Polity articles from September 1999

Polity archives from September 1999

Political Judgment with a Difference: Agonistic Democracy and the Limits of "Enlarged Mentality"(*).
September 22, 1999... Seeking to move the theory and practice of citizenship "beyond objectivism and relativism," political theorists, most notably Hannah Arendt, turn to the faculty of judgment. The suggestion that judgment should be exercised in politics is...

Self-Rule or Selves-Rule? A Problem in Democratic Theory And Practice(*).
September 22, 1999... I. Introduction It is summer, 1978, and I am a labor organizer, sitting in a hot, crowded room crammed with the entire staff of the United Farm Workers, all full-time volunteers like me. Cesar Chavez, president of our fledgling union, is...

Structure, Agency, and Democratic Theory(*).
September 22, 1999... I. Introduction The metatheoretical debate concerning the proper ontological and explanatory relationship between structure and agency--the so-called "agent-structure problem"--has been the subject of considerable scholarly attention.(1)...

Mirroring Modernity: America's Conflicting Identities(*).
September 22, 1999... A serious tension lies at the heart of modern notions of personal and national identity as they relate to politics. The national idea in modern consciousness demands a rather thick description of moral character and of the human good and...

Crown Heights: Politics and Press Coverage of the Race War That Wasn't.
September 22, 1999... Frames are conceptual tools used by journalists and audiences alike to convey, interpret, and evaluate information; they provide a theme or story line that organizes the facts to be reported and gives them meaning.(1) For journalists, a frame...

Human Rights and Democracy: Expanding or Contracting?(*).
September 22, 1999... ... political freedom, generally speaking, means the right to be a participator in government or it means nothing. -- Hannah Arendt(1) The democratic state, in all of its modern conceptualizations, has been connected to...

Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive Age.(Review)
September 22, 1999... Daniel T. Rodgers, Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive Age (Cambridge: The Belknap Press, 1998). In an era of deep political malaise, it is reassuring to remember that smart, idealistic people have done much good by...

Uncertain Victory: Social Democracy and Progressivism in European and American Thought, 1870-1920.(Review)
September 22, 1999... James T. Kloppenberg, Uncertain Victory: Social Democracy and Progressivism in European and American Thought, 1870-1920 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986). In an era of deep political malaise, it is reassuring to remember that...

Lesson-Drawing in Public Policy: A Guide to Learning across Time and Space.(Review)
September 22, 1999... Richard Rose, Lesson-Drawing in Public Policy: A Guide to Learning across Time and Space (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1993). In an era of deep political malaise, it is reassuring to remember that smart, idealistic people have done much good...