1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910451627403321

Autore

McGowan John <1953->

Titolo

American liberalism [[electronic resource] ] : an interpretation for our time / / John McGowan

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Chapel Hill, : University of North Carolina Press, c2007

ISBN

0-8078-8507-X

0-8078-8508-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (282 p.)

Collana

H. Eugene & Lillian Youngs Lehman

Disciplina

320.510973

Soggetti

Liberalism - United States

Electronic books.

United States Politics and government 2001-2009

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

CONTENTS; INTRODUCTION: America at the Crossroads; BOOK ONE: LIBERALISM: PRINCIPLES AND VALUES; BOOK TWO: LIBERALISM'S CRITICS; BOOK THREE: HISTORICAL INTERLUDE; BOOK FOUR: DEMOCRACY; CONCLUSION: Liberal versus Illiberal Democracy; APPENDIX: Relevant Facts and Figures; Notes; Acknowledgments; Index;

Sommario/riassunto

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. In an engaging and informative discussion, McGowan offers a ringing endorsement of American liberalism's basic principles, values, and commitments. He explains that 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 ef