Civic Hope: How Ordinary Americans Keep Democracy Alive (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781108435628)

Civic Hope is a history of what everyday Americans say - in their own words - about the government overseeing their lives. Based on a highly original analysis of 10,000 letters to the editor from 1948 to the present published in twelve US cities, the book overcomes the limitations of survey data by revealing the reasons for people's attitudes. While Hart identifies worrisome trends - including a decline in writers' abilities to explain what their opponents believe and their attachment to national touchstones - he also shows why the nation still thrives. Civic Hope makes a powerful case that the vitality of a democracy lies not in its strengths but in its weaknesses and in the willingness of its people to address those weaknesses without surcease. The key, Hart argues, is to sustain a culture of argument at the grassroots level.

Author: Roderick P. Hart
ISBN-10: 1108435629
ISBN-13: 9781108435628
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/22/2018
Pages: 370
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2018