A critical era

First we must define what a critical era is. A critical era is a time where there are drastic changes followed by a period of relative stability. When answering the question as to whether of not the 90s were a critical era, I am going to suggest that it was. First we can look at what Aldrich constitutes as the four main factors determining a critical era. 1) Changes in attitudes of the public 2) Changes in the attitudes of the elites 3) Changes in the institutions 4) major changes in policies. I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constitutes a major change, and was than followed by a period of relative stability, which makes the 1990s a critical era. We saw changes in the attitudes of the public by ushering in a Republican party that had control of both branches of congress. We saw a change of attitude amongst the elite, who amongst other things, changed the institution of the House by casting away the seniority norm (which technically is not a institutional change), and by cutting down the amount of committees, and centralizing power to Newt Gingrich. These changes also made for some major policy changes, and one of the largest was a tax cut to the wealthiest group of Americans. Based upon Aldrich’s reasons for the presence of a critical era, I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constituted a major change followed by a period of relative stability, and therefore a critical era.

Is today stable? We can look at the same checklist provided by Aldrich. I am going to suggest that we are in a period of relative stability. We have ushered in a Democratic congress, but they are not overwhelming. The attitudes of the elites have not changed, and we can see this by the continuing war in Iraq. We have not seen any institutional changes, and we have not seen any major policy changes.