The Just State

Rethinking Self-Government

Richard Dien Winfield

At a time when the enemies of democracy cannot be dissuaded by appeals to shared values and conventions, nothing is more pressing than a thoroughgoing investigation of what the state should be. Whereas contemporary thinkers have mostly relativized political justice or conceived it as a formal concept lacking institutional detail, The Just State provides a comprehensive theory of self-government, legitimating democracy and concretely conceiving how political institutions should be organized. Carefully and clearly evaluating the fundamental options of normative political theory, philosopher Richard Dien Winfield shows how political self-determination has an exclusive validity independent of any assumptions, enabling democracy to be successfully defended against postmodernists and antimodern fundamentalists. Winfield first examines the household, social, and cultural transformations that enable political emancipation. He then methodically details how self-government should be organized. Uniquely addressing all the central issues embroiling contemporary politics, The Just State determines how political parties should function; resolves controversies between participatory and representative democracy, majoritarian and proportional representation, presidential and parliamentary systems, and federalism and centralization; and examines the ramifications of international relations for political freedom. By tackling all the questions that political philosophers have abandoned to neutral description by political scientists, Winfield reclaims political relevance for normative theory. The Just State will be of key interest to law students, politicians, and citizens at large who wrestle with what a just constitution should mandate, how positive laws should be legislated and enforced, what content they should have, and how their constitutionality should be determined.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Humanities Press

Pages: 432 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-59102-317-3 • Hardback • March 2005 • $58.00 • (£45.00)

Subjects: Political Science / American Government / General, Philosophy / Political, Political Science / Political Ideologies / Democracy

The Just State

Rethinking Self-Government

Hardback

Summary

At a time when the enemies of democracy cannot be dissuaded by appeals to shared values and conventions, nothing is more pressing than a thoroughgoing investigation of what the state should be. Whereas contemporary thinkers have mostly relativized political justice or conceived it as a formal concept lacking institutional detail, The Just State provides a comprehensive theory of self-government, legitimating democracy and concretely conceiving how political institutions should be organized. Carefully and clearly evaluating the fundamental options of normative political theory, philosopher Richard Dien Winfield shows how political self-determination has an exclusive validity independent of any assumptions, enabling democracy to be successfully defended against postmodernists and antimodern fundamentalists. Winfield first examines the household, social, and cultural transformations that enable political emancipation. He then methodically details how self-government should be organized. Uniquely addressing all the central issues embroiling contemporary politics, The Just State determines how political parties should function; resolves controversies between participatory and representative democracy, majoritarian and proportional representation, presidential and parliamentary systems, and federalism and centralization; and examines the ramifications of international relations for political freedom. By tackling all the questions that political philosophers have abandoned to neutral description by political scientists, Winfield reclaims political relevance for normative theory. The Just State will be of key interest to law students, politicians, and citizens at large who wrestle with what a just constitution should mandate, how positive laws should be legislated and enforced, what content they should have, and how their constitutionality should be determined.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Humanities Press

Pages: 432 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-59102-317-3 • Hardback • March 2005 • $58.00 • (£45.00)

Subjects: Political Science / American Government / General, