Architect of Justice: Felix S. Cohen and the Founding of American Legal Pluralism

Book Description

A major figure in American legal history during the first half of the twentieth century, Felix Solomon Cohen (1907-1953) is best known for his realist view of the law and his efforts to grant Native Americans more control over their own cultural, political, and economic affairs. A second-generation Jewish American, Cohen was born in Manhattan, where he attended the College of the City of New York before receiving a Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University and a law degree from Columbia University. Between 1933 and 1948 he served in the Solicitor's Office of the Department of the Interior, where he made lasting contributions to federal Indian law, drafting the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946, and, as head of the Indian Law Survey, authoring The Handbook of Federal Indian Law (1941), which promoted the protection of tribal rights and continues to serve as the basis for developments in federal Indian law.

In Architect of Justice, Dalia Tsuk Mitchell provides the first intellectual biography of Cohen, whose career and legal philosophy she depicts as being inextricably bound to debates about the place of political, social, and cultural groups within American democracy. Cohen was, she finds, deeply influenced by his own experiences as a Jewish American and discussions within the Jewish community about assimilation and cultural pluralism as well the persecution of European Jews before and during World War II.

The author uses Cohen's scholarship and legal work to construct a history of legal pluralism--a tradition in American legal and political thought that has immense relevance to contemporary debates and that has never been examined before. She traces the many ways in which legal pluralism informed New Deal policymaking and demonstrates the importance of Cohen's work on behalf of Native Americans in this context, thus bringing federal Indian law from the margins of American legal history to its center. By following the development of legal pluralism in Cohen's writings, Architect of Justice demonstrates a largely unrecognized continuity in American legal thought between the Progressive Era and ongoing debates about multiculturalism and minority rights today. A landmark work in American legal history, this biography also makes clear the major contribution Felix S. Cohen made to America's legal and political landscape through his scholarship and his service to the American government.

Customer Reviews:

An Extraordinary Intellectual Biography .......2007-07-24

This is a major work of intellectual biography written by an associate professor of law at George Washington University here in Washington, D.C. The subject is a real giant in the field of American jurisprudence (and other areas as well) about whom we hear relatively little these days despite his many lasting accomplishments: Felix S. Cohen (1907-1953). I originally read this book because of Cohen's role as an important legal realist during the 1930"s (e.g., "Transcendental Nonsense and the Functional Approach"). I was pleasantly surprised to discover as I read this fine book that this was but one facet of his multi-dimensional activities and contributions.

Because the book is as rich as its subject, it is impossible to touch upon many points in a short review. The key focus of the author is to discuss Cohen and the development of his concepts of pluralism, group autonomy and group power, and how Cohen saw this dimension of American political (and legal) life as a source of important empirically-based values. The book effectively sketches Cohen's early life (and his relationship to his father Morris R. Cohen, the important CCNY philosopher). There is a helpful discussion of Cohen's first book, "Ethical Systems and Legal Ideas." Out of Columbia law, and not wanting to be a full-time academic, Cohen ended up (of all places) at the Department of the Interior where he remained a number of years. He got involved in Interior's role as trustee and administrator for the American Indians. It was within this context that Cohen worked out many of his key ideas about pluralism and decentralization, and he was deeply involved in the so-called "Indian New Deal" reform efforts. He also wrote the key book on Indian law which is still used today, and worked to get Jewish refugees resettled in Alaska or the Virgin Islands. One of the strengths of the book is the author is very effective in relating how Cohen's activities (such as while at Interior) influenced and shaped the development of his thought.

The author also discusses Cohen's post-Interior period in private practice where he handled a number of important Indian cases and continued to develop his efforts to develop a "conscious ethical criticism of law." He also taught law school and wrote or edited several books, including a basic jurisprudential collection with his father. One of the more interesting areas he worked in was attempting to tie the reliance upon precedent to particular values and their origins. His untimely death at 46 foreclosed what could have been amazing further contributions.

