A Strange Drift to the Right

The Civic Historiography of Michael Sandel

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12075596
AutoresR Claire Snyder (George Mason University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2003
Volumen25
Número3
Páginas309-328
Fecha de publicación2003-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNew Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0739-3148 • E-ISSN: 1469-9931
EditorialRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07393140307182
OpenAlexW2042476037
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas31

Michael Sandel's Democracy's Discontent strives to contribute to the project of "democratic theory," which aims to bring people together across ideological differences. Sandel wants to revitalize citizenship by uniting religious conservatives and those committed to a more just political economy through an appeal to the American tradition of civic republicanism. However, his project is fundamentally incoherent. First, Sandel's narrative conflates the republican and religious aspects of the American founding, ignoring the fact that civic republican political theory actually developed in direct opposition to the ideal of a Christian polity. Second, his version of civic republicanism deviates from the historic tradition in a way that renders it much more conservative than it actually was and might still be. Third, his reading of American history consistently highlights conservative themes. Consequently, Sandel ultimately undercuts the progressive aspects of his own vision, detracting from rather than contributing to the transideological aspirations of "democratic theory

Appeal · Citizenship · Democracy · Historiography · Ideology · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Politics of the United States · Polity · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Religion and Society Interactions