The Liberal Polity An Inquiry into the Logic

Traditional liberal argument proceeds by building a theory of civil association upon antecedent moral considerations and by focusing almost exclusively on the independent individual, thus ignoring the group-centered nature of social life. Because of these twin commitments, traditional liberal theory has difficulty accommodating the disparate illiberal and non-liberal group presences within the liberal polity. The purpose of this work is to advance a more comprehensive liberal theory of civil association, one capable of establishing a politics of unity within the polity regardless of the moral, religious, and ideological differences that might be present there. It does so first by defending civil association in prudential rather than moral terms, and second by shifting the focus of inquiry from the abstract individual to the presence of intergroup conflict within the polity. A theory of toleration is developed to indicate how tolerance problems between groups should be fairly and justly addressed by the liberal polity. Book jacket.

Craig L. Carr teaches Political Theory at the Hatfield School of Government, Portland State University, USA

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The politics of the modern state	p. 2
Liberalism and the modern state	p. 6
Practical liberalism	p. 12
A Prolegomenon to Political Thought	p. 20
Political argument and the demands of audience	p. 24
Conflict, compromise, and the politics of interests	p. 33
Ideals, interests, and the politics of principle	p. 44
A Politics of Principle	p. 48
Manufacturing unity: Practical argument and social diversity	p. 48
The sociology of liberal politics	p. 56
Pluralism and political argument	p. 61
The liberal principle	p. 64
Prudence, persuasion, and practical argument	p. 68
Stability, civility, and the politics of principle	p. 79
Freedom and Toleration	p. 83
Toleration	p. 84
A schematic of liberal toleration	p. 91
Forbearance and non-interference	p. 98
Group recruitment and retention	p. 110
Conclusion	p. 116
Toleration and Group Autonomy	p. 118
Liberal toleration and bad moral faith	p. 119
Hatred, prejudice, and bigotry	p. 128
Toleration and the practice of private discrimination	p. 137
Toleration, social stability, and civic education	p. 146
Conclusion: The price of toleration	p. 157
Stability, Legitimacy, and the Liberal Polity	p. 159
The theory and practice of political stability	p. 160
The theory and practice of prudential argument	p. 164
The pursuit of political legitimacy	p. 175
Uncertainty, risk aversion, and choice	p. 180
Social dynamics in theory and practice	p. 186
Conclusion: Unstable stability	p. 189
Justice, Fairness, and the Making of Civility	p. 192
In the shadow of Hobbes	p. 194
Toward a theory of social justice	p. 200
Fairness, civility, and associational morality	p. 213
Goodness and justice in the liberal polity	p. 220
Conclusion	p. 225
Epilogue	p. 226
Notes	p. 230
Index	p. 249
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

The Liberal Polity An Inquiry into the Logic of Civil Association

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials