Reconsidering American Liberalism

In a survey of American political thought unrivaled in its breadth, Young gives voice not just to Locke, Jefferson, and Madison but also to Rawls, Shklar, Kateb, Wolin, and Walzer. To the problems facing Lincoln and Dewey, he brings modern feminism, multiculturalism, postmodernism, and the current conservative backlash. Broadly informed, scrupulously fair, and marvelously clear, Reconsidering American Liberalism is a tour de force of historical exposition and contemporary analysis as well as significant contribution to the future of liberal thought.

James Young

Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Role of Liberalism in American Politics -- The Ambiguous Legacy of Puritanism -- John Locke and the Theory of Liberal Constitutionalism -- Liberalism, Republicanism, and Revolution -- Liberalism, Republicanism, and the Constitution -- Defining the Constitutional Text and the Emergence of Party Politics -- Some Notes on Jacksonian Democracy -- Abolition and the Crisis of Liberalism -- Laissez-Faire Conservatism and the Legitimation of Corporate Capitalism -- The Dilemmas of Populist Reform -- The Problem of Progressivism -- The New Deal and the Apotheosis of Reform -- Liberalism in Search of New Directions -- Race, Gender, Difference, and Equality -- Liberalism in Retreat: The Conservative Critique -- Rights-Based Liberalism -- Problems of Liberalism: Rights, Economy, Community, and the State -- Conclusion