Marshalling historical materials to make a descriptive argument in social theory, this wide-ranging book compares the liberal revolution in France to the liberal revolutions in England and America and argues that the causes and outcomes of these upheavals were decisive in shaping later patterns of politics. "Conflict is the stuff of politics," writes Anne Sa'adah, and liberal politics, because of its emphasis on the individual and its legitimation of self-interest, complicates the task of creating political community in a particularly interesting way. In England and America, the tension between conflict and community was resolved in a manner consistent with political stability. In France, the tension produced an instability that has surfaced periodically throughout subsequent French history. Why this is so is the subject of a work that treats the making of the modern political world in an unusually systematic way.

In France, England, and America, the relationship of the state to society under the prerevolutionary regime limited revolutionary options. Sa'adah focuses on how this relationship created a politics of exclusion in France, while allowing a politics of transaction in England and America.

Originally published in 1990.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Western societies are suffering from a multi-faceted political and economic crisis to which traditional ideologies of the Left and Right no longer offer viable solutions.

This book advocates as an alternative 'associative democracy'. Far from being a utopian idea, it offers new forms of economic and social governance as supplements to representative democracy and market economies. Associative democracy addresses the problems of the overload of big government by democratizing and empowering civil society. It transfers social provision to self-governing voluntary associations, whilst retaining public funding and political accountability. It 'publicises' civil society, placing political responsibility and governmental tasks in the hands of citizens. Accountable government becomes possible because service performance and public control are separated. In the economic sphere it advocates regional economic regulation through public-private partnerships, the promotion of self-governing industrial districts, and the democratization of the firm.

In this way, Hirst argues, public regulation can be made less remote, promoting the growth of relationships based on co-operation and trust and, therefore, ensuring those flows of information and commitment on the part of actors necessary to the pursuit of "quality" in market economies.

This book is highly distinctive in the way it combines political theory with social analysis and political advocacy. It forms an outstanding contribution to contemporary political discussion.

The Practice of Liberal Pluralism defends a theory, liberal pluralism, which is based on three core concepts - value pluralism, political pluralism, and expressive liberty - and explores the implications of this theory for politics. Liberal pluralism helps clarify some of the complexities of real-world political action and points toward a distinctive conception of public philosophy and public policy. It leads to a vision of a good society in which political institutions are active in a delimited sphere and in which, within broad limits, families, civil associations, and faith communities may organize and conduct themselves in ways that are not congruent with principles that govern the public sphere. The final section of the book defends liberal pluralism against attacks that it is internally incoherent or that it denies, without justification, key theological premises. Written in a nontechnical style, this book should appeal to professionals in philosophy, political science, law, and policy making.

Countries throughout the world are grappling with the practical and moral issues raised by increasing numbers of refugees. Matthew Gibney's book asks how Western countries should respond to the claims of refugees who arrive on their territory, and relates the question to wider issues surrounding immigration, citizenship and the responsibilities of democracies. Examining policy in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia, this book offers an important contribution to a highly topical subject.

Does fair political representation for historically disadvantaged groups require their presence in legislative bodies? The intuition that women are best represented by women, and African-Americans by other African-Americans, has deep historical roots. Yet the conception of fair representation that prevails in American political culture and jurisprudence--what Melissa Williams calls "liberal representation"--concludes that the social identity of legislative representatives does not bear on their quality as representatives. Liberal representation's slogan, "one person, one vote," concludes that the outcome of the electoral and legislative process is fair, whatever it happens to be, so long as no voter is systematically excluded. Challenging this notion, Williams maintains that fair representation is powerfully affected by the identity of legislators and whether some of them are actually members of the historically marginalized groups that are most in need of protection in our society.

Williams argues first that the distinctive voice of these groups should be audible within the legislative process. Second, she holds that the self-representation of these groups is necessary to sustain their trust in democratic institutions. The memory of state-sponsored discrimination against these groups, together with ongoing patterns of inequality along group lines, provides both a reason to recognize group claims and a way of distinguishing stronger from weaker claims. The book closes by proposing institutions that can secure fair representation for marginalized groups without compromising principles of democratic freedom and equality.

