Customer Reviews

American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In this book, Samuel Huntington, who, whether one likes him or hates him has been one of the most commented upon political scientists of the last generation takes on American politics: their realities versus their illusions, promise versus practicalities. And on the whole, he is successful at raising issues: although the book is almost twenty years old, it has managed to stay surprisingly current and valid and still remains though provoking.

I'd reccomend this book to anyone interested in US politics or current affairs but especially to people on the liberal/Huntington-hating typically side of the spectrum, because after reading this book, one might become much more pro- this author. It's striking at times how much he seems like Howard Zinn, etc. in this particular book.....

This is an enduring and classic study of American politics. Professor Samuel Huntington (April 18, 1927 - December 24, 2008) had a gift for formulating concepts that clarify political history, and his Curriculum Vitae is replete with distinguished honors. He was a lifetime Political Science professor at Harvard, co-founder of Foreign Affairs, and had hands-on experience as a government advisor in numerous capacities over a period of many years.

Huntington held no "pendulum" theory of American politics. He does not expound the simplistic idea that political swings to the right will be balanced by swings to the left so that American politics will stabilize in the long run. There is, instead, a constant tension in American political life between the "ideal" and the "real." The ideal of egalitarian populism must co-exist with the real hierarchies necessary to manage systems of power in the business world as well in the national and international world.

A central theme that runs throughout this study is Huntington`s notion of "The American Creed." He avers that since the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries there has been a cultural consensus that may be described as "The American Creed:" "liberty, equality, individualism, democracy, and the rule of law under a constitution." In this rigorous study Huntington shows how the Founding Fathers accepted the conflict inherent in human nature, and built their system on it.

This review will not attempt to convey the many, many insights that Huntington brings to light in this highly readable analysis. Of note is his description of what happens when the "ideal" clashes with the hierarchies of the "real," and America goes through a period of "Creedal Passion." The bulk of the book is given over to an exposition of the history of such periods in America, what they mean, and how they are resolved within the dynamic of the American Creed.

In apt conclusion, Professor Huntington writes: "critics say that America is a lie because its reality falls so far short of its ideals. They are wrong. America is not a lie; it is a disappointment. But it can be a disappointment only because it is also a hope."

In his work American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony, Samuel Huntington shows the existence of a gap between the political ideal and the political reality in American politics. The scope the gap covers is, that a broad consensus exists in the United States on basic political values and beliefs. There also exists a changing intensity of these basic ideals, which varies from time to time, and from group to group. Huntington examines various paradigms within the political system, and focuses of the pros and cons of the "American Creed." Although the book was originally published in 1981, it is still relevant and thought provoking in today's political climate. A solid read, and highly recommended for those interested in political science or political culture.