Democracy and Authenticity

In Democracy and Authenticity Professor Howard Schweber examines a basic problem for liberal democracies. When a political entity is characterized by a multitude of identities and values, certain constraints apply to reasons for citizens and public officials to justify coercive political actions. The author argues that justifications based on particular religious doctrines are not a proper basis for government actions that affect everyone. He then develops a concept of public justification intended to guide citizens in a liberal democracy through the work of creating policies that satisfy their responsibilities to one another.

Howard H. Schweber is Professor of political science and legal studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received the William T. Kiekhoffer award for Distinguished Teaching in 2006. He is the author of The Language of Liberal Constitutionalism (Cambridge, 2007); The Creation of American Common Law, 1850-1880: Technology, Politics, and the Construction of Citizenship (Cambridge, 2004); and Speech, Conduct and the First Amendment (2003).