It is helpful to have handy when reading this book Cohen's collected articles and reviews edited by his wife, Lucy Cohen--"The Legal Conscience." There is but one problem I encountered with the book. The author, whose research is comprehensive, devotes a good chunk of the book to Indian related themes--since this is what Cohen spent much of his time being involved with. The detail here, as with the rest of the book, is exhaustive. However, if one is not particularly interested in this topic, it can really become a challenge to keep plowing through the extensive discussion. On the other hand, this is the environment that gave rise to much of Cohen's key contributions, and it is essential to understand this context. An extremely and quite extensive bibliography is included. By any measure, a book worthy of its subject.

Legal Pluralism in Conflict: Coping with Cultural Diversity in Law

Average customer rating:

Legal Pluralism in Conflict: Coping with Cultural Diversity in Law
Shah
Manufacturer: Routledge Cavendish
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Civil Law | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Jurisprudence | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1904385583

American Cultural Pluralism and Law: Third Edition

Average customer rating:

American Cultural Pluralism and Law: Third Edition
Jill Norgren , and Serena Nanda
Manufacturer: Praeger Paperback
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Strategy | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

Civil Procedure | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Even in Sweden: Racisms, Racialized Spaces, and the Popular Geographical Imagination
Nationalist Politics and Everyday Ethnicity in a Transylvanian Town
On Toleration (Castle Lectures Series)
Nation and Religion
Why the French Don't Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space

ASIN: 0275986993

Book Description

This new edition of Norgren and Nanda's classic updates their examination of the intersection of American cultural pluralism and law. They document and analyze legal challenges to the existing social order raised by many cultural groups, among them, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians, homeless persons, immigrants, disabled persons, and Rastafarians. In addition, they examine such current controversies as the culture wars in American schools and the impact of post-9/11 security measures on Arab and Muslim individuals and communities. The book also discusses more traditional challenges to the American legal system by women, homosexuals, African Americans, Latinos, Japanese Americans, and the Mormons and the Amish. The new chapters and updated analyses in this Third Edition reflect recent, relevant court cases dealing with culture, race, gender, religion, and personal status. Drawing on court materials, state and federal legislation, and legal ethnographies, the text analyzes the ongoing tension between, on the one hand, the need of different groups for cultural autonomy and equal rights, and on the other, the necessity of national unity and security. The text integrates the authors' commentary with case descriptions set in historical, cultural, political, and economic context. While the authors' thesis is that law is an instrument of social policy that has generally furthered an assimilationist agenda in American society, they also point out how in different periods, under different circumstances, and with regard to different groups, law has also some opportunity for cultural autonomy.

The Future of Tradition: Customary Law, Common Law and Legal Pluralism

Average customer rating:

The Future of Tradition: Customary Law, Common Law and Legal Pluralism
Leon Sheleff
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Conflict of Laws | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Jurisprudence | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Non-US Legal Systems | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0714649538

Book Description

Recent years have seen an increased interest in the variety of cultures co-existing within one state, and a growing acknowledgement of the values ensconced in pluralistic social structures. this book examines the manner in which indigenous people can function in modern states, preserving their traditional customs, while simultaneously adapting aspects of their culture to the challenges posed by modern life. Whereas it was formerly assumed that these tribal frameworks were doomed to extinction, and some states even encouraged such a process, there has been a revival in their vitality, linked to a recognition of their rights.
The book offers a comprehensive survey of various aspects of tribal life, focusing on political issues such as the meaning of sovereignty, legal issues dealing with the role of custom and social issues concerned with sustaining communal life. A focused study is made of a whole series of legal factors, relating to possession and ownership of land, religious rites, the nature of polygamous marriages, the assertion of group rites, the manner of peacefully resolving disputes and allied questions. Recent judicial decisions are analysed as a reflection of the far-reaching changes that have taken place, in a process that has seen the former disregard of basic rights of indigenous people being replaced by an awareness of the injustices perpetrated in the past and a willingness to seek to redress them. The comparison between approaches of different English-speaking countries provides an account of interwoven developments.

