A central task in contemporary political philosophy is to identify principles governing political life where citizens disagree deeply on important questions of value and, more generally, about the proper ends of life. The distinctively liberal response to this challenge insists that the state should as far as possible avoid relying on such contested issues in its basic structure and deliberations. David McCabe critically surveys influential defenses of the liberal solution and advocates modus vivendi liberalism as an alternative defense of the liberal state. Acknowledging that the modus vivendi approach does not provide the deep moral consensus that many liberals demand, he defends the liberal state as an acceptable compromise among citizens who will continue to see it as less than ideal. His book will interest a wide range of readers in political philosophy and political theory.

A central task in contemporary political philosophy is to identify principles governing political life where citizens disagree deeply on important questions of value and, more generally, about the proper ends of life. The distinctively liberal response to this challenge insists that the state should as far as possible avoid relying on such contested issues in its basic structure and deliberations. David McCabe critically surveys influential defenses of the liberal solution and advocates modus vivendi liberalism as an alternative defense of the liberal state. Acknowledging that the modus vivendi approach does not provide the deep moral consensus that many liberals demand, he defends the liberal state as an acceptable compromise among citizens who will continue to see it as less than ideal. His book will interest a wide range of readers in political philosophy and political theory.

  The purpose of this book is to consider the role that the teacher plays in developing democratic classroom communities and examine ways in which elements of inquiry based instruction can be used to cultivate participatory virtues in students.  A critical examination of this topic promises to be significant for four reasons: First, it will establish a working definition of democratic community as it applies to the classroom and its relevance to the field of teaching; Second, it will provide educational practitioners insight into the importance of developing democratic communities in their classrooms in this current climate of standards and high stakes accountability; and third, it will discuss the profound influence democratic classroom communities have on student perceptions of schooling, self concept and relationships with their peers and their teacher.  Finally this book will explore how teachers and administrators can reframe their approaches to classroom management and effective instructional strategies and student evaluation to more closely approximate a true democratic model.