Pragmatic Liberalism Constructing a Civil Society

by Hunter, Albert; Milofsky, Carl

• ISBN13: 9781403975492
• ISBN10: 1403975493
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-03-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book calls for a pragmatic approach to contemporary U.S. Social problems, stressing workable outcomes regardless of their ideological origin, be they conservative, pluralistic, or radical. The policy analysis, grounded in social science research, claims that there is a broad cultural consensus on American values and a public willingness to help others in need. This critique of the three dominant ideologies extracts ideas, approaches, policies, and programs from each and proposes an eclectic 'outcomes' perspective rooted in American pragmatism.

Author Biography

Albert Hunter is professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. Hunter has published numerous books and articles, including Symbolic Communities (1974) and Multimethod Research (1989). Carl Milofsky is Professor of Sociology at Bucknell University and author of Community Organizations (1988) among others.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. ix
Malaise	p. 1
Rights	p. 15
Why Help?	p. 29
The Conservative View: Markets, Inequality, and Social Efficiency	p. 51
Class Conflict and the Radical View of the Common Good	p. 71
The Constructive Chaos of Pluralism	p. 87
Institutions, Social Policy, and the Death of the Old Social Science	p. 113
Moral Policy	p. 137
Implementing Pragmatic Liberalism: Leadership, Citizenship, and Community	p. 159
Works Cited	p. 173
Index	p. 187
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