Amitai Etzioni is university professor at George Washington University. He is the author and editor of many influential
books, including The Spirit of Community and The New Golden Rule. He resides in Washington, D.C.
Summary
This outstanding new book shows why communitarian thought has had such a profound influence on contemporary
American public policy, from strengthening our neighborhoods to fighting AIDS and educating our children. Edited
by Amitai Etzioni, founder of the Communitarian Network and author of the best-selling books The Spirit of Community
and The New Golden Rule, this comprehensive collection contains essays written by the nation's most respected thinkers.
See why politicians as diverse as Vice President Al Gore and Jack Kemp view communitarian social philosophy as
the most practical way of restoring America's communities and redeeming its political institutions.
Table of Contents
Part I. Communitarian Theory
Foundations of Communitarian Liberalism
Philip Selznick
Community Properly Understood: A Defense of "Democratic Communitarianism"
Robert N. Bellah
The Limits of Libertarianism
Thomas A. Spragens, Jr.
A Moral Reawakening Without Puritanism
Amitai Etzioni
The Dangers of Soft Despotism
Charles Taylor
Beyond Teledemocracy: "America on the Line"
James S. Fishkin
Social Justice: A Communitarian Perspective
Philip Selznick
A Precarious Balance: Economic Opportunity, Civil Society and Political Liberty
Ralf Dahrendorf
Part II. Rights and Responsibilities
Rights and Responsibilities
Dallin H. Oaks
"Absolute" Rights": Property and Privacy
Mary Ann Glendon
Permissible Paternalism: In Defense of the Nanny State
Robert E. Goodin
Finding a Place for Community in the First Amendment
Roger L. Conner
AIDS Prevention vs. Cultural Sensitivity
Ronald Bayer
A Gangsta's Rights
Roger L. Conner
Part III. Communitarian Policy
A Liberal-Democratic Case for the Two-Parent Family
William J. Doherty
Residential Community Associations: Community or Disunity?
Daniel A. Bell
When Redistribution and Economic Growth Fail
Senator Dan Coats
What Makes a Good Urban Park?
Peter Katz
The Loss of Public Space
Fred Siegel
Rebuilding Urban Communities
Senator Bill Bradley
The Libertarian Conundrum: Why the Market Does Not Safeguard Civil Rights
Alan Wolfe
Drug Abuse Control Policy: Liberatarian, Authoritarian, Liberal, and Communitarian Perspectives
Mark Kleiman
Inner-City Crime: What the Federal Government Should Do
John J. DiIulio, Jr.
A Mandate For Liberty: Requiring Education-Based Community Service
Benjamin R. Barber
Social Science Finds: "Marriage Matters"
Linda J. Waite
Part IV. The Community of Communities
Democracy and the Politics of Difference
Jean Bethke Elshtain
Pluralism vs. Particularism in American Education
Diane Ravitch
Immigration and Political Community in the United States
Daniel J. Tichenor
Who Killed Modern Manners?
Judith Martin
