This course explores the rich history of infrastructure policy in the United States, beginning with the earliest debates over federal (and state) funding for harbors, canals, and bridges in the early 1800s — all intended to transcend the nation’s sectional differences and foster trade, commerce, and growth. These themes continued with the burgeoning of railroads in the mid-Nineteenth Century, the establishment of mail delivery routes, and, eventually, the rise of highways and expressways in the Twentieth Century. Although the modes of transportation have changed as technologies evolve, many of the arguments over policy remain remarkably familiar. Further, in exploring these case studies, we will also see how pivotal political decisions about infrastructure have had a disproportionately negative impact on many inner city neighborhoods, underrepresented groups, and lower income communities. Our course additionally examines the myriad challenges confronting infrastructure today, among them chronic underfunding of Amtrak, inadequate mass transit in many major US cities, the often poor condition of roads, bridges, and highways, and the insufficiency of broadband access for many communities in the nation, as well. If Americans uniformly agree on the need for improved infrastructure, why has policy been so difficult to enact? What is the politics behind the policy? And, what should the focus of policy be in the 21st Century?
Students who previously completed PLAW 380: Infrastructure Policy may not register for this class.