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By the end of World War II, nationalism had been thoroughly discredited. Critics charged that national self-interest had prevented democratic governments from cooperating to end the Great Depression, and that [...]

For the partisans of liberal democracy, these are trying times. The triumphalism of the years after the collapse of communism has given way to deep concern. The belief that history [...]

THE CURRENT CONGRESS-THE 111TH-IS THE most ideologically polarized in modern history. In both the House and the Senate, the most conservative Democrat is more liberal than is the most liberal [...]

Introduction This report reflects the collaborative effort of a unique group. The Brookings-Duke Immigration Policy Roundtable is a disparate gathering of twenty individuals with different experiences and perspectives: think tank [...]

The essays in this special issue present and develop several important themes in the examination of ethical presidential leadership. These include the distinction(s) between public and private virtues; the ways in which America's history and democratic ethos shape the 'constitutional character' required of its chief executive; the complications in the assessment of presidential leadership posed by the multidimensional character of the presidential office and by the variety of challenges that the president confronts; and the different and often divergent sources of democratic legitimacy, including responsiveness to the electorate, guidance by one's own judgment of its interests, and fidelity to one's core convictions., I begin these reflections on the preceding essays on a note of ethical realism, or at least caution. All human beings are morally flawed, and the practice of politics puts [...]

ONE OF THE PUZZLES OF OUR AGE IS WHY AMERICANS distrust their own government so deeply. Against the inescapable and well-publicized cases of failure by the federal government must be [...]

While Isaiah Berlin considered himself principally as a political theorist in the liberal tradition, his was an unorthodox liberalism in both method and substance, rooted in the confluence of three traditions--British, Russian, and Jewish. Unlike many liberals, he wrestled with the tension between universalism and particularism, and also between individualism and communalities. He rejected all monistic approaches to morality (including liberal monism) but repudiated as well the moral relativism of much modern thought, espousing instead value pluralism. While we cannot arrive at a universally valid conception of the summum bonum, we can specify the summun malum--the great evils of the human condition. Berlin saw political theory as a branch of moral philosophy but drew political morality from political life rather than imposing it on politics. The range of goods and principles that human beings rightly prize cannot be combined into harmonious wholes in either our individual or collective existence. Some goods exclude others, and we must choose among them.

Writing in 2006, Michael Tomasky--a well-known liberal intellectual and former editor of The American Prospect--created a stir by urging the Democratic Party to embrace a politics of the common good. [...]

In recent decades, many indicators of civic involvement in the United States have declined. The decline is political engagement has been especially pronounced, although signs of renewed interest evident in the 2006 elections may represent a reversal of long-established trends. Trust in government and most major social institutions remains low, although young adults seem somewhat more favorably disposed than others to the public sector. While volunteering is up, charitable contributions have fallen as a percentage of GDP. Despite large increases in formal education, measures of political knowledge have remained flat for decades. Renewed attention to civic education may help moderate some of these adverse developments. Keywords: civic education, civic engagement, civic knowledge, political participation, social capital

As recently as a century ago, the forms of government known in classical antiquity--empire, monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, and mixed regimes--still existed. Moreover, people regarded them as legitimate. However, in the [...]

George W. Bush's second inaugural address, with its sweeping rhetoric about the spread of freedom abroad and at home, sparked strong but varied reactions. Most of the president's conservative supporters [...]

Anxiety about the civic attitudes and activities of young adults in America is nothing new, and its persistence is easy to understand. As far back as evidence can be found--and [...]

IN the wake of September 11, the United States has undertaken a range of new and expanded military commitments, especially in Central Asia and the Middle East. The military occupation [...]

SEVERAL slow-moving but massive changes in American society over the past generation have reconfigured the fault-lines of American politics. Two of these changes--the impact of family structure and religion--are well [...]

MOST every aspect of life in the modern state is exposed to laws and regulations, many of which can have the effect of restricting the free exercise of religion. This [...]

DESPITE my disagreement with some of its specific conclusions and recommendations, I have come to praise the report of the President's Council on Bioethics, not to bury it. The report [...]

THEDA Skocpol is a distinguished sociologist and political scientist who has served as president of the Social Science History Association and the American Political Science Association. While her early work [...]

The question of the hour is whether Islamic fundamentalism can be compatible with democracy. Though important, that question is subordinate to another: whether Islamic fundamentalism can make its peace with [...]

WHILE the fall of the Berlin wall and collapse of the Soviet Union have relegated George Orwell's 1984 to history's dustbin, the other great dystopian tract of the twentieth century, [...]

It is important to consider the relevance of Alexis de Tocqueville's discussion of voluntary associations in 'Democracy in America' for modern politics. A key issue is Tocqueville's emphasis on the danger represented by freedom of political association, or by its misuse. Tocqueville presents an insight into the empirical conditions under which it can be expected that parties or factions will act as sources of appropriate democratic opposition, rather than being revolutionary dangers to the regime. He argues that the social repercussions of egalitarianism necessitate the formation of voluntary associations. He believes that, in modern democratic societies, the principle of self-interest will inevitably determine human action.

The concept of liberal community which espouses an increase in individual responsibility could dissipate the major problems of American society such as economic anxiety and the disintegration of social institutions. Moreover, it promotes solidarity without sacrificing individual rights., What is 'public philosophy'? To begin, public philosophy should be understood in contradistinction to the classical conception of a 'universal' or 'perennial' philosophy that is addressed to all human beings [...]

In 1996, President Bill Clinton proclaimed that the era of big government was over. It is now clear that the era of the end of big government is over. The [...]

Alan Wolfe has long been one of America's ablest sociologists. With his latest book, he emerges as one of our most important public intellectuals as well. In two years spent [...]

As concerns about the economy have faded in 1996, crime has emerged as one of the dominant political issues. To some, this may seem puzzling. After years of partisan wrangling, [...]

As concerns about the economy have faded in 1996, crime has emerged as one of the dominant political issues. To some, this may seem puzzling. After years of partisan wrangling, [...]

WILLIAM A. GALSTON In From Parchment to Power,(*) the eminent constitutional scholar Robert Goldwin has given us the first full narrative of the creation and adoption of the Bill of [...]

The publication of Robert Putnam's 'Bowling Alone' in 1995 sparked a vigorous but often murky debate about America's civic condition. Some of the confession arose from the inconclusiveness of the [...]

With the collapse of communism, and of confidence in command economies, a century-long debate has ended. Markets are now regarded, almost universally, as the principal source of the wealth of [...]

What can government do, if anything, to make sure that the overwhelming majority of American children grow up with a mother and father?' Policy Review asked a number of family [...]

James and Janne Hayes were married in 1941 as 19-year-old college students. They had four children. With one brief exception, Janne Hayes never worked outside the home. After 25 years [...]