Civic hope
Subtitle: how ordinary Americans keep democracy alive
By: Roderick P. Hart
Series: Communication, society and politics; Communication, society, and politics
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 356
ISBN-13: 9781108422642; 9781108435628
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: Citizenship; Democracy; Political participation
Other titles: How ordinary Americans keep democracy alive
Description: Civic Hope is a history of what everyday Americans say - in their own words - about the government overseeing their lives. Based on a highly original analysis of 10,000 letters to the editor from 1948 to the present published in twelve US cities, the book overcomes the limitations of survey data by revealing the reasons for people's attitudes. While Hart identifies worrisome trends - including a decline in writers' abilities to explain what their opponents believe and their attachment to national touchstones - he also shows why the nation still thrives. Civic Hope makes a powerful case that the vitality of a democracy lies not in its strengths but in its weaknesses and in the willingness of its people to address those weaknesses without surcease. The key, Hart argues, is to sustain a culture of argument at the grassroots level.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The need for civic hope; title: The search for civic hope; title: The texture of civic hope; title: The future of civic hope.