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

by Michael J. Sandel

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674197445
• ISBN13: 9780674197442
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Length: 417 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.7" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Well Written Presentation of Communitarian Philosophy

Sandel provides a clear and enjoyable presentation of the communitarian version of republican political philosophy. Unfortunately, rather than offer a positive method by which the tradition of civic republicanism can be revived, this book merely presents a criticism of modern liberalism. I recommend as a companion read: Debating Democracy's Discontent: Essays on American Politics, Law, and Public Philosophy

Sandel Democracy's Discontent

Sandel is an excellent theorist who offered brilliant analysis of 19th and 20th Century administrative developments in U.S. history. I learned a lot! The academic work's shelf life can also serve as potential resource backgrounders when or as needed.

Alternative history of America's public philosophy

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.

Inspiring a new civic political dialogue

Michael J. Sandel's book, Democracy's Discontent, is a thought-provoking journey into the depths of America's democratic consciousness. Its solution of recognizing our multiplicity of identities by dispersing sovereignty seems a promising and novel alternative to counteract the degradation of democracy caused by the global economy. This book is a must-read for any students of political philosophy since it offers keen insights into the necessity of a public political dialogue. I strongly recommend Democracy's Discontent.

Interesting

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.