The Liberal Tradition In America

This “brilliantly written” look at the original meaning of the liberal philosophy has become a classic of political science (American Historical Review). Winner of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award As the word “liberal” has been misused and its meaning diluted in recent decades, this study of American political thought since the Revolution is a valuable look at the “liberal tradition” that has been central to US history. Louis Hartz, who taught government at Harvard, shows how individual liberty, equality, and capitalism have been the values at the root of liberalism—and offers enlightening historical context that reminds us of America’s unique place and important role in the world. “Lively and thought-provoking . . . Fascinating reading.” —The Review of Politics Includes an introduction by Tom Wicker

Views American democracy, revolution, and capitalism in the light of Western history.

First Published in 1999. This volume explores the full range and depth of the liberal tradition in America and how it has been perceived by political theorists and historians. The contributors weigh the various paradigm shifts in our understanding of American political development according to consensus, polarity and multiple traditions. They break new ground by taking into account African-American and proslavery thought, gender and identity politics, citizenship in the Reconstruction and Progressive eras, and models of SupremeCourt decision-making. The Liberal Tradition in America questions the effect of viewing American history through these paradigms on the progress of research, and moves the emphasis in research from the development of political ideas to the development of political institutions

Eight prominent scholars consider whether Louis Hartz's interpretation of liberalism in his classic 1955 book should be repudiated or updated, and whether a study of America as a "liberal society" is still a rewarding undertaking.

"The Republic in Peril sees a threat to American institutions and liberties in the emergence of a powerful national security state. It offers a panoramic view of America's choices in foreign policy, with detailed analysis of the vested interests and ideologies that have justified a sprawling global empire over the last 25 years"--

Rossinow revisits the period between the 1880s and the 1940s, when reformers and radicals worked together along a middle path between the revolutionary left and establishment liberalism. He takes the story up to the present, showing how the progressive connection was lost and explaining the consequences that followed.

Joao Carlos Espada's provocative survey of a group of key Anglo-American and European political thinkers argues that there is a distinctive, Anglo-American tradition of liberty that is one of the core pillars of the Free World. Giving a broad overview of the tradition through summaries of the careers and ideas of fourteen of its key thinkers, neglected despite having been tremendously influential in the tradition of liberty, the author engages with current set ideas about the meaning of 'liberal' and 'conservative' to offer an engaging, intellectual case for liberal democracy.