Double Trouble: Black Mayors, Black Communities, and the Call for a Deep Democracy (Transgressing Boundaries: Studies in Black Politics and Black Communities)

Average customer rating:

Double Trouble: Excellent Book
Praise for Double Trouble

Double Trouble: Black Mayors, Black Communities, and the Call for a Deep Democracy (Transgressing Boundaries: Studies in Black Politics and Black Communities)
J. Phillip Thompson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Law Enforcement | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Countervailing Forces in African-American Civic Activism, 19731994
Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946-1988
Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
The Urban Voter: Group Conflict and Mayoral Voting Behavior in American Cities (The Politics of Race and Ethnicity)
The City at Stake: Secession, Reform, and the Battle for Los Angeles

ASIN: 0195177339

Book Description

J. Phillip Thompson III, an insider in the Dinkins administration, provides the first in-depth look at how the black mayors of America's major cities achieve social change. Black constituents naturally look to black mayors to effect great change for the poor, but the reality of the situation is complicated. Thompson argues that African-American mayors, legislators, and political activists need to more effectively challenge opinions and public policies supported by the white public and encourage greater political inclusion and open political discourse within black communities. Only by unveiling painful internal oppresssions and exclusions within black politics will the black community's power increase, and compel similar unveilings in the broader interracial conversation about the problems of the urban poor. Tracing the historical development and contemporary practice of black mayoral politics, this is a fascinating study of the motivations of black politicians, competing ideologies in the black community and the inner dynamics of urban social change.

Customer Reviews:

Double Trouble: Excellent Book .......2006-06-12

Double Trouble should be required reading in any academic study of politics, as well as by anyone remotely involved in the political process (community/grassroots organizations, pastors, union leaders, candidates, campaign staff, etc).

The book gives a snapshot of what has been and a blueprint for what can be when a community and its elected leadership work together.

The conventional wisdom of the past was that if we (Blacks) had a seat at the table...or God forbid if we had the seat at the head of the table(the HNIC)...we could somehow right some of the injustices done in and to our communities almost at will.

Author, J. Phillip Thompson, presents an effective and compelling analysis of the realities of the "political game," especially the limitations on Black Mayors and in particular, Black Mayors who want to be re-elected (his analysis can also be applied to most, if not all, Black elected officials). The dilemna is "double trouble" because Black politicians get it from both sides- you're darned if you do and darned if you don't.

The author's call for "deep pluralism" is largely academic and seems more of an insertion into the larger debate of how Black Mayors can provide effective representation within the capitalist structure of politics.

I have already highly recommended the book to all of my political colleagues and friends.

Praise for Double Trouble.......2006-03-22

"It is, quite simply, impossible to understand the evolution of the racial foundations of urban politics--and, indeed, all of contemporary urban politics in America--without reading Double Trouble." -- David N. Dinkins, 106th Mayor of New York City

"Double Trouble's transformative and incisive critique challenges conventional wisdom from both the right and left: Forgo blind faith in identity politics, overcome the myth of expert racelessness and re-engage the urban poor in revitalizing not only our cities but also our democracy." -- Lani Guinier, co-author of The Miner's Canary

"J. Phillip Thompson's Double Trouble is an outstanding piece of scholarship that combines astute analysis of race and politics in America's cities with deep reflections on the theory and practice of democracy in the United States. It has much to offer not only students of American politics, but also those who are concerned about how deliberative democracy and pluralism works, or should work, in the nation's cities." -- Michael Dawson, author of Behind the Mule and Black Visions

"Thompson provides an original and compelling way to think about the possibilities inherent in urban politics. His call for deep democracy shows why broad civic engagement in the black community is a necessary first step in creating a genuinely new politics in America." -- Margaret Weir, Professor of Political Science and Sociology, University of California, Berkeley

"Double Trouble brilliantly and bravely dissects the central paradox facing black mayors: pushing too hard for racial justice will cost the support of white elites, while pushing too little will further alienate black voters. The compelling portrait of the Dinkins administration is the best description now available of this paradox in operation. This is a path-breaking book." -- John Mollenkopf, author of The Contested City

