American Liberalism: An Interpretation for Our Time (H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series) - Softcover

McGowan, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080788507X ISBN 13: 9780807885079

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2009

Synopsis

Americans live in a liberal democracy. Yet, although democracy is widely touted today, liberalism is scorned by both the right and the left. The United States stands poised between its liberal democratic tradition and the illiberal alternatives of liberalism’s critics. John McGowan argues that Americans should think twice before jettisoning the liberalism that guided American politics from James Madison to the New Deal and the Great Society.

In an engaging and informative discussion, McGowan offers a ringing endorsement of American liberalism’s basic principles, values, and commitments. He identifies five tenets of liberalism: a commitment to liberty and equality, trust in a constitutionally established rule of law, a conviction that modern societies are irreducibly plural, the promotion of a diverse civil society, and a reliance on public debate and deliberation to influence others' opinions and actions.

McGowan explains how America’s founders rejected the simplistic notion that government or society is necessarily oppressive. They were, however, acutely aware of the danger of tyranny. The liberalism of the founders distributed power widely in order to limit the power any one entity could exercise over others. Their aim was to provide for all an effective freedom that combined the right to self-determination with the ability to achieve one’s self-chosen goals. In tracing this history, McGowan offers a clear vision of liberalism’s foundational values as America’s best guarantee today of liberty and the peace in which to exercise it.

About this title

About the Author

John McGowan is Ruel W. Tyson Jr. Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is author of four other books and an editor of the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.

From the Back Cover

What are the basic values and commitments of American liberals? John McGowan sets out to answer that question in this lively and provocative book. Tracing a tradition that extends from James Madison through Franklin Delano Roosevelt to today, McGowan emphasizes liberalism's distribution of power throughout society in order to secure freedom and equality. By presenting the history of the much-contested values of freedom, equality, and social justice, McGowan offers a clear vision of liberalism's ambitious and inspiring vision for these United States.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080788507X
• ISBN 13: 9780807885079
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 564