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Statecraft As Soulcraft: What Government Does Hardcover – June 1, 1983

by George F. Will (Author)

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The conservative thinker and columnist reflects on the fundamental beliefs of American political theory, questioning the sufficiency of the principle of competing self-interests as a basis for society and arguing for a more broadly based interpretation of the role of government

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Product details

Hardcover: 186 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (June 1, 1983)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0671427334
ISBN-13: 978-0671427337
Package Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 11 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,435,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9897 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Political Science > History & Theory

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Samuel J. Sharp

Conservative Governance

January 8, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

"Statecraft as Soulcraft" is George Will's statement of proper conservative governance. Will argues that conservatives, rather than deriding or seeking to enfeeble government, should endeavor to strengthen government's role in shaping and protecting the values that underlie our republican form of government. Will, writing in 1983, states that, "it is time for a conservative counterattack, in law and culture and elsewhere, in the name of those forms of excellence which, as the Founders said, a free society especially presupposes." (p. 90). It is wrong according to Will to pretend that the state does not express value judgments when it acts to pass or enforce laws. Given that all acts of government express value judgments, conservatives should enunciate their values and act to inculcate those to the citizenry.

Will admits that his vision may appear to share traits with totalitarianism, but he argues that whereas totalitarianism seeks to draw power to the state, his vision tasks private, local, voluntary associations with the work of soulcraft. "Conservative soulcraft has as its aim the perpetuation of free government by nurturing people so they can be comfortable and competent in society. . . . It is to maintain the basis of government that is itself governed by the best in a 2,500 year legacy of thought and action-social arrangements known to be right because of what is known about human nature." (p. 145). This Burkean deference to experience renders the state's work easy; it need not create new values, only to legislate in accord with, and to encourage those values which we know to be necessary to a functioning free society.

Will's book is a direct challenge to conservatives. While not altogether persuasive, it is worthy of a read and reflection. Conservatives have decidedly not come around to his argument that the business of government is more than business, that conservative governance should strive to grow citizens, not just an economy. Even so, the civic decline that Will identifies continues on.

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George Bogdan

Tackles an important and neglected topic - civic culture and citzenship

April 20, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very interesting book on the duty of elites to promote a sense of public duty and civic culture. We no longer discuss what citizenship means and what it means to be a good citizen. We should, and Will's book can stimulate our minds in that endeavor.

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November 19, 2016

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Albert Jablonski

George Will' s Brilliant Analysis of Statesmanship

July 1, 2013

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George Will again exhibits his keen analytical ability and backs it up historical citations to present a solid case of what we should be demanding from our political leaders.

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Elinor

Its politics for those who want to retain their soul

January 26, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

In a way, this book is for those who once believed politics was made in the likeness of Mr Smith goes to Washington. When Washington still had a soul. If you would like to see how politics has been corrupted, from the noble people we once believed those in government service once were. Than this book will help restore your belief that at least this man still believes in what once was.

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October 12, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

George Will is a brilliant man but his big flaw is his tendency to use big words strung together for effect rather than communication. The best writing emphasizes the use of simpler words, reserving the specialized words for special applications.Will tends to write more to impress than to communicate. As a consequence, he actually reduces his effectiveness.

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Eric Mayforth

What Should Government's Role Be?

March 27, 2009

Format: Paperback

What is government for? That is the issue that political columnist George Will takes up in this treatise.

Will argues against the libertarian notion that government is merely an instrument of coercion. He asserts that politics is about much more than economic issues, and decries the recent trend of political discussions becoming more and more about economic concerns and less and less about concern for values--Will believes that government should be concerned about the inner lives of its citizens.

The book discusses how the Founding Fathers sought to limit tyranny--by separation of powers and checks and balances. They also sought to ensure that society would have a "multiplicity of factions" that would produce continually shifting governing coalitions, so that no one faction would permanently exercise tyrannical power over all other factions.

The author discusses the difference between big government, which we have today, and strong government. He makes a conservative case for the fundamentals of the welfare state, stating that such a welfare state must support rather than disintegrate families. Will does not say just how large such a welfare state should be, but a "statecraft as soulcraft" government that the author calls for, one that is concerned about the inner life of its citizens, must make CERTAIN that the nation does not end up with the type of overbloated welfare state (such as the one the U.S. enacted in the mid-1960s) that strongly encourages the citizenry to engage in the very type of irresponsible behavior that is at fierce loggerheads with the "statecraft as soulcraft" model.

Most present-day American conservatives will not agree with all of the conclusions that Will reaches, but this book is a worthwhile read in that it encourages conservatives to think through just what the proper role of government is.

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