POL 4190:  SENIOR SEMINAR:
THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES
Spring 2004

Notes on:

Marcus Raskin (2004)  Liberalism:   The Genius of American Ideals

Marcus Raskin

  Marcus Raskin (on the right in the photograph) co-founded the Institute for Policy Studies and was an advisor to the administration of President Kennedy.  Noted for his prolific writings on defense and disarmament, he has been a trustee of Antioch College and remains on the editorial board of The Nation.

Notes

Note to the Reader  [ix-xiv]

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Preface  [xv-xvi]

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Introduction  [1-8]

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Some Necessary Background  [2]

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1. The Liberal Purpose  [9-20]

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Liberal Meanings  [9]

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Liberalism's Existential Meaning  [12]

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Is There a First Principle to Liberalism?  [15]

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Liberal Roots to Remember  [15]

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2. The Ambiguity of Liberal Democracy  [21-42]

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The Janus-Faced State  [21]

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Liberal Democracy in the Modern Era  [22]

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Locating the Public Space, Rights, and Democracy  [24]

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Separating the Republic from Democracy  [26]

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Fears and Degradation of Democracy and the Republic  [28]

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The Limits of the Constitution and Modern Democracy  [29]

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Dissolution and Democracy  [32]

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Original Intent and Local Context  [35]

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Rights of the Excluded [36]

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The Rule of Law [39]

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The Judiciary:  Fairness for Democracy?  [40]

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Democracy versus Oligarchy  [41]

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3. Giving Birth to Third-Stage Liberalism  [43-50]

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Our Parents and Grandparents:  The New Left  [43]

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The New Left Challenges the Settled  [47]

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4. Features of Democratic Transformation  [51-58]

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Barriers and Signposts to Democratic Transformation  [51]

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The Project of the Third-Stage Liberal Democracy  [53]

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Experts in Democratic Transformation  [54]

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Elites as Interpreters for the Citizenry  [55]

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Features of Third-Stage Democracy  [56]

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Access

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Participation

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Deliberation

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Planning and Implementation

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Material Conditions for Democracy:  The Environment as Producer [64]

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5. Cultural Support and Impediments to Liberal Democracy  [69-88]

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Community in a Cultural Sense  [69]

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Reconsidering Family Values and Cultures  [71]

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Community, Enclosure, and Dissolution  [76]

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Deceptive Communities  [77]

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Civil Society  [80]

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The Flaws of Community  [82]

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Technology Destroys and Creates Community  [84]

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Destroying Old Myths of Community  [86]

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6. Social Character and the Liberalism of Social Reconstruction  [89-110]

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The Formation of Social Character  [89]

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Children and Fairness  [93]

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The Mind of Virtual Man  [94]

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Democratic Therapies for the Middle Class:  Buber and the Moral Contours of Democracy  [96]

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The Group and moral Limits  [97]

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Measurement, Scientific Experiment, and Moral Implications  [98]

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Moral Axialism and Progressive Doubts  [100]

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Education, Social Control, and Managerialism  [102]

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Scientific Objectivity and Rationality  [105]

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Scientific Inquiry and Management  [107]

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7. Capitalist Economics Fails Democracy  [111-140]

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Demystifying Economics  [111]

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"We Are the World" of Market Desires  [113]

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Behind the Mystification of Free Markets and the Degraded First-Stage Liberalism  [115]

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Markets and Economics as Moral Inquiry  [116]

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Entitlements  [118]

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Chipping Away at the Welfare State  [119]

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New Man Entrepreneur  [121]

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Corporate Governance  [123]

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The Public Space  [125]

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The Economic Sectors [or, Zones] of Democracy  [126]

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Globalization:  Imperialism Redux  [135]

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8. Democracy and the Culture of Technohype  [141-148]

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Stage Three Liberal Democracy in a Technological Age  [141]

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Assessing Technology Risks and Societal Risks  [142]

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Do Mass Communications Create Anarcracy?  [145]

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Anomie and Anarcracy  [147]

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9. The Liberal Democratic Covenant:  Everyone Sits at the Table  [149-162]

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The New American Covenant  [149]

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The Vestiges of Slavery  [152]

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Cultural Border Guards  [156]

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The Prison Community's Boundaries of the Loser  [157]

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Multicultural Vitality  [159]

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Inclusivity for All People  [160]

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10. Education and the University:  Testing Ground for Liberal Democracy  [163-184]

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Liberal Education in Its Third Stage  [163]

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Some Background  [164]

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Reconstructive Social Method as an Instrument of Moral Epistemology:  Social Method and Nonviolence  [179]

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11. Peace and Realpolitik  [185-218]

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Preparing Peaceful Means for Peace:  The Realpolitik of the Postwar Era  [189]

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Fearing and Favoring Revolution  [192]

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Ending the War System:  Some Forgotten Background  [196]

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Application of Universal Values and Minimal Citizenship  [201]

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The Security of the Secure  [208]

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Old Fears and New Insecurities  [210]

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Alliance, International Organization, and Soviet Demise  [213]

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12. War Avoidance and a Peaceful Framework  [219-242]

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Technology and the Weakening of Nation-State Sovereignty  [225]

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National Sovereignty and the Peoples  [226]

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A Right to Peace  [228]

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Movements from the Bottom  [231]

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Social Movements and Research Agendas  [233]

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American Social Gifts  [237]

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Continuing the Challenge of American Civilization  [238]

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13. Tragic and Hopeful Signs:  The Ought and Necessary  [243-248]

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Summary

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