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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 [...]

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.

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

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 [...]

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]

DURING the past generation, there has been a dramatic expansion of legalized gambling. Beginning with New Hampshire in 1964, 37 states and the District of Columbia have instituted lotteries. As [...]

America is entering a great age of social entrepreneurship, rivaling the private organizational creativity of 100 years ago. The mid- to-late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the creation of [...]

One of the most remarkable recent events in American religious life has been the formation of what I call a 'traditionalist entente' linking theologically conservative or orthodox believers across ancient [...]

the states; or (4) when redistribution across state lines is essential to solve local problems. Where none of these circumstances exist, the federal government ought to phase out programs and [...]

The well-being of our nation's children is a prime responsibility of parents. Too many parents, however, are failing to discharge this responsibility because our society -- principally through public policies [...]

The liberal/conservative duality o our political system and process for too long has stalled constructive debate of meaningful social and systemic reform. By combining progressive thinking with traditional values of [...]

Is Democracy Possible Here? Principles for a New Political Debate Ronald Dworkin Princeton University Press, $19.95, 192 pp. Ronald Dworkin is a distinguished legal philosopher who also participates actively in [...]

There are two kinds of defeats in electoral politics. Some are expected, even felt to be inevitable (for example, Walter Mondale in 1984). Such losses are sad for the losers, [...]

Lifting Up the Poor A Dialogue on Religion, Poverty, and Welfare Mary Jo Bane and Lawrence M. Mead Brookings, $16.95, 179 pp. HAMLET: Good my lord, will you see the [...]

The formative mechanisms and mobilizing arenas of civic opportunity and their efforts to encourage political engagement such as civic education is highlighted. Civic knowledge plays an important role to promote democratic values and political participation as well as to alter one's opinion on specific issues.

JOHN Patrick Diggins doesn't fit neatly into the usual categories. He is pungently impatient with successive waves of academic radicalism--'Frankfurt School Marxism,' 'post-modernism,' 'civic republicanism,' 'multiculturalism,' and 'neopragmatism,' among others. [...]