Since the nineteenth century, Greek financial and economic crises have been an enduring problem, most recently engulfing the European Union and EU member states. The latest crisis, beginning in 2010, has been - and continues to be - a headline news story across the continent. With a radically different approach and methodology, this anthropological study brings new insights to our understanding of the Greek crises by combining historical material from before and after the nineteenth century War of Independence with extensive longitudinal ethnographic research. The ethnography covers two distinct periods - the 1980s and the current crisis years - and compares Mystras and Kefala, two villages in southern Greece, each of which has responded quite differently to economic circumstances. Analysis of this divergence highlights the book's central point that an ideology of aspiration to work in the public sector, pervasive in Greek society since the nineteenth century, has been a major contributor to Greece's problematic economic development. Shedding new light on previously under-researched anthropological and sociological aspects of the Greek economic crisis, this book will be essential reading for economists, anthropologists and historians.

This book discusses the justifications and limits of cultural nationalism from a liberal perspective. Chaim Gans presents a normative typology of nationalist ideologies, distinguishing between cultural liberal nationalism and statist liberal nationalism. Statist nationalisms argue that states have an interest in the cultural homogeneity of their citizenries. Cultural nationalisms argue that people have interests in adhering to their cultures (the adherence thesis) and in sustaining these cultures for generations (the historic thesis). Gans argues that freedom- and identity-based justifications for cultural nationalism common in literature can only support the adherence thesis, while the historical thesis could only be justified by the interest people have in the long-term endurance of their personal and group endeavors. The Limits of Nationalism examines demands often made in the name of cultural nationalism, such as claims for national self-determination, historical rights claims to territories and demands entailedby cultural particularism as opposed to cultural cosmopolitanism.

Sylvia Chan examines the claim that liberal democracy on the Western model is the paradigm to which developing countries should aspire to provide good governance and economic success. The success of some countries, notably in Asia, which do not conform to that model has led many to question that link. Chan argues that these successful developing nations have enjoyed the economic and social liberties necessary to encourage economic development, without the need to adopt the formal democratic institutions and cultural values of the West.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was England's greatest revolutionary: no other reformer was as actively involved in events of the scale of the American and French Revolutions, and none wrote such best-selling texts with the impact of Common Sense and Rights of Man. No one else combined the roles of activist and theorist, or did so in the 'age of revolutions', fundamental as it was to the emergence of the 'modern world'. But his fame meant that he was taken up and reinterpreted for current use by successive later commentators and politicians, so that the 'historic Paine' was too often obscured by the 'usable Paine'. J. C. D. Clark explains Paine against a revised background of early- and mid-eighteenth-century England. He argues that Paine knew and learned less about events in America and France than was once thought. He de-attributes a number of publications, and passages, hitherto assumed to have been Paine's own, and detaches him from a number of causes (including anti-slavery, women's emancipation, and class action) with which he was once associated. Paine's formerly obvious association with the early origin and long-term triumph of natural rights, republicanism, and democracy needs to be rethought. As a result, Professor Clark offers a picture of radical and reforming movements as more indebted to the initiatives of large numbers of men and women in fast-evolving situations than to the writings of a few individuals who framed lasting, and eventually triumphant, political discourses.

William Galston is a distinguished political philosopher whose work is informed by the experience of having served from 1993-1995 as President Clinton's Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy. Isaiah Berlin first advanced the moral theory of value pluralism in the 1950s and it subsequently was developed by a number of distinguisthed scholars, including Galston. In Liberal Pluralism, Galston defends a version of value pluralism for political theory and practice. Against the contentions of John Gray and others, Galston argues that value pluralism undergirds a kind of liberal politics that gives great weight to the ability of individuals and groups to live their lives in accordance with their deepest beliefs about what gives meaning and purpose to life. This account of liberal pluralism is shown to have important implications for political deliberation and decision-making, for the design of public institutions, and for the division of legitimate authority among government, religious institutions, civil society, parents and families, and individuals. Liberal pluralism leads to a vision of a good society in which political institutions are active in a limited sphere and in which, within broad limits, families and civil associations may organize and conduct themselves in ways that are not congruent with the principles that govern the public sphere. William Galston is Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland and Director at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. He is the author of Liberal Purposes (Cambridge, 1991), which won the Spitz Prize. Galston's other books include Justice and the Human Good (Chicago, 1980) and IKant and the Problem of History (Chicago, 1975). He is also a Senior Advisor to the Democratic Leadership Council and the Progressive Policy Institute.