"This theoretically bold and analytically brilliant book is an immediate classic. Double Trouble simultaneously exposes the vacuity of the liberal retreat from race and the savagery of the conservative manipulation of race. Anyone concerned with what politics and public policy can do to reduce inequality and to heal racial frictions must consider Thompson's indictment of both routine party politics and of black politics and heed his hopeful prescription for moving beyond the current stalemate." -- Lawrence D. Bobo, Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

Diversity in America: Keeping Government at a Safe Distance

Average customer rating:

The definitive work, but as such a labor to read
The range and intergity of a great mind and a great person

Diversity in America: Keeping Government at a Safe Distance
Peter H. Schuck
Manufacturer: Belknap Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Litigation | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity

ASIN: 0674018540

Book Description

America is the first society in history to make ethno-racial diversity an affirmative social ideal rather than viewing it as a fearful menace, as almost all other societies still do. Since the 1960s, America has pursued this ideal in many forms--not only to remedy past discrimination against minorities but also to increase diversity for its own sake.

It is high time for an accounting. How diverse are we now and what can we expect in the future? Why do we, unlike the rest of the world, think that diversity is desirable and that more of it is better? What risks does diversity pose? What are the roles of law, politics, and informal social controls in promoting diversity? How can we manage diversity better?

In this magisterial book, Peter H. Schuck explains how Americans have understood diversity, how we came to embrace it, how the government regulates it now, and how we can do better. He mobilizes a wealth of conceptual, historical, legal, political, and sociological analysis to argue that diversity is best managed not by the government but by families, ethnic groups, religious communities, employers, voluntary organizations, and other civil society institutions. Analyzing some of the most controversial policy arenas where politics and diversity intersect--immigration, multiculturalism, language, affirmative action, residential neighborhoods, religious practices, faith-based social services, and school choice--Schuck reveals the conflicts, trade-offs, and ironies entailed by our commitment to the diversity ideal. He concludes with recommendations to help us manage the challenge of diversity in the future.

Customer Reviews:

The definitive work, but as such a labor to read.......2003-07-16

Diversity is a vaporous concept, widely embraced because it sounds good, seldom defined and used as a stalking horse for a vast multitude of ends. Some such ends are achievable and others not. Many are not worth the financial and costs of achieving them, and some ends are not even honorable.

Schuck performs the great service of offering definitions of the diverse collection of societal objects that comprise diversity itself. From the top, there is observed diversity. America has always been a diverse country, made up of different peoples, languages, religions and customs. In our sometimes ignoble past we attempted to limit that diversity by immigration laws, Jim Crow and other means. Nevertheless, the founders recognized the diversity that existed and seemed to promote it as an antidote to any specific group's ability to amass excessive power.

The metric of diversity means different things to different groups. It most often means visible diversity by skin color, the "ethno-racial pentagon" of Caucasian, African, Native American, Asian and Latin American peoples. Crudely put, white, black, red, yellow and brown. Schuck points out that this photographically demonstrable diversity along the single axis of ethnic origins often hides a stunning uniformity of political liberalism and religious (un)belief. Diversity in schools has to be taken to mean a diversities in ability to learn and therefore the amount of resources needed to enable a student to realize a given level of achievement. And, for that matter, just to maintain order.

Diversity as a starry-eyed ideal is peculiar to 20th century America and Canada. That is to say, one never saw "Celebrate Diversity" bumper stickers on Conastoga wagons. As they dodged the arrows of diverse populations. The particulars of timing are different depending on whether one is talking about religious or racial diversity or multiculturalism. Since before the Revolution many elements of our diverse society had been revulsed by the exclusion of African Americans from education and mainstream society. With the civil rights movement diversity came to be seen not only as an indication of legal equity in society but as a desirable end in itself. A norm of society.

