The Character Of Nations: How Politics Makes And Breaks Prosperity, Family, And Civility [Hardcover]

Angelo Codevilla (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 1997

In the aftermath of the Cold war, people around the globe are reexamining and reinventing their political systems, conscious that political choices imply different ways of life. In this new cross-cultural study, Angelo M. Codevilla illustrates that as people shape their governments, they shape themselves. Drawing broadly from the sweep of history, from the Roman republic to de Tocqueville’s America, as well as from personal and scholarly observations of the world in the twentieth century, The Character of Nations reveals remarkable truths about the effects of government on a society’s economic arrangenments, moral order, sense of family life, and ability to defend itself.Codevilla argues that in present-day America government has had a profound negative effect on societal norms. It has taught people to seek prosperity through connections with political power; it has fostered the atrophy of civic responsibility; it has waged a Kulturkampf against family and religion; and it has dug a dangerous schasm between those who serve in the military and those who send it in harm’s way. Informative and provocative, The Character of Nations shows how the political decisions we make have higher stakes than simply who wins elections.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Proof that even the most promising topic can be drained of meaning by a heavy-handed ideological analysis. Codevilla (International Relations/Boston Univ.; Informing Statecraft, 1992) aspires to join the great tradition of thinkers who have explored the relationship between political regimes and the character of the governed. Unfortunately, he seeks to buttress convictions, rather than acquire knowledge. Having assumed, for example, the superiority of the two-parent, patriarchal family, he sets out to selectively mine human experience for anecdotes supporting his predetermined conclusions. While this effort degenerates into predictable rantings about contemporary American politics and culture, there is a sense in which Codevilla has succeeded in this volume. The problem confronting culture warriors is that their basic themes are so familiar, it is difficult to say anything new. But if each contribution to the attack on the hated liberal establishment is read as an entry in a contest to see who can construct the most outlandish straw man, then Codevilla is both competitive and entertaining. In his view, ``modern Western regimes are inherently enemies of families,'' perpetrating outrages such as eliminating ``laws that give married men advantages in competing for jobs.'' According to him, the US government has made abortion ``the most absolute right in the land'' and is ``responsible for the universities' uniform hostility to religion, to Western culture, and to America in general''--trends furthered by the fact that, with few exceptions outside the hard sciences, universities ``have hired only political leftists.'' His tendency to condemn absolutely, eliminating all nuance or complexity from social analysis, gives Codevilla an edge in the competition and should amuse readers who can appreciate his willingness to set reality aside in pursuit of seductive generalizations. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

In The Character of Nations, Angelo M. Codevilla, who teaches international relations at Boston University, sets out to show that different forms of government differently shape the lives of those who live under them, giving rise to distinctive habits in every realm from the economic, civic, and military to the familial and spiritual. The heart of the book is a critical examination of the United States, where the expanding reach of government, he argues, has undermined popular habits of self-reliance. As Codevilla rightly suggests, thoroughgoing change will come about only if and when our noxious elite culture passes from the scene. But the grip of that culture on the lives of Americans is already not quite so tight as Codevilla would have us believe. Just as the American people themselves cannot be wholly absolved of complicity in some of the developments he deplores, especially on the moral and cultural front, so the "regime" is susceptible of correction by movements he would applaud. When it comes to America, at least, not even the most persuasive theory about "the character of nations" is ever quite adequate to reality. -- Commentary, Daniel Casse

Mr. Codevilla's two arguments--against government activism and for government retrenchment--are eloquently presented in this book, and they are eminently plausible. Indeed, they have been a mainstay of conservatism for some time, and Mr. Codevilla restates them with considerable verve. Surprisingly, there are now signs that conservatives themselves are at odds with each other about whether both arguments really go together. The Character of Nations helps us to think about recent and, it seems, ever-widening fissures in the conservative movement. -- The Wall Street Journal, Andrew Stark

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1st edition (November 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465082203
• ISBN-13: 978-0465082209
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #579,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book should be read by every American citizen., July 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Character Of Nations: How Politics Makes And Breaks Prosperity, Family, And Civility (Hardcover)

Angelo Codevilla's The Character of Nations is at once a well-written, closely argued and thoroughly documented look at how today's United States of America has made almost a 180-degree turn from the USA of de Tocqueville's time. Codevilla is at his best when he shows the contrasts between what government frowned upon a generation ago, and that is now promoted by various government programs and agencies: "The contemporary American elites ... now enjoin actions once prohibited and prohibit actions once enjoined." Things that were considered too shameful even to discuss a generation ago are now held out as worthy of tolerance and often are deemed superior to more traditional aspects of Western culture.

This volume should be read alongside Thomas Sowell's excellent book, The Vision of the Anointed. Both books show how the failed palliatives proffered by Big Government have actually tended to exacerbate the problems they were designed to solve. I was especially troubled by the account of the Los Angeles riots, where "the police absented themselves for about twenty-four hours and left store owners to defend lives and property as best they could with their own weapons." Codevilla reports that the police then handcuffed and took away hapless store owners (many of them immigrants and minorities) who they found trying to protect their property. Increasingly, law-abiding citizens are being blamed for the increase of violence we are experiencing, and judges bend over backward to release convicted criminals back into the communities which had been their prey (but not, Codevilla notes, into the communities "where judges and court officials live").

