Synopses & Reviews
"American exceptionalism" is the scholarly term for the common perception that there is something different about American life, stemming from the origins of the United States and its subsequent evolution, and marking it off from the experience of other developed nations. There is a long, rich, and varied argument about this perception, its reality, and its component elements. In Is America Different?, major scholars from the realms of history, politics, economics, and sociology return to the question in the light of changes in the last thirty years and debate an answer which is appropriate to our time. Politics, economics, religion, culture, education, and public policy receive particular attention in this debate, while a major introductory essay by Seymour Martin Lipset and a final integrating chapter by Byron E. Shafer isolate common themes and recurring disputes. Providing valuable insights into the dilemma of American exceptionalism, this book will interest scholars and students of American studies, American government, American history, politics, and sociology.
Review
"Shafer's volume sets and intellectual and scholarly standard for discussion and debate."--American Political Science Review
Table of Contents
Preface
Overview: American Exceptionalism Reaffirmed, Seymour Martin Lipset, Stanford University
Politics: The Hegelian Secret: Civil Society and American Exceptionalism, Daniel Bell, Harvard University
Economics: Free Land and Federalism: American Economic Exceptionalism, Peter Temin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Religion: American Exceptionalism: The Religious Phenomenon, Andrew M. Greeley, University of Arizona and NORC
Culture: Resolved, that Individualism and Egalitarianism be Made Compatible in America: Political-Cultural Roots of Exceptionalism, Aaron Wildavsky, University of Caifornia
Education: American Higher Education: "Exceptional" or Just Different?, Martin Trow, University of California
Public Policy: Is American Public Policy Exceptional?, Richard Rose, University of Strathclyde
Afterword: What is the American Way? Four Themes in Search of their Next Incarnation, Byron E. Shafer, Oxford University