is that "it left many unsolved problems and even caused some troublesome new problems." It has not proved that it can achieve prosperity first in peacetime. ..... it (but) strengthens the power of claiming to speak for millions of people, but sometimes it only represents a few interest groups. It has not found a way to protect the people without such a spokesman, nor has it come up with a satisfactory way to punish interest groups. It is still a revolution that gives up halfway; It expanded the ranks of the middle class, but excluded many Americans-divided into shop farmers, cave dwellers of poor farmers and most blacks-from the newly formed balance. "Dr. Santos believes that Roosevelt's New Deal is a failure because it protects credit (system) more than people. Others believe that the New Deal is not thorough enough and advocate that the federal government accept banks and industries. In fact, the "New Deal" failed to fundamentally solve the drawbacks of capitalism.