Our society has used many devices to advance the cause of racial diversity. Conscience is one. Universities and corporations adopted diversity programs because their leadership deemed it the right thing to do. Guilt is another, remedying past discrimination. A third is common business sense. A company that sells to a diverse clientele should present a diverse face to the public. Schuck gives greatest attention to a fourth, legislative and judicial efforts to force diversity in the realms of educational and corporate affirmative action, immigration, multiculturalism and housing. He follows the legal proceedings in exhaustive detail.

Schuck's bottom line is that "government... should use its bully pulpit to praise diversity in general and even particular diversities...But it should not try to create or promote any particular kind of diversity." His reasons are pragmatic. Forcing diversity goes against other widely held cultural values, such as the belief that people should achieve their place in society by merit and that they should be free to associate with people of their choosing. Court mandated residential integration, affirmative action and busing have created great resentment. The reactions, such as white flight and foot dragging, have had enormous costs and on balance have hurt rather than helped the minorities' cause. While it is easy to ascertain that segregation was enforced by the law, it is impossible to know whether the continued separation of races by neighborhoods is a matter of discrimination or simple personal preference. It was easy in the days of "separate but equal" to ascribe poor academic performance to poor schools. The reasons why minority students perform a full grade point beneath Asians and whites in elite universities are harder to fix. Even worse, when government is confronted by inconvenient questions, as the University of California was regarding the mechanics of its diversity program, it is inclined to dissimulate, as UC did.

If the government's attempts to force integration in education and housing are often tragic, immigration has been a comedy. "Diversity" is written into immigration law as a good to be achieved by admitting "new seed" from countries that have no history of immigration to the U.S. Ideals aside, however, immigration is shot full of pork-barrel politics. Most amusing are Ted Kennedy's labors to favor the Irish over all other Europeans. It is illogical that we take no advantage of the immense attractiveness of American residency to demand that immigrants bring with them any particular skills or education. The lottery -- and it is often just that -- is free and open to all.

This is a dense and difficult book for the layman to read. Unless your working vocabulary includes words like monism, anodyne, normative, and ex ante you will want to keep your dictionary at hand. I like it because Schuck is not afraid to write his own views in the first person. He is especially eloquent on the subject of the government's inability to find a focus or a common policy to unite its diverse and contradictory policies. His subtitle is "Keeping government at a safe distance." Despite the fact that he includes a section with just that title, Schuck is notably incurious about the "root causes" inequities in society, ascribing them all to past inequalities in social station and education even while acknowledging that different minorities have shown markedly different success in overcoming these handicaps that all had in common. His arguments have everything to do with law and politics, nothing to do with those threads of contemporary thought dealing with heredity.

Lastly, he offers an encyclopedic wealth of footnotes that will be very useful to scholars who succeed him. His publisher should only have done so well with the index.

The range and intergity of a great mind and a great person.......2003-05-18

Peter Schuck's remarkable book will become a classic. He gently, humbly, and with the intellectual penetration of a great mind approaches the delicate subject of our country's remarkable diversity (an historical anomaly, he notes.) Professor Schuck shows no fear or favor, and his book will contribute to our national conversation on diversity by asking many questions which have been unanswered by the many actors in American political life interested in affirmative action, religion, immigration and other diversity-related subjects. Hang on - something you took for granted will be questioned.

Liberal Pluralism: The Implications of Value Pluralism for Political Theory and Practice

Average customer rating:

Quite intelligent coming from such an intellectual

Liberal Pluralism: The Implications of Value Pluralism for Political Theory and Practice
William A. Galston
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Political | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Practice of Liberal Pluralism
Liberal Purposes: Goods, Virtues, and Diversity in the Liberal State (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy)
Public Matters: Politics, Policy, and Religion in the 21st Century
Political Liberalism (Columbia Classics in Philosophy)
Virtue and the Making of Modern Liberalism

