Includes bibliographical references (p. 247-260) and index.
Contents:
Introduction : The democratic malaise -- The revolt of the elites -- Opportunity in the promised land : social mobility or the democratization of competence? -- Does democracy deserve to survive? -- Communitarianism or populism? The ethic of compassion and the ethic of respect -- Conversation and the civic arts -- Racial politics in New York : the attack on common standards -- The common schools : Horace Mann and the assault on imagination -- The lost art of argument -- Academic pseudo-radicalism : the charade of "Subversion" -- The abolition of shame -- Philip Rieff and the religion of culture -- The soul of man under secularism.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.