This “brilliantly written” look at the original meaning of the liberal philosophy has become a classic of political science (American Historical Review). Winner of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award As the word “liberal” has been misused and its meaning diluted in recent decades, this study of American political thought since the Revolution is a valuable look at the “liberal tradition” that has been central to US history. Louis Hartz, who taught government at Harvard, shows how individual liberty, equality, and capitalism have been the values at the root of liberalism—and offers enlightening historical context that reminds us of America’s unique place and important role in the world. “Lively and thought-provoking . . . Fascinating reading.” —The Review of Politics Includes an introduction by Tom Wicker

First Published in 1999. This volume explores the full range and depth of the liberal tradition in America and how it has been perceived by political theorists and historians. The contributors weigh the various paradigm shifts in our understanding of American political development according to consensus, polarity and multiple traditions. They break new ground by taking into account African-American and proslavery thought, gender and identity politics, citizenship in the Reconstruction and Progressive eras, and models of SupremeCourt decision-making. The Liberal Tradition in America questions the effect of viewing American history through these paradigms on the progress of research, and moves the emphasis in research from the development of political ideas to the development of political institutions

The Liberal Tradition in Focus is a collection of essays by prominent scholars in their fields on the nature of liberalism at the close of the twentieth century. Using a variety of analytical and substantive approaches, the authors compare the "old liberalism" of Locke, Smith, Hume, and Montesquieu to the variety of "new liberalisms" of thinkers such as Rawls, Dworkin, and Foucault. Each chapter of this engaging volume takes up a particular theme--democracy, capitalism, morality, feminism, toleration, constitutionalism, Third Way liberalism--and considers how the new liberalism's understanding differs from the old. The Liberal Tradition in Focus will be a valuable addition to the collections of scholars and students of political science and political philosophy.

20th-century European Fascism is conventionally described by both historians and political scientists as a fierce assault on liberal politics, culture and economics. Departing from such typical analysis, this book highlights the long overlooked critical affinities between liberal tradition and fascism. Far from being the antithesis of liberalism, fascism, both in its ideology and its practice, was substantially, if dialectically, indebted to liberalism, particularly to its economic variant. Fascism ought to be seen centrally as an effort to unknot the longue durée tangle of the liberal order, as it finally collided, head on, with mass democracy. This brilliantly provocative thesis is sustained through innovative and incisive readings of seminal political thinkers, from Locke and Burke, to Proudhon, Bagehot, Sorel and Schmitt.

Joao Carlos Espada's provocative survey of a group of key Anglo-American and European political thinkers argues that there is a distinctive, Anglo-American tradition of liberty that is one of the core pillars of the Free World. Giving a broad overview of the tradition through summaries of the careers and ideas of fourteen of its key thinkers, neglected despite having been tremendously influential in the tradition of liberty, the author engages with current set ideas about the meaning of 'liberal' and 'conservative' to offer an engaging, intellectual case for liberal democracy.

Authority and the Liberal Tradition critically describes the historical foundations of modem liberalism, implicitly analyzing the status and effectiveness of American democracy. Heineman examines contemporary liberal ideology, which he argues undermines the normative basis of social stability that was an Important element in the classical liberal tradition. Heineman shows how American government has become hostage to ideology, to the advocacy of interest-group politics. Placing major Anglo-American thinkers from Hobbes to Rorty in their social contexts, Heineman traces the liberal intellectual perspective as it has evolved from the integration of culture and philosophy. He illustrates how the disjunction of theory and culture now weakens liberal thought as a foundation for effective government. Instead, he proposes returning to a philosophical position that consciously relies on community traditions and values, which can support democratic ideology. Authority and the Liberal Tradition is especially timely at this juncture In American history, as fragmentation of the national policy process threatens government's ability to cope with major problems. This second edition includes two chapters of entirely new material: “Liberal Ideology in a Conservative Nation” and "The Dialogue of Modem Liberalism.” It will be of interest to political scientists, social theorists, and philosophers.

This book examines how the liberal international theory tradition evolved in Europe. It includes nine chapters focusing on both historical and contemporary branches of liberal IR theorizing. The combined portrait of the prominent IR theory orientation shows a long and rich theoretical tradition but also a tradition that the scholarly community rarely fully recognize. It is currently somewhat challenged and therefore in need of further advances. Concerning the historical branches, the authors present a truly European tradition that thus was not only present in a few countries. The contributors introduce examples of liberal theorizing that IR scholars tend to dismiss and they trace the boundaries between the liberal and other theoretical traditions. Given the prominence of the tradition, the book is surprisingly among the first to present a transnational perspective on the development of the liberal international theory tradition in Europe.

Excerpt from The Liberal Tradition: A Study of the Social and Spiritual Conditions of Freedom N ow once again the familiar cycle of depression, militarism, war has further raised the temperature and shortened the perspec tive. In time of stress we naturally counteract our suffering with the thought Of better days to come; and as the strain increases we advance the date. We draw spiritual as well as financial drafts upon the future, never doubting that they will be honored at maturity. In proportion as the means we must now employ are costly and terrible, so the more clear and close must be the vision Of our ends. Thus readily we credit the assurances Of politicians that the immediate sequel to a tornado Of destruction will be a more abundant life for everybody, and mortgage our incomes, our property, and the blood of our children to a dream: lucky indeed we Shall be if that dream does not again become a nightmare. For purposes of war it is enough that we will the supreme end, vic tory, leaving the means - the strategy and tactics - to our gen erals; but for purposes Of peace free people must master means as well as ends. For the means will Shape the ends - as the history of modern Germany reminds us. In the battle of the faiths that is now actively involved, as it Was three centuries ago, in the battle Of the nations, those whose position is weak or ill defined will stand no chance at all. The faith Of the liberal is the hardest to define because it is the boldest and the biggest. Rationalist utopias can exhibit (on paper) all the scientific neatness Of the prison, the hospital, or the factory: lib eralism does not propose to model the life of society on the prison or the hospital, and even looks askance at too many factories. Coi lectivists are fond Of the argument We did it in war, why can't we do it in peace? Liberals do not propose to model the life Of society on the army or the Wehrwirtschaft. In all the hard bright schemes that have crystallized out Of modern materialism the ordi nary human being is put in his place with a platonic knee, or some thing more urgent, at his back; the reason being that there is so much more to human nature than what the doctrinaires have any use for. But out Of that more come both the folly and the wisdom, the passion and the insight, the virtue and the fun Of human life; and the liberal will never sacrifice the full range Of personal living to the symmetry of a mere political or economic system. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.