Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy [Hardcover]

Michael J. Sandel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674197445 | ISBN-13: 978-0674197442 | Publication Date: April 1, 1996 | Edition: 4th ptg.

The defect, Sandel maintains, lies in the impoverished vision of citizenship and community shared by Democrats and Republicans alike. American politics has lost its civic voice, leaving both liberals and conservatives unable to inspire the sense of community and civic engagement that self-government requires.

In search of a public philosophy adequate to our time, Sandel ranges across the American political experience, recalling the arguments of Jefferson and Hamilton, Lincoln and Douglas, Holmes and Brandeis, FDR and Reagan. He relates epic debates over slavery and industrial capitalism to contemporary controversies over the welfare state, religion, abortion, gay rights, and hate speech. Democracy's Discontent provides a new interpretation of the American political and constitutional tradition that offers hope of rejuvenating our civic life.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

American political discourse has become thin gruel because of a deliberate deflation of American ideals. So says Michael Sandel in a wonderful new book, Democracy's Discontent Sandel's book will help produce what he desires-a quickened sense of the moral consequences of political practices and economic arrangements Sandel is right to regret the missing moral dimension of public discourse. Or he was until recently. Suddenly politics has reacquired a decidedly Sandelean dimension. Political debate is reconnecting with the concerns Sandel so lucidly examines Statecraft is again soulcraft, and the citizens who will participate best, and with most zest, will be the fortunate readers of Sandel's splendid expansion of our rich political tradition.

From Kirkus Reviews

A wide-ranging critique of American liberalism that, unlike many other current books on the matter, seeks its restoration as a guiding political ethic. ``Despite the achievements of American life in the last half-century,'' political theorist Sandel (Harvard) writes, ``our politics is beset with anxiety and frustration.'' He suggests that the growing public mistrust in the federal government, whose manifestations range from the conservative sweep of Congress in the last election to the Oklahoma City bombing, can be addressed only by reevaluating the liberal assumption that ``government should be neutral on the question of the good life,'' and by putting in its place a social-democratic concern for the spiritual well-being of the citizenry. The ``utilitarian calculus'' of the past has helped preserve individual liberties, Sandel observes, but it finds little room for weighing the finer questions of morality in recommending action. (For instance, Sandel remarks, minimalist liberalism of the sort that is practiced today could scarcely find room for the antislavery arguments of the abolitionists a century and a half ago, relying as those arguments did on ``appeals to comprehensive moral ideals.'') This indifference to the character of the citizenry, Sandel adds, is not the province of liberalism alone; where liberals have defended abortion rights on the grounds that government has no place in moral issues, conservatives have likewise argued for laissez-faire economic policies, claiming ``government should be neutral toward the outcomes'' of a market economy. Sandel is strong on tracking the history of this value-neutralization of government; he is less successful in identifying the particulars of a practical yet value-laden ethic that can ``repair the civic life on which democracy depends'' while not trampling on anyone's liberties--one of the thorny dilemmas of current reformist politics. A book rich in ideas, if not in blueprints for action. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Belknap Press; 4th ptg. edition (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674197445
• ISBN-13: 978-0674197442
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #802,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at the University of Harvard. Sandel's legendary 'Justice' course is one of the most popular and influential at Harvard. In 2007, Harvard made Sandel's course available to alumni around the world through webstreaming and podcasting. Over 5,000 participants signed up, and Harvard Clubs from Mexico to Australia organized local discussion groups in connection with the course. In May 2007, Sandel delivered a series of lectures at major universities in China and he has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, Paris. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. Sandel is the author of many books and has previously written for the Atlantic Monthly, the New Republic and the New York Times. He was the 2009 BBC Reith Lecturer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, August 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy (Hardcover)

I found this book to be an interesting exploration of the evolution of American political values. Sandel argues that, over time, American political values have moved away from the political philosophy embedded in the Constitution. To illustrate his thesis, Sandel uses legal instances sucha as laws and legal judgements. This book was written by a lawyer, not a political scientist, so the methodology is different than in many books of a similar nature. It's prose is well written and accessable, without being over simplified. Overall, I found it to be interesting and informative.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alternative history of America's public philosophy, January 9, 2008

By 

Bradley M. Allan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy (Hardcover)

In "Democracy's Discotent," the brilliant political philosopher Michael Sandel provides an overview of American legal history, jurisprudence, visions of citizenship, and economic policymaking through the lens of civic republicanism.

In fact, Sandel argues, civic republicanism represents much more than a mere strand among many woven into the philosophical fabric of America's founding and perpetuation: civic republican traditions (like cultivating the virtue of citizens, seeking economic justice, and making substantive judgments on controversial moral and political issues) are at the *heart* of our republic, and were prominently so until only very recently.

Sandel traces the emergence of liberalism as the dominant American public philosophy to a cluster of recent Supreme Court decisions and market-based economic policies. In explaining how liberalism has come to define and dominate the terms of the debate in articulating an American public philosophy, Sandel is cogent and persuasive. His brand of civic republicanism is as insightful as his criticisms of Rawlsian liberalism in "Liberalism and the Limits of Justice" but with greater so-called "real world" applicability.

Sandel is a public intellectual of the first order and this is a fine book of American legal, economic, and philosophical history. Highly recommended for students of political science.

Other terrific books about the American founding and civic republicanism: "The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787" by Gordon Wood and "The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition" by J.G.A. Pocock.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive intro to 19th century American theaters, September 30, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: American Theaters: Performance Halls of the Nineteenth Century (Preservation Press Series) (Hardcover)

Well-written. Over 300 photos of historic American theaters located in all but six US states (with 18 pages in color). Buildings featured include town hall theaters, Western boom-town opera houses, library theaters, Chautauqua halls, and Grand Opera Houses. Readers will be surprised by the variety and beauty of many theaters in remote areas.