The Strange Death of Liberal America

Subjects:

• Political Science » American Politics/Government
• Political Science » Political Philosophy
• Political Science » Political History

Reviews:

• The Strange Death of Liberal America is an important book, both as cultural artifact and impassioned historical paean. It's an enlightening and highly-recommended read for lefties and historians alike.
  —Progressive Historians June 2007
• [T]he book is insightful and passionate. Some important primary materials get close attention, such as the voting rights-ear Mississippi Sovereignty Commission files and the more recent Internal Revenue Service documents concerning the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund and its links to the Brooks Brothers riot. Most citations are to journalistic sources. There is also a useful internet bibliography.
  —Political Science Quarterly Winter 2006-07
• This is a book that belongs on the shelf next to George Lakoffs Whose Freedom? Although the title sounds dark, Brauer argues that Liberal America not dead, but appears to be in the ICU after decades of relentless assault by an alliance of opposing forces. He goes on to offer the hopeful message that even this appearance is deceiving. Ralph Brauer makes a convincing case that the American people are still capable of waking up and demanding a return to the principles they have always stood for, if only someone offers coherent leadership with integrity....This is an important book clear in its thought, well organized, written in a conversational style that flows well. Like Al Gores film An Inconvenient Truth, this is material that could have been dry, but instead is passionate. I only wish there were some way to make sure the people running the Democratic party would read this book and take its points to heart.
  —Bring it On (blog) September 20, 2006
• Liberal America, in the formulation of Brauer, consisted of a commitment to the idea that government exists to keep the playing field level in the areas of economic and social justice, educational equity, voting rights, and media fairness. He believes that this commitment has declined in recent years and identifies the reason for the decline as a combination of a Republic counterrevolution dedicated to rolling back the ideals of the New Deal, the inability of Republicans or Democrats to answer questions raised by the civil rights and feminist movements, and the shift of suburban America from a place of opportunity to a battleground of economic and cultural conflict.
  —Reference & Research Book News August 2006
• [A] fascinating examination of how American attitudes shifted sharply to the political right in recent times. Part modern political history, part lamentation for the abandonment of the liberal ideal in which government exists to keep the playing field level, part cautionary tale of the social ills promoted by policies that increasingly favor the rich, the powerful, and the corporations over struggling ordinary citizens, The Strange Death of Liberal America is fascinating and slightly unnerving in its grim survey of the past and dark predictions for the future. From suburban obsession with minutia rather than the broad picture, to subtle rollbacks in civil rights, to the drumbeat of fear that the so-called Counterrevolution plays to scare voters into falling in line with its social agenda, The Strange Death of Liberal America exposes all in no-nonsense, clear and charged language.
  —Midwest Book Review August 2006
• Seeking to understand contemporary U.S. political culture and the political divisions within the country, Brauer offers an analysis with a liberal slant.
  —Library Journal 10/1/2006

Table of Contents:

• Preface
  Introduction
  The Counterrevolution
  Economic Justice: Strom
  Educational Equity: Devil's Bargains
  Voting Rights: Bush v. Gore
  Media Fairness: A Magical Mystery Tour
  Civil Rights Revolutions Raise Questions
  Economic Justice: Corked Bats
  Educational Equity: Green with Envy
  Voting Rights: Mrs. Hamer's Question
  Media Fairness: The Two Faces of Martha Stewart
  The Suburban Uprising
  Economic Justice: Home Depot
  Educational Equity: The Last Battle
  Voting Rights: Red and Blue Lemmings
  Media Fairness: The SUV and the Monolith
  Conclusion: Shifting Winds
  Select Bibliography