Colin Bird mounts a powerful and original challenge to the traditional view that the ideas associated with the liberal political tradition--the meaning of political freedom, the notion of inviolable human rights, the idea of privacy--cohere around an "individualist" conception of the relation among individuals, society and the state. He argues that by taking this conception for granted, theorists have exaggerated the unity and integrity of liberal political ideals, and limited our perception of the issues they raise.

Neoliberalism - the doctrine that market exchange is an ethic in itself, capable of acting as a guide for all human action - has become dominant in both thought and practice throughout much of the world since 1970 or so. Its spread has depended upon a reconstitution of state powers such that privatization, finance, and market processes are emphasized. State interventions in the economy are minimized, while the obligations of the state to provide for the welfare of its citizens are diminished. David Harvey, author of 'The New Imperialism' and 'The Condition of Postmodernity', here tells the political-economic story of where neoliberalization came from and how it proliferated on the world stage. While Thatcher and Reagan are often cited as primary authors of this neoliberal turn, Harvey shows how a complex of forces, from Chile to China and from New York City to Mexico City, have also played their part. In addition he explores the continuities and contrasts between neoliberalism of the Clinton sort and the recent turn towards neoconservative imperialism of George W. Bush. Finally, through critical engagement with this history, Harvey constructs a framework not only for analyzing the political and economic dangers that now surround us, but also for assessing the prospects for the more socially just alternatives being advocated by many oppositional movements.

The levellers were a crucial component of a radically democratic movement that came together during the English civil wars. Much leveller activity occurred in print and their texts now form an important part of the liberal and social democratic canon. This edition contains an introduction by the editor that sets the leveller ideas in their context and, together with a chronology and short biographies of the leading figures, is essential reading for students of the English civil wars and the history of political thought.

Lienesch shows that what emerged from the period of change was an inconsistent combination of political theories. The mixture of classical republicanism and modern liberalism was institutionalized in the American Constitution and has continued--ambivalent, contradictory, and sometimes flatly paradoxical--to characterize American politics ever since.

Originally published in 1990.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Sharpening the debate over the values that formed America's founding political philosophy, Barry Alan Shain challenges us to reconsider what early Americans meant when they used such basic political concepts as the public good, liberty, and slavery. We have too readily assumed, he argues, that eighteenth-century Americans understood these and other terms in an individualistic manner. However, by exploring how these core elements of their political thought were employed in Revolutionary-era sermons, public documents, newspaper editorials, and political pamphlets, Shain reveals a very different understanding--one based on a reformed Protestant communalism.

In this context, individual liberty was the freedom to order one's life in accord with the demanding ethical standards found in Scripture and confirmed by reason. This was in keeping with Americans' widespread acceptance of original sin and the related assumption that a well-lived life was only possible in a tightly knit, intrusive community made up of families, congregations, and local government bodies. Shain concludes that Revolutionary-era Americans defended a Protestant communal vision of human flourishing that stands in stark opposition to contemporary liberal individualism. This overlooked component of the American political inheritance, he further suggests, demands examination because it alters the historical ground upon which contemporary political alternatives often seek legitimation, and it facilitates our understanding of much of American history and of the foundational language still used in authoritative political documents.

Has contemporary liberalism's devotion to individual liberty come at the expense of our society's obligations to children? Divorce is now easy to obtain, and access to everything from violent movies to sexually explicit material is zealously protected as freedom of speech. But what of the effects on the young, with their special needs and vulnerabilities? "Freedom's Orphans" seeks a way out of this predicament. Poised to ignite fierce debate within and beyond academia, it documents the increasing indifference of liberal theorists and jurists to what were long deemed core elements of children's welfare.

Evaluating large changes in liberal political theory and jurisprudence, particularly American liberalism after the Second World War, David Tubbs argues that the expansion of rights for adults has come at a high and generally unnoticed cost. In championing new "lifestyle" freedoms, liberal theorists and jurists have ignored, forgotten, or discounted the competing interests of children.

To substantiate his arguments, Tubbs reviews important currents of liberal thought, including the ideas of Isaiah Berlin, Ronald Dworkin, and Susan Moller Okin. He also analyzes three key developments in American civil liberties: the emergence of the "right to privacy" in sexual and reproductive matters; the abandonment of the traditional standard for obscenity prosecutions; and the gradual acceptance of the doctrine of "strict separation" between religion and public life.