ASIN: 052101249X

Book Description

William Galston is a distinguished political philosopher whose work is informed by the experience of having served from 1993-1995 as President Clinton's Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy. Isaiah Berlin first advanced the moral theory of value pluralism in the 1950s and it subsequently was developed by a number of distinguisthed scholars, including Galston. In Liberal Pluralism, Galston defends a version of value pluralism for political theory and practice. Against the contentions of John Gray and others, Galston argues that value pluralism undergirds a kind of liberal politics that gives great weight to the ability of individuals and groups to live their lives in accordance with their deepest beliefs about what gives meaning and purpose to life. This account of liberal pluralism is shown to have important implications for political deliberation and decision-making, for the design of public institutions, and for the division of legitimate authority among government, religious institutions, civil society, parents and families, and individuals. Liberal pluralism leads to a vision of a good society in which political institutions are active in a limited sphere and in which, within broad limits, families and civil associations may organize and conduct themselves in ways that are not congruent with the principles that govern the public sphere. William Galston is Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland and Director at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. He is the author of Liberal Purposes (Cambridge, 1991), which won the Spitz Prize. Galston's other books include Justice and the Human Good (Chicago, 1980) and IKant and the Problem of History (Chicago, 1975). He is also a Senior Advisor to the Democratic Leadership Council and the Progressive Policy Institute.

Download Description

William Galston is a distinguished political philosopher whose work is informed by the experience of having also served from 1993-1995 as President Clinton's Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy. He is thus able to speak with an authority unique amongst political theorists about the implications of advancing certain moral and political values in practice. The foundational argument of this book is that liberalism is compatible with the value pluralism first espoused by Isaiah Berlin. William Galston defends a version of value pluralism - liberal pluralism - and argues, against the contentions of John Gray and others, that it undergirds a kind of liberal politics that gives weight to the ability of individuals and groups to live their lives in accordance with their deepest beliefs about what gives meaning and purpose to life.

Customer Reviews:

Quite intelligent coming from such an intellectual.......2004-01-07

As you soar through billowing clouds of philosophy, five levels of abstraction above the earth without even an artificial horizon to guide you, it is comforting that Galston occasionally provides a peek through the mists to take a bearing from the world of reality. I was pleased to find that even as a non-philosopher I had a general notion of his whereabouts. I do wonder, however, if he couldn't have made his case using somewhat more accessible prose.

Galston's definition of liberalism is closer to the 18th century than today. It is the liberalism of toleration, based on "....two distinct principals, which I shall summarize under the headings of autonomy and diversity. By `autonomy' I mean self-direction.....By `diversity' I mean, straightforwardly, legitimate differences among individuals and groups over such matters as the nature of the good life, sources of moral authority, reason vs. faith, and the like."

John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism is on the right track, but misguided because he assumes a "sumum bonum", the greatest good for the greatest number. Galston points out that the real world is more difficult. Your values are different than mine. If I have season tickets to the Redskins and you season tickets to the opera, the best of all worlds is not to swap 50:50. Our tastes are different.

There is room for a great deal of diversity in the public, or civic sphere of our lives. Different churches, different restaurants, different types of books. We should each be free to pursue our own interests with minimum interference. Government should intrude as little as possible. Let the market decide whether the town will support a Chinese restaurant, a drag strip or a go-go bar, with the caveat that government can be brought in when there are legitimate conflicts of interest... such as the noise and traffic a drag strip might generate.

Government, because it has the power of coercion, should confine its spheres of interest to the greatest extent possible. Galston lines up with the Supreme Court when it struck down an Oregon law prohibiting private schools and an Iowa law outlawing instruction in the German language. It should stay out of religion except in extreme cases, such as sects that practice human sacrifice, etc. He is more tolerant of religion generally than most contemporary "liberals." He as much as says that he doesn't buy into Christian beliefs but respects the fact that said beliefs form the cornerstone of lives that are examples of virtue and industry.

Education is perhaps the most interesting sphere of investigation because it involves the formation of a new person who belongs in degrees that vary with time to his parents (forgive the gender usage here), the state, and to himself. The state has an interest to see that parents do not deprive a child of education, but parents have an equal right to see that the state does not indoctrinate their children with beliefs (evolution, the virtue of homosexuality) with which the parents disagree. Galston firmly supports the right of parents to choose from a plurality of educational options, even within the public sphere.

