American Social and Political Thought: A Concise Introduction

This is a concise but comprehensive introduction to modern American social and political thought. The author aims to demonstrate the rich intellectual tradition of the United Sates and to facilitate a better understanding of American society and politics through careful exploration of key social and political theories and theorists. The book is carefully structured to facilitate understanding of potentially challenging ideas. In the first half of the book the author focuses on introducing the core traditions of American social and political thought - exceptionalism, Protestantism, republicanism, liberalism and pragmatism. The second half of the book applies these traditions to a broad range of 20th century conditions and issues - power and democracy, justice and injustice, multiculturalism and pluralism, civil society, social theory and intellectuals. The works of some of the most influential figures in the field, such as the Tocqueville, Lipset, Arendt, Hartz, Pocock, Dewey, Moore, Rawls, Walzer, Rorty and Alexander, are drawn upon to illustrate the theories and issues being discussed. The unique combination of American social and political thought makes this an original book for a wide range of readers.