Lexington Books
Pages: 356
•
Trim: 6 x 8¾
978-1-4985-1142-1 • Hardback • June 2015 • $92.00 • (£65.00)
978-1-4985-1144-5 • Paperback • May 2019 • $36.99 • (£24.95)
978-1-4985-1143-8 • eBook • June 2015 • $35.00 • (£23.95)
Christopher Beem is associate research professor of political science and managing director of the McCourtney Institute of Democracy at Penn State University.
Chapter 1: Moderating our Pretensions: Niebuhr on Being Human
Chapter 2: Between Sentimentality and Pessimism: Niebuhr on Democracy
Chapter 3: Neuroscientists for Niebuhr
Chapter 4: Rattlers and Eagles/Democrats and Republicans
Chapter 5: Partisan Infotainment: A New Business Model for the New Media
Chapter 6: Partisan Infotainment and Democracy: Not All Bad, Not Half Good
Chapter 7: Weapons and Instruments: Using Government to Fix Government
Chapter 8: Religion: “a constant fount of humility”
Chapter 9: “Guardians of Democracy”: Democratic Humility through Civic Education
Conclusion: Democratic Humility
This learned, engagingly written, and passionate book combines the wise theology of Reinhold Niebhur, recent cognitive science, and evidence about the debased state of American politics to advance a persuasive argument for learning humility. Anyone who wants to improve our democracy should read it.
— Peter Levine, Lincoln Filene Professor, Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University
— Peter Levine, Tufts University
Anyone concerned about the acrimonious state of our public life will benefit from reading Christopher Beem’s lively and imaginative study, which draws on the work of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr to explain how we got into the current fix, and what we will need to do get out of it. He makes a strong case for a revitalized form of civic education, one designed not merely to teach the facts about American citizenship, but to model and reinforce the virtues of democratic humility in young Americans. Required reading.
— Wilfred M. McClay, University of Oklahoma