Civics, Participation & Pluralism in Democracies, Community Organizing, Political Activism & Social Action, Liberalism & Conservatism, U.S. Politics - Public Affairs & Administration, U.S. Politics & Government - General & Miscellaneous
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Overview
Two conflicting ideals animate American political debate: our rights as individuals and our responsibilities as members of society. From both conservatives and liberals we hear arguments for extremes of unrestrained individualism and suffocating statism. Do we all have the right to behave as we please, or must morality be legislated in the interests of the community? Should we be left on our own to succeed or fail financially, or should government shield us from risk (and control our pocketbooks)? In this penetrating book, A. Lawrence Chickering describes the breakdown in dialogue that underlies the crisis in American politics. Surveying major domestic concerns - economic justice, racial and sexual equality, protection of the environment - Chickering concludes that no effective response to these and other issues is possible until we resolve the larger dilemma of how to reconcile rights and responsibilities, freedom and order. Chickering faults both Republicans and Democrats for their preoccupation with the politics of the centralized state. Washington-based politics, he argues, has become hopelessly disputatious, corrupt, and remote from the concerns of America's people. It is "politics on the cheap," endless tinkering with the machine of centralized government, incapable of satisfying Americans' pervasive yearning for a society that inspires their willing and enthusiastic participation. How can we make politics work again? Beyond the tired programs of the left and right lies another option: a more consensual politics, built on self-governing institutions at the local and regional levels. Such institutions would empower citizens to work for the larger public good in all important areas of their lives. Beyond Left and Right introduces us to a new coalition of conservatives and liberals that is striving to build self-governing communities, especially in the stricken inner cities. This movement is strongly evident in efforts to reform education and low-income housEditorials
Publishers Weekly -
Arguing that ``our obsession with rights'' overwhelms any thought of collective obligations, Chickering, a Jack Kemp-style conservative and founder of the International Center for Economic Growth in San Francisco, muses provocatively on the paucity of American political debate. He thoughtfully opines that both conservatism and liberalism are riven by conflict over freedom and order, and that capitalism and socialism are complementary, not conflicting. He suggests that political discourse has sometimes degenerated into ``codependency''--e.g., blaming drug dealers for the drug crisis ``militates against the assumption of personal responsibility that is crucial for rehabilitation.'' However, although Chickering asserts early in the book that a renewed politics must engage local, self-governing institutions, his own proposals for such innovations as public school voucher systems or tenant management of public housing remain thin. (July)Joe Collins
Chickering's fair and in-depth look at the struggle between conservatives and liberals in the U.S. today draws some interesting conclusions about the battle for political dominance. His book focuses on the center--that vast majority of Americans who are fiscal conservatives but social liberals and sway back and forth throughout the decades. Before the 1960s, most people did not get as volatile about their beliefs as we do nowadays, and despite the author's general disdain for the 1960s, he compares the decade to the Renaissance period in Italy as a time when people started to question existing rules and authority much more than they did before. Chickering is good at pointing out the problems with knee-jerk reactions: he takes liberals to task for advocating "too much government," but admonishes the right for failing to offer real alternatives to overgoverning. He readily acknowledges that the "raison d'etre" of both the Democratic and Republican parties is self-perpetuation (read: re-election.) Finally, in a section touching all-too-briefly on current issues (abortion, race relations, and the economy), Chickering promotes a good middle ground for each, offering as good a place to start as any for breaking the political stalemate.Book Details
Published
July 1, 1993
Publisher
Ics Pr
Pages
221
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781558152090