The word "libertarian" does not appear in the book, likely because it is more of a political than a philosophical concept. While I doubt Galston would characterize himself as such, his philosophical reasoning appears to me to point in that direction. Looking for a maximum of "liberal pluralism" would appear to mean keeping the government out of as many spheres as possible, and encouraging government to act at the most local appropriate level. He out and says that a law that works in a homogeneous European country is likely not to work in America, with its abundance of minorities and diverse religious sects. The degree to which wealth is redistributed, medicine and socialized, religion is tolerated in the schools can and should vary among places and peoples.

Even democracy is only a value, not an absolute. It is a means to his proposed end, value pluralism, as a consensus rather than a revealed notion of the best type of arrangement that can be made for people to live in comity. Galston points out several aspects of our society (the jury system, Federal Reserve) that do not operate by strictly democratic principles.

I'll stop here. This is a lay interpretation of a book that really belongs to the philosophers. I wish one would review it. As a footnote, Galston worked in the Clinton White House from 1993 to 1995. That is to say, for the guy I voted for instead of for the lying hypocrite I came to wish Congress had the guts to throw out. "Liberal Pluralism" is consistent with the story Mr. Clinton was telling in 1992.

(Added in 2005) I had the pleasure of taking a course from Dr. Galston at U of Md. last year. Rereading this review, it is quite consistent with the ideas he presented so well in class.

Emblems of Pluralism: Cultural Differences and the State (The Cultural Lives of Law)

Average customer rating:

Emblems of Pluralism: Cultural Differences and the State (The Cultural Lives of Law)
Carol Weisbrod
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Jurisprudence | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Federal Government | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

From outlawing polygamy and mandating public education to protecting the rights of minorities, the framing of group life by the state has been a subject of considerable interest and controversy throughout the history of the United States. The subject continues to be important in many countries. This book deals with state responses to cultural difference through the examination of a number of encounters between individuals, groups, and the state, in the United States and elsewhere. The book opens the concepts of groups and the state, arguing for the complexity of their relations and interpenetrations.

Carol Weisbrod draws on richly diverse historical and cultural material to explore various structures that have been seen as appropriate for adjusting relations between states and internal groups. She considers the experience of the Mormons, the Amish, and Native Americans in the United States, the Mennonites in Germany, and the Jews in Russia to illustrate arrangements and accommodations in different times and places. The Minorities Treaties of the League of Nations, political federalism, religious exemptions, nonstate schools, and rules about adoption are among the mechanisms discussed that sustain cultural difference and create frameworks for group life, and, finally, individual life. At bottom, Emblems of Pluralism concerns not only relations between the state and groups, public and private, but also issues of identity and relations between the self and others.

Pluralismo y constitucion / Pluralism and Constitution: Estudios De Teoria Constitucional De La Sociedad Abierta

Average customer rating:

Pluralismo y constitucion / Pluralism and Constitution: Estudios De Teoria Constitucional De La Sociedad Abierta
Peter Haberle
Manufacturer: Tecnos Editorial S a
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Una-L | Leyes | Libros en español | Formats | Books

Religion and Liberal Democracy: Piety, Politics and Pluralism

Average customer rating:

Religion and Liberal Democracy: Piety, Politics and Pluralism
Mary Segers
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Civil Rights & Liberties | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Church & State | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0742515141

Book Description

Piety, Politics, and Pluralism skillfully confronts the question: Is liberal democracy hostile to religion or is it compatible with the rights of believers? Prominent scholars analyze the controversy about religious freedom by examining two areas at the intersection of religion and politics in contemporary American society: the Supreme Court's 1990 decision in Oregon v. Smith and the events of the 2000 presidential campaign. Their essays remind us that in an increasingly pluralistic society, Americans must work continually to reconcile religious commitment and political obligation.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books