Democracy and Excellence Concord or Conflict?

Subjects:

• Political Science » Political Philosophy
• Political Science » Political Science (General)

Reviews:

• Neal Riemer was a prolific scholar who combined interests in democratic theory, religion, and ethics. Published after Riemer's death in 2001, this collection of essays by some of the top names in this field addresses the tension between democracy and excellence. The spirit of Tocqueville animates many of them, and Riemer, like Tocqueville himself, expresses reasonable optimism that with constant effort, these values may be reconciled. Glenn Tinder finds in Thucydides the lesson that although democracy can exist without excellence, excellence requires the existence of democracy. For Edward Long, the variety of religious practice renders it impossible objectively to define excellence in religion. Wilson Carey McWilliams explores the tension between democracy and excellence in Mark Twain's work. Patrick Deneen suggests that the ordinary virtues of democratic citizenship are more extraordinary than acts of valor that typically garner praise. Brett Gary resurrects the ideal of a competent democratic public that is not simply a victim of manipulation. Jeffrey Becker considers Franklin Roosevelt as an individual who embodied both of the values in question. Finally, Joseph Romance suggests that perhaps democracy should promote "those homely virtues of toleration and acceptance" over excellence, the lure of which may lead one astray. Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduates and higher.
  —Choice July 2006
• Reimer has been a leading proponent of reintroducing and revivifying the central role of democratic theory in American political discourse. His The Revival of Democratic Theory of 1962 is now a classic of its kind. In these eight articles contributors work through Reimer's ideas, including how one can define and achieve excellence in an egalitarian society. Their topics include reconciling democracy and excellence, Thucydides on democracy and chaos, equality and excellence in American religion, Mark Twain's political thought, ordinary virtue, the competent public, Tocqueville and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the dangerous allure of excellence.
  —Reference & Research Book News November 2005

Table of Contents:

• Preface by William Rogers
• On the Problem of Reconciling Democracy and Excellence by Neal Riemer
• Thucydides: Democracy and Chaos by Glenn Tinder
• Equality and Excellence in American Religion by Edward LeRoy Long
• Minstrels, Kings and Citizens: Mark Twain's Political Thought by Wilson Carey McWilliams
• Ordinary Virtue by Patrick Deneen
• The Search for a Competent Public: The Hutchins Commission and Post-World War II Democratic Possibilities by Brett Gary
• Democratic Excellence and the Dilemma of Amibition in American Politics: A Study of Tocqueville and Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Jeffrey Becker
• The Dangerous Allure of Excellence by Joseph Romance
• Notes