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United We Fall Ending America's Love Affair with the Political Center

Phil Neisser

Book Code: C35885

ISBN: 0-313-35885-0

ISBN-13: 978-0-313-35885-2

DOI:

248 pages, figure

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 6/30/2008

List Price: $49.95 (UK Sterling Price: £27.95)

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Endorsement From John Kenneth White,
Catholic University of America: Philip Neisser confronts and confounds the conventional wisdom. In a year where a longed-for unity is being promised and celebrated, Neisser argues that disagreement should be celebrated. Whether one agrees with Neisser or not, this provocative and elegantly written book brings much to our civic debate.
Endorsement From Sanford Schram,
Visiting Professor of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College: Phil Neisser's new book is an eloquent contribution to the literature on democratic dialogue, deftly displaying the essential role disagreement plays in promoting a robust democracy. Well situated in the relevant literature, the book practices what it preaches, taking issue with the received wisdom in ways both thoughtful and considerate. This is an important contribution to the scholarship on the subject that provides a model for a better politics.

Description: United We Fall argues that today's harmful levels of polarization in American politics can be ratcheted down only by giving up the twin notions that the center is the sweet spot for political efficiency and that all differences deserve equal weight in the democratic balance. The American people needs instead to embrace a political credo of civic engagement, confrontation with open ears, and spirited debate. The commonplace "United We Stand" must be supplanted by the insight that democracy is strongest where it acknowledges and formalizes real division. But surely bipartisan rancor in America and extremist violence around the world are symptoms of too much disagreement--not too little? No, asserts the author: The root cause of political violence of all stripes is the failure of opposing camps to engage each other openly and persuasively on their genuine and irreconcilable differences. In making the case for principled disagreement, United We Fall reviews the history of good and bad disagreement practices in American politics, analyzes our mass media through a pro-disagreement lens, and draws on studies of conformist group behavior to expose the manipulative dynamics of contemporary dialog initiatives. Neisser assesses best practices for conducting public debate at all civic levels on the most vexed issues in America today: terrorism, multiculturalism, religion in politics, social and family values, race, the media, education, and the environment.

Table of Contents:

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Disagreement Today
2. A Mixed Disagreement Legacy
3. Argument after World War II
4. United We Stand and Conspiracy Thinking
5. The Strange Case of the Mass Media
6. Democracy as Conversation
7. Multiculturalism with Principle
8. Disagreement Practice
9. Freedom and Disagreement

LC Card Number: 2008016467

LCC Class: JC328

Dewey Class: 324


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