Democracy Is In the Mail

On this episode of Now & Then, “Democracy Is In the Mail,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman talk about the development of the post office in American culture. They explain why the Framers believed so deeply in a government-backed mail service, trace how Western expansion changed the culture and organizational structure of the Post Office Department, and recount the 1970 postal strike and the impact of the resultant Postal Reorganization Plan. How has the mail bolstered democracy? Should the postal bureaucracy be run like a public utility or a business? And can the Postal Service withstand the current push for privatization?

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