The fight for liberalism.

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  • Author(s): Katznelson, Ira
  • Source:
    Nation. 7/14/1997, Vol. 265 Issue 2, p22-24. 3p.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      LIBERALISM; POLICY sciences; RIGHT & left (Political science); PRACTICAL politics; SOCIAL theory
    • Subject Terms:
      UNITED StatesReport Available
    • Abstract:
      The article presents the author's comments on the fight for liberalism in the U.S. The author says that the left lacks an effective public philosophy. Moreover, in the absence of a coherent and appealing public philosophy, post-New Deal Democratic Party liberalism has taken on an identity as a collection of failed or badly implemented public policies only vaguely connected to one another, undisciplined by a guiding purpose. Geared to one issue at a time, this kind of politics solicits the attention of narrow interest groups and high-money rollers, polluting politics, distorting spending priorities, warping the civic sphere and delegitimizing the party system and the political process.