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Article: Public Morality and Liberal Society.
- Article from:
- American Political Science Review
- Article date:
- December 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Cambridge University Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dennis G. Stevens, Augustana College
In opposition to dominant trends in scholarship and changing popular attitudes, Harry Clot presents a careful, reasoned argument on behalf of what he calls "an ethic of decency" (p. 14). This ethic, he suggests, is essential to the health and survival of liberal democracy in ways that are rarely recognized today. He writes for both the educated citizen and the professional scholar, with the earlier chapters addressing broad subjects in nontechnical language and the later chapters focusing on more abstract, scholarly controversies. The argument of the book is characterized by the same moderation that Clot hopes will reemerge in ...