The rise in convictions for "white collar crimes," along with seared consciences over the high rate of incarceration among Black males, has led to such anomalies as persons (and their employers) being tried and convicted of "sexual harassment" for doing little more than telling an off-color joke, while convicted rapis! ts are set free because the prisons are too crowded. Persons who try to ignore race in making decisions are called "racist" by others who want everything to be judged on the basis of a person's race, gender or class. Increasingly, ordinary citizens are intimidated by an atmosphere in which those who are "successful" in life are put down while those who are "oppressed" receive large doses of government support.

Although Codevilla's book is well-reasoned and documented, I doubt sincerely that it will change very many minds. The Republicans in Washington have been unable to stand up to thrashings administered by Senator Ted Kennedy when the Republicans do not support this or that expansion of the federal government's "village." Kennedy and other sycophants of the federal leviathan call their opponents "haters" and "enemies of women and children" when they oppose further extension of government powers.

In the meantime, Samuel Frances has noted that a government that is strong enough to defend every form of human depravity is also strong enough to punish those who work for a living and are motivated by a sincere belief in God and Country. If we were ever to have to fight a war like World War II, I doubt very much that we could survive. Who would be willing to risk life and limb to defend a country where their ways are vilified and "alternative lifestyles" are subsidized and promoted in our schools?

My guess is, not enough to field a sufficient fighting force. Codevilla quotes Mario Cuomo, who decried the gun-toting "hunters who drink beer, don't vote and lie to their wives about where they were all weekend." Remember, these are not criminals he is describing, but rather folks who work hard to make an honest living so they can support their families, while being required to shoulder an ever-increasing portion of the tax burden so that others who do not work can receive an after-tax income in excess of their own.

Codevilla h! as done a great service by showing how, historically, declines in civility and centralization of government power have destroyed once-great civilizations. Americans believe they are invincible. Some would argue that America is a "plum ripe for the picking."

I only hope that I am wrong in my belief that The Character of Nations will not change very many minds. Perhaps those who do read the book will be emboldened to speak up the next time someone impugns Western Democracy.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for understanding core values., January 14, 2005

By 

M. Conrad Hunter (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Character Of Nations: How Politics Makes And Breaks Prosperity, Family, And Civility (Hardcover)

Published in 1997, Dr. Codevilla's The Character of Nations is a prescient work that outlines the core values of a civil society. In the post 9-11 world it is necessary to stress the importance of understanding the distinct changes in the threat to U.S. security, and debunk the myths created and circulated by the ignorant and uninformed. Historically, we have viewed the threat to our national security as being associated with a government, linear in development, in accordance with well-understood rules of engagement, and an enemy whose tactics, weapons, and assets were relatively easy to detect and recognize.

Now we must consider the degree of threat from subversive domestic insurgencies disguised as special interests groups demanding `protection' via legal mandate. Striking at the very heart of morality and legality, domestic insurgent acts of self-interest such as those, which result in reverse discrimination, inequitable distribution of property, and sundry other self-serving interests are subversive to the very notion of the rule of law. "The hallmark of the politics and economics of tyranny is cronyism...Arguing about what interest group gets what is conducive neither to prosperity nor to civility...Nothing so affects economic life, civic life, or, for that matter, family and spiritual life as whether the rulers are bound by law or rule by discretion" Pp. 8-11. The Constitution provides for equitable and impartial treatment. Nowhere does it forecast a need for special protections of specific groups looking for social advancement and financial gain.

The good news is that there are a growing number of informed individuals, Dr. Codevilla included, that are willing to step forward and profess their understanding of the reality of our leniency towards sensitive issues that affect our national security for the sake of political expediency. The combined effect of "...who gets what, where, and how, and at whose expense, as well as questions about which classes of people are to be somehow `protected,' subsidized, or entitled, also naturally lead to combat" cannot be overlooked for their seriously damaging long-term ramifications for global political and economic stability and ultimately US security.

This is the best book for those ready to step-up-to-the-plate, and campaign for change that really matters in the fight for freedom.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A review of a review, June 10, 2009

By 

Douglas K. Pinner (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Character of Nations: How Politics Makes and Breaks Prosperity, Family, and Civility (Paperback)

I read this book some years ago and was happy to see its republication as it is a clear exposition of the now politically incorrect thesis of cultural,moral and resultant nationalistic differences between nations and groups as opposed to the numbing and leveling moral and cultural equivalences that has become cant for the left.And ,voila,there it is expressed so well in the witless Kirkus review which I usually ignore.I have a rule of thumb in rejecting any book reviewed only by Kirkus and the Library journal(That's all they could get?? Geez). Try this rule ,it works.As I recall ,I would give the book 5 stars . I would give the Kirkus review 5 stars for pc predictability. Talk about "lack of nuance"!!!