Strong Democracy

Arguing that an excess of liberalism has undone American democratic institutions, Barber demonstrates that the political crises of this era -- cynicism about voting, alienation, privatism and the growing paralysis of public institutions -- are symptoms of a malaise due to liberal ways of thinking about and doing politics. He believes that if Americans are to survive as a free people, they will have to participate more in their political system through such means as neighborhood assemblies, national initiatives, referendums and election of some political offices by a rotation system. Citizens of a strong democracy formulate policies not on the basis of absolute values but on what can be agreed as reasonable. ISBN 0-520-05115-7 : $16.95.