Civic hope : how ordinary Americans keep democracy alive / Roderick P. Hart.
2018
JK1759 .H268 2018 (Mapit)
Available at General Collection
Formats
| Format | |
|---|---|
| BibTeX | |
| MARCXML | |
| TextMARC | |
| MARC | |
| DublinCore | |
| EndNote | |
| NLM | |
| RefWorks | |
| RIS |
Items
Details
Title
Civic hope : how ordinary Americans keep democracy alive / Roderick P. Hart.
Author
ISBN
9781108435628 (paperback)
1108435629 (paperback)
9781108422642 (hardcover)
1108422640 (hardcover)
1108435629 (paperback)
9781108422642 (hardcover)
1108422640 (hardcover)
Published
Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Language
English
Description
xvii, 356 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Call Number
JK1759 .H268 2018
Dewey Decimal Classification
323.6/50973
Summary
Civic Hope is a history of what everyday Americans say - in their own words - about the government overseeing their lives. Based on a highly original analysis of 10,000 letters to the editor from 1948 to the present published in twelve US cities, the book overcomes the limitations of survey data by revealing the reasons for people's attitudes. While Hart identifies worrisome trends - including a decline in writers' abilities to explain what their opponents believe and their attachment to national touchstones - he also shows why the nation still thrives. Civic Hope makes a powerful case that the vitality of a democracy lies not in its strengths but in its weaknesses and in the willingness of its people to address those weaknesses without surcease. The key, Hart argues, is to sustain a culture of argument at the grassroots level.
Note
Civic Hope is a history of what everyday Americans say - in their own words - about the government overseeing their lives. Based on a highly original analysis of 10,000 letters to the editor from 1948 to the present published in twelve US cities, the book overcomes the limitations of survey data by revealing the reasons for people's attitudes. While Hart identifies worrisome trends - including a decline in writers' abilities to explain what their opponents believe and their attachment to national touchstones - he also shows why the nation still thrives. Civic Hope makes a powerful case that the vitality of a democracy lies not in its strengths but in its weaknesses and in the willingness of its people to address those weaknesses without surcease. The key, Hart argues, is to sustain a culture of argument at the grassroots level.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Series
Communication, society, and politics.
Record Appears in
Table of Contents
The need for civic hope
The search for civic hope
The texture of civic hope
The future of civic hope.
The search for civic hope
The texture of civic hope
The future of civic hope.