| Debates over United States federal housing policy reflect policymakers' sustained commitment to encouraging home ownership as a central part of the economic and social health of the nation and its citizens. As federal policymakers take up questions of housing tenure in response to widespread economic and social distress, they describe an owned home as a remedy for inequality, poverty, and even violence. Analysis of the development and implementation of housing public policy shows how the rhetoric of home ownership facilitates particular policy ends and shapes public perception. In debating housing, policymakers and public advocates construct and reinforce values that guide how Americans think about economy and community. This dissertation examines policy debates around four pivotal legislative moments in U.S. history: National Housing Act of 1934, Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, and Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The three principal research questions engaged in analysis of these acts are: how do debates over housing policy order the public's priorities for how to live?; what connections do interlocutors make between citizenship and ownership---and with what consequences?; and, how do the responsibilities of ownership comport with the expectations of democracy?;The formation and modification of housing policies invite discourse over the value of home ownership to the creation of economically vibrant communities, morally good neighborhoods, and patriotic consumers. Housing policy debate participants imagine loyal citizens as consumers who, through home ownership, can dually serve their own individual interests as well as the interests of the nation. In this way, debates over housing in the United States are as much about defining what it means to be American as they are about creating housing policies. Americans who purchase a home elicit public praise as well as material subsidy. In contrast, housing debate participants often imagine those who rent, or who default on their loan, as less fiscally responsible and less worthy of aid. |
