In search of progressive America / edited by Michael Kazin ; with Frans Becker and Menno Hurenkamp.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Kazin, Michael, 1948-

Becker, Frans.

Hurenkamp, Menno, 1971-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Progressivism (United States politics).

United States--Politics and government--2001-2009.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (168 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Nearly every recent poll finds that most voters agree with views historically labeled as liberal: a hike in the minimum wage, government-mandated health insurance for every American, stronger gun control laws, broader sex education programs, laws that would make it easier for unions to organize, and the use of diplomacy instead of war to combat terrorism. But as a conservative presidential administration exits, how can progressives step into the breach? In Search of Progressive America presents ten essays by journalists, academics, and government insiders that address the current state of promise and debate within the Left in U.S. politics. The political atmosphere that confronts progressives still poses challenges, and the authors propose thoughtful ways to create a new political order by building an inclusive, durable coalition. The collection covers several of the most significant aspects of American political life. Matthew Yglesias, Andrew Bacevich, and Gary Gerstle offer three sober evaluations of the United States in world affairs and the impact of the world on American minds. Next, Todd Gitlin and Andrew Rich examine the struggle to control the messages of politics, through the mainstream media and think tanks, respectively. Ezra Klein, Dean Baker, Karen Kornbluh, and Nelson Lichtenstein each call for major changes in domestic policy grounded in both history and common sense. Finally, Michael Kazin recalls the era when Christian activists were found more often on the left than on the right and argues that a second coming of religious progressivism might be possible today.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Introduction Toward a Second Coming? / Kazin, Michael

Chapter 1. Democrats and the World / Yglesias, Matthew

Chapter 2. Cultivating Our Own Garden / Bacevich, Andrew J.

Chapter 3. America's Encounter with Immigrants / Gerstle, Gary

Chapter 4. The Media Obstacle / Gitlin, Todd

Chapter 5. Think Tanks and the War of Ideas in American Politics / Rich, Andrew

Chapter 6. From Incremental to Transformative Change / Klein, Ezra

Chapter 7. Rebuilding the Welfare State in the United States / Baker, Dean

Chapter 8. Families Valued / Kornbluh, Karen

Chapter 9. How Labor Can Win / Lichtenstein, Nelson

Chapter 10. The Once and Future Christian Left / Kazin, Michael

Notes

Contributors

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [149]-157).

ISBN:

9780812209099

0812209095

OCLC:

859161098