Veil Politics in Liberal Democratic States

by Ajume H. Wingo , Preface by Jeremy Waldron

• ISBN13: 9780521891288
• ISBN10: 0521891280
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-18
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In this exciting and challenging account of the development and sustainability of the liberal democratic state, Ajume H. Wingo offers a completely new perspective from that provided by political theorists. Such theorists will typically argue for the basic values of liberal democracies by rationally justifying them. This book argues that it is non-rational factors - rhetoric, symbols, traditions - that more often than not provide the real source of motivation. Drawing from both historical and philosophical sources Ajume H. Wingo demonstrates that these 'veils', as he calls them, can play an essential role in a thriving, stable liberal democratic state. This theory of veil politics furnishes a conceptual framework within which we can reassess the role of aesthetics in politics, the nature and function of political myths in liberal democracies, and the value of civic education.

Table of Contents

Preface by Jeremy Waldron	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
1 Introduction to Veil Politics	1	(24)
1.1. Political Veils	1	(4)
1.2. Structural and Functional Features of Veils	5	(6)
1.2.1. Veils as Aesthetic Adornment	6	(1)
1.2.2. Veils as Temptations	7	(1)
1.2.3. Veils as Idealizations	8	(1)
1.2.4. One Veil, Multiple Functions	9	(2)
1.3. Veil Politics in Practice	11	(4)
1.4. Veils and Liberalism - An Essential Tension?	15	(4)
1.4.1. Opacity and Transparency Politics	16	(1)
1.4.2. Reason and Transparency	17	(2)
1.5. Veil Politics in Political Philosophy	19	(4)
1.6. Conclusion	23	(2)
2 History, Culture, and Persons	25	(22)
2.1. Persons and Cultural Contexts	29	(3)
2.2. Luck and Liberalism	32	(2)
2.3. Liberal Democratic Theory and Rationality	34	(11)
2.3.1. On the Problem of Pluralism	39	(2)
2.3.2. On the Limits of Rationality	41	(4)
2.4. Conclusion	45	(2)
3 Liberalism and Veil Politics	47	(26)
3.1. A Challenge to Autonomy?	49	(3)
3.2. Veils and Liberal Purposes	52	(2)
3.3. Tradition and Autonomy	54	(6)
3.3.1. Autonomy through Tradition	56	(3)
3.3.2. Tradition and Coercion	59	(1)
3.4. Justification for Veils	60	(11)
3.4.1. Actual Justification	65	(1)
3.4.2. Hypothetical Justification	66	(5)
3.5. Conclusion	71	(2)
4 The Art of Liberal Politics	73	(33)
4.1. Nonparticipatory Regimes	74	(13)
4.1.1. Manipulative Regimes	76	(4)
4.1.2. Pure Mythic Regimes	80	(2)
4.1.3. Colonized Regimes	82	(5)
4.2. Participatory Regimes	87	(3)
4.3. A State in Search of a Nation	90	(13)
4.3.1. Jefferson and the Design of a Veil	91	(4)
4.3.2. Lincoln: Redefining a Political Veil	95	(4)
4.3.3. Race, Equality, and the Declaration	99	(4)
4.4. Conclusion	103	(3)
5 Civic Education in a Liberal State	106	(41)
5.1. Models of Liberal Civic Education	108	(10)
5.1.1. Education for Autonomy: Gutmann on Civic Education	111	(2)
5.1.2. The Problem of Implementation	113	(5)
5.2. In Praise of a "Useful Past"	118	(12)
5.2.1. Useful Pasts, Liberal Purposes	119	(3)
5.2.2. Truth in False History	122	(2)
5.2.3. Useful Pasts as Civic Ideals - The Myth of the Melting Pot	124	(6)
5.3. Civic Education beyond the Classroom	130	(13)
5.3.1. Civic Monuments and Memorials	134	(5)
5.3.2. Slavery Reparations	139	(4)
5.4. Civic Education beyond the Liberal State	143	(4)
Bibliography	147	(6)
Index	153