TWILIGHT OF AUTHORITY (Paperback)

~ ROBERT NISBET (Author)

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"We had thought, or our forefathers had, that modern liberal democracy would be spared the kind of erosion and decay that both Plato and Aristotle declared endemic in all forms of state. Now we are not so sure. Robert Nisbet

Product Description

Nisbet argues that the political community in the West has broken down after two centuries of ascendancy. He believes that the West has entered 'a twilight age' that will be characterised by political and cultural crises similar to those that preceded the fall of Rome. He foresees the displacement of traditional, liberal society by centralised, collectivised power -- what he terms 'the war society', driven by the rising power and expense of a hugely scaled military. Nisbet offers no prophecy of inevitable decline; rather, he means to call attention to: the problem of finding the means of generating a social order within which the individual can live and derive a spirit of initiative.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 278 pages
• Publisher: Liberty Fund Inc. (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865972125
• ISBN-13: 978-0865972124
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #548,269 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, As Expected, March 3, 2002

By	Steve Jackson "stevejackson100atyahoocom" (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Twilight of Authority (Galaxy Books) (Paperback)

Robert Nisbet was without a doubt one of the most creative and original thinkers in recent memory. His expertise was in sociology, but his works concerned history, politics and, more broadly, what might be called the history of ideas.

In 1975 - at the end of the Watergate Era - Nisbet came out with the TWILIGHT OF AUTHORITY, a work which contained for the most part material published in journals from 1969-1974. These were crucial times in American history, and Nisbet's perspective is invaluable.

As Nisbet indicates, modern society is marked by the expansion of the state and the decline in intermediary institutions. As government gets bigger, it becomes more corrupt. Lies became a way of life. Contrary to some conservatives, Nisbet didn't see Watergate is a minor scandal blown out of proportion by the leftist media. More than anything it showed how corrupt and venial government had become. It's now often forgotten how Americans were shocked at the vulgar language on the Nixon tapes. Of course, as Nisbet says, Kennedy and Johnson paved the way for Nixon. As government gets bigger, intermediate institutions get less powerful and lose influence over people's lives.

As usual, Nisbet is illuminating on any topic with which he deals. For example: the self-destruction of the Roman Catholic Church at Vatican II, the relationship between war and democracy, the decline in influence of the university, the takeover of science by the state, and even popular culture.

This edition contains an excellent introduction by Prof. R. Perrin. Unfortunately, it doesn't contain an index.