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Beyond Tocqueville: Civil Society and the Social Capital Debate in Comparative Perspective. Edited by Bob Edwards, Michael W. Foley, and Mario Diani. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2001. 340p. $25.00.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2002

Steven Johnston
Steven Johnston
Affiliation:
University of South Florida
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Extract

Tocqueville observed, “I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.” Moreover, he continued, “Freedom of opinion does not exist in America.” With the United States committed to a war (not to be called a crusade) against terrorism, these words from Tocqueville seem apt. If indeed the world changed on 11 September 2001, perhaps it became Manichean. Good versus evil, civilization versus barbarism, modernity versus medievalism, freedom versus fundamentalism, us versus them: These are the terms of political discourse. In the new order, you are either with the United States and the World or you are against it. Time to decide. War abhors ambiguity.

Type
Book Review
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 96 , Issue 2 , June 2002 , pp. 402 - 403
Copyright
2002 by the American Political Science Association

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