Reagan’s Voluntary State: Education and Race Politics at the Department of Justice.

President Reagan used the Justice Department for a major component of his school policy curtailing desegregation. This paper makes two contributions to the regime theory of presidential politics. First, the paper argues that Reagan’s presidency was in fact reconstructive. Contrary to the presidency literature that has concluded Reagan was ultimately a failure at establishing a new and lasting institutional order, this paper suggests Reagan created a ?voluntary state? and focuses on the example of school desegregation policy. The Reagan White House weakened the Department of Education and strengthened the Department of Justice in order to enact a new voluntary desegregation policy that has considerable authority today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]