One of our most brilliant public intellectuals, Paul Berman has spent his career writing on revolutionary movements and their totalitarian aspects. Here he argues that, in the terror war, we are not facing a battle of the West against Islam a clash of civilizations. We are facing, instead, the same battle that tore apart Europe during most of the twentieth century, only in a new version. It is the clash of liberalism and its enemies the battle between freedom and totalitarianism that arose in Europe many years ago and spread to the Muslim world. The author considers the wars against fascism and communism from the past, and draws cautionary lessons. But he also draws from those past experiences a liberal program for the present a program that departs in fundamental respects from the policies of the Bush administration."

After decades of ideological struggle, much of it in the service of an elusive socialist ideal, Latin America has embraced liberalism--democracy and unfettered markets. But liberalism has triumphed more by default than through exuberance. The region's democracies are fragile and lethargic. Despite pronounced social inequality, widespread poverty, and other difficulties, the populace is not engaged in deep discussions about state and society. The end of ideological contests has dampened political conflict, but likewise lessened the sense of urgency for solving trenchant problems. Political fatigue and devotion to acquisition have smothered egalitarianism as even an ideal. There is an uneasy social indifference.

"Latin America at the End of Politics" explores this period of circumscribed political passions through deft portrayals of crucial political, economic, social, and cultural issues: governance, entrepreneurs and markets, urban bias, poverty, the struggle for women's equality, consumerism, crime, environmental degradation, art, and migration of the poor. Discussions of these issues are enriched by the poignant narratives of emblematic individuals, many of whom are disoriented by the ideological void of the era.

Forrest Colburn's highly original analysis draws on his deep scholarly and personal familiarity with Latin America. The collage of issues discussed, set in a provocative framework, offers a compelling interpretation of Latin America in the aftermath of the last century's ideological battles--and a way to begin to talk about the region's future.

The Liberal Mind attempts to uncover the philosophy of liberalism and lay bare its implications. What is Man? How does he think and feel? What is the place of Reason in human affairs? How should men live? What is politics, and what is it for? Kenneth Minogue offers a brilliant and provocative exploration of liberalism in the Western world today: its roots and its influences, its present state, and its prospects in the new century. While few - especially in America - embrace the description of liberal, Minogue argues, most Americans and most Europeans behave as liberals. At least they are the heirs of what Minogue describes as "the triumph of an enlarged, flexible, and pragmatic version of liberalism." The past two centuries have been characterised, in the West at least, by "the fury of old ideological battles... such as: A planned economy, or free enterprise? Individual thrift, or social services? Free trade, or protection?" These battles have largely been completed -- and, many would say, have been won by the champions of, respectively, free enterprise, individual thrift, and free trade.

Has the United States become more pluribus than unum? In terms of the nation's political beliefs, Robert Booth Fowler answers both yes and no. While his study affirms significant diversity among an elite cadre of public intellectuals, it vigorously denies it in a general public that collectively adheres to the same set of liberal core values. Enduring Liberalism pursues two objectives. One, it explores the political thought of public intellectuals and the general public since the 1960s. Two, it assesses contemporary and classic interpretations of American political thought in light of the study's findings. Fowler interprets the writings of public intellectuals like Robert Bellah, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Michael Walzer, William Bennett, Seymour Martin Lipset, William Galston, and others, as well as survey data of American political attitudes, to spotlight this oft-ignored divide between citizens and high-profile commentators, whose contentious debates are mistakenly assumed to reflect countrywide rifts. Fowler's argument is straightforward, but the interpretation is controversial. He recounts how the consensus liberal view in post-World War II American political thought collapsed among public intellectuals during the tumult of the 1960s and remains so to this day. His book examines the resultant diversity among contemporary public intellectuals, focusing on three predominant themes: concern for community, worry about the environment, and interest in civil society. In marked contrast to these disputatious commentators, Fowler finds the realm of popular opinion to be characterized by much greater consensus. Indeed, there seems to be a trend toward an even more general embrace of the liberal values that characterize our attitudes toward the individual, individual liberty, political equality, economic opportunity, and consent of the governed. Liberal values-above all the celebration of the individual and individual rights-have revolutionized the so-called private realms of life like family and religious communities to an extent unimagined in the 1950s. From these conclusions, Fowler demonstrates that most interpretations of American political thinking have exaggerated the extent of conflict and diversity in our nation's often raucous policy disputes. But he also cautions us not to overstate the public's widely shared liberal values and, by doing so, miss opportunities to facilitate problem solving or to recognize the ways in which our reform efforts may be constrained.

'A tour de force.' - THE SECRET BARRISTER 'Urgent and engaging.' - NICK COHEN, OBSERVER COLUMNIST 'A phenomenal history from a truly big mind.' - DAVID SCHNEIDER, WRITER 'Required reading for anyone interested in politics and philosophy.' - PROSPECT In a soaring narrative that stretches from the battlefields of the English Civil War to the 2008 Wall Street crash and Brexit, Ian Dunt tells the story of liberalism from its birth in the fight against absolute monarchy to the modern-day struggle against nationalism. This vivid, epic book explains the political ideas which underpin the modern world. Written by the presenter of the Origin Story podcast, it is a call to action for those who believe in freedom and reason, and a clear-throated defence and explanation of why those values matter to us all, every day. Mostly, though, it is political history and philosophy as it should be written (and read): taut, thought-provoking and bursting with ideas. Among the topics dealt with are: The birth of liberalism with Rene Descartes Radical ideas of freedom in the English Civil War Mob rule during French Revolution Liberal values in the American War of Independence Benjamin Constant's philosophical revolution John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor and liberalism's great love affair The Nazis and Soviets snuff out individual rights Building a liberal world with John Maynard Keynes The rise of identity politics and groupthink The viral threat from social media Liberalism's failures, from feminism to the rust belt From the US to Hungary, nationalism sweeps the world Why we fight for our values - the rebellion begins here Hailed as 'courageous' by LBC's James O'Brien and as a 'tour de force' by the Secret Barrister, How to be a Liberal is both a history of the growth of individual liberty and a rally cry to turn back the new populism threatening democratic values and personal freedoms. Reviews 'A tour de force; a mighty trumpet blast for the forces of liberalism and enlightenment in the face of a global tide of ignorance and populism.' - THE SECRET BARRISTER 'This is a history of ideas as it should be written - brilliant, vivid story-telling about the people who shaped liberalism, the challenges it has faced over the centuries, its commitment to the truth and why it's now more important than ever to defend it.' - CAROLINE LUCAS MP 'How To Be A Liberal is required reading for today's political debates.' - ANNE APPLEBAUM, TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACY 'I'm loving How to be a Liberal. It's really great. I mean breathtakingly good. Bravo.' - DR BEN GOLDACRE 'Dunt... describes liberalism as "an enormous, boisterous, confounding bloody thing," and writes passionately in its favour, as a counterweight to ignorance and populism. This book is required reading for anyone interested in politics and philosophy.' - PROSPECT About the Author Ian Dunt is a columnist with the I newspaper and presents the Origin Story and Oh God, What Now? podcasts. His first book, Brexit: What the Hell Happens Now? (Canbury Press, 2017), on Britain's challenge in leaving the European Union, was a critically-acclaimed bestseller. In How To Be A Liberal (Canbury, 2020), the journalist tells the epic story of personal freedom. Ranging across history, politics and economics, he makes a powerful case for a radical brand of egalitarian liberalism that can safeguard individuals while looking after us all. Extract - The New Nationalism (starting with the nationalist blueprint of Viktor Orban's Hungary) Liberalism had been weakened by the financial crash, the rise of identity war and anti-truth. Then, in 2016, nationalism punched through its defences with breakthroughs in Britain and America. For many people, this was the start of the nationalist takeover. But in fact its momentum had been building for years... Buy the book to continue reading

Drawing on both British and American archival sources, contemporary newspapers and periodicals, this biography provides an account of the life of John Horne Tooke. Tooke was a central figure in the ministerial, extra-parliamentary and journalistic politics of his day. The late 18th century was renowned for radical and revolutionary fervour, fierce controversy, strident polemic and revolution; John Horne Tooke's life mirrored this ferment and turbulence. As the only man in England imprisoned for supporting the American Revolution, Tooke was known for his revolutionary enthusiasm and as a principal agitator for parliamentary reform. He was a close associate of the greatest radicals of the time, including Sir Francis Burdett, William Godwin and Thomas Paine. Tooke was an unrivalled polemicist and brilliant conversationalist.