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American Politics

The Promise of Disharmony
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( 123 ratings, 15 reviews)
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Samuel P. Huntington's American Politics explores the deep, enduring conflict between the ideals of American democracyβ€”liberty, equality, and resistance to authorityβ€”and the practical realities of governance. Tracing four major political upheavals across generations, Huntington reveals how each movement sought to reform institutions to better align with national ideals. Spanning the American Revolution, the Jacksonian and Progressive Eras, and the protest movements of the 1960s, this incisive work analyses the struggle to resolve the persistent tension between idealism and power in American history.
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Ideal for students and scholars of politics and history, this book offers a thought-provoking analysis suited to readers interested in American political development and the challenges of democracy. It will also engage those seeking a deeper understanding of the forces shaping modern America.

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Huntington examines the persistent gap between the promise of American ideals and the performance of American politics. He shows how Americans have always been united by the democratic creed of liberty, equality, and hostility to authority, but how these ideals have been frustrated through institutions and hierarchies needed to govern a democracy.

Professor Huntington has brilliantly set forth the persisting conflict between American ideals and American institutions which can energize our society or paralyze it, depending on whether it is understood for what it is. A liberating insight; a brilliant book. -- Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan Samuel Huntington is not only a preeminent scholar of modern governing institutions and their underlying ideas, democratic and otherwise; he has also often served as adviser to policymakers in several nations, including our own. His book should be read by everyone who is concerned with the capacity of our institutions to meet the fearful challenges they now face. -- Austin Ranney, American Enterprise Institute This controversial book will spark considerable debate about American values, the origins and meaning of reform, and foreign policy. It will influence current discussions of the United States, and it will change the way we think about American political and social behavior. -- Seymour Martin Lipset, Stanford University

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This stunningly persuasive book examines the persistent, radical gap between the promise of American ideals and the performance of American politics. Samuel P. Huntington shows how Americans, throughout their history as a nation, have been united by the democratic creed of liberty, equality, and hostility to authority. At the same time, he reveals how, inevitably, these ideals have been perennially frustrated through the institutions and hierarchies required to carry on the essential functions of governing a democratic society.

From this antagonism between the ideals of democracy and the realities of power have risen four great political upheavals in American history. Every third generation, Huntington argues, Americans have tried to reconstruct their institutions to make them more truly reflect deeply rooted national ideals. Moving from the clenched fists and mass demonstrations of the 1960s, to the moral outrage of the Progressive and Jacksonian Eras, back to the creative ideological fervour of the American Revolution, he incisively analyses the dissenters' objectives. All, he pungently writes, sought to remove the fundamental disharmony between the reality of government in America and the ideals on which the American nation was founded.

Huntington predicts that the tension between ideals and institutions is likely to increase in this country in the future. And he reminds us that the fate of liberty and democracy abroad is intrinsically linked to the strength of our power in world affairs. This brilliant and controversial analysis deserves to rank alongside the works of Tocqueville, Bryce, and Hofstadter and will become a classic commentary on the meaning of America.

American Politics by Samuel P. Huntington is more than just a book; it is an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand the intricate dance between ideals and reality in the fabric of American society.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674030213

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 February 2004

Country: United States

Imprint: The Belknap Press

Illustration: 6 tables, 1 line illustration

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 19.0mm

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 476g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Samuel P. Huntington was Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University and the author of The Clash of Civilizations, The Soldier and the State, Political Order in Changing Societies, and American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony, among other books.

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  • The Soldier and the State
    In a classic work, Samuel P. Huntington challenges most of the old assumptions and ideas on the role of the military in society. Stressing the value of the military outlook for American national policy, Huntington has performed the distinctive task of developing a general theory of civil–military relations and subjecting it to rigorous historical analysis. Part One presents the general...
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    This now-classic examination of the development of viable political institutions in emerging nations is a major and enduring contribution to modern political analysis. In a new Foreword, Francis Fukuyama assesses Huntington's achievement, examining the context of the book's original publication as well as its lasting importance. American Political Science Review describes this pioneering volume: "examining as it does the relation...
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