Seeking the Mantle of "Opportunity": Presidential Politics and the Educational Metaphor,1964-2000

Abstract

Traditionally, scholars have accorded the issue of education only a minor role in understanding presidential elections. The authors suggest that this is a mistake and offer a reassessment of education's symbolic and substantive role in contemporary presidential politics. In particular, education's embodiment of opportunity and personal responsibility made it a crucial metaphor in post-Great Society politics. The new conservatism that emerged in 1964 would enjoy success with its sunny promise of individual opportunity but would eventually be torn between its implicit guarantee of universal opportunity and opposition to activist government. In the early 1990s, centrist Democrats used education to exploit this tension and slip the party's "tax and spend" reputation. Republican nominees, in turn, struggled to demonstrate their commitment to extending opportunity to all Americans. In 2000, Republican candidate George W Bush used an accountability-driven education program to neutralize the Democratic advantage but, in so doing, created a potential party rift with implications for future presidential politics and national education policy.

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