"A meticulous, well-tuned examination of what Janowitz says is the
decline of civic thought in America, and what might be done to
restore it. . . . The patriotism Janowitz proposes to reconstruct
is not the sort of narrow nationalism your political science
professor may have warned you about--patriotism as 'the last refuge
of a scoundrel.' It is instead a patriotism that intelligently
appreciates life in a (however imperfect) democratic land."--Robert
Marquand, "The Christian Science Monitor"
"In "The Reconstruction of Patriotism, " Morris Janowitz . . .
places a national-service program on the national agenda. . . .
Like William James, Janowitz envisions government enrolling young
people to work for a year or two at subsistence pay, doing jobs
that benefit society--working with, say, 'conservation, health, or
old-age problems.' He believes that we need a service program
because since the end of the Second World War our citizens (and,
indeed, citizens of almost all the advanced industrial nations)
have become more keenly aware of their rights than of their
obligations, and generations are growing up with little or no
understanding that they are members of a national community and
have responsibilities to it--that they must give as well as take. .
. . Because it reopens discussion of our wider obligations and how
to fulfill them, Mr. Janowitz's thoughtful book is in itself a
national service."--Naomi Bliven, "The New Yorker"
"Morris Janowitz examines an issue that seldom is subject to
social and political analysis--patriotism. His thesis is clear: The
long-term trend in politics has been to enhance citizen rights
without effective articulation of citizen obligations. A meaningful
balance between the two, he contends, must be restored. . . . The
strength of this study lies in Janowitz's persuasive argument that
the durability and vitality of democratic institutions require that
a sense of community, or shared values, be preserved. Without civiz
consciousness, he rightly observes, social and political
fragmentation ensues. . . . A lucid and impressively researched
polemic."--W. Wesley McDonald, "American Political Science
Review"
"Janowitz addresses a seminal issue: how to restore the sense of
shared civic responsibility that has fallen victim in recent years
to our growing preoccupation with individual rights and the rise of
special-interest groups. . . . Central to his prescription is the
revival of the concept of the citizen soldier, whose importance
since pre-Revolutionary War days Janoqitz discusses at length. He
concludes, 'There can be no reconstruction of patriotism without a
system of national service.' . . . An important book. I highly
recommend it."--"Washington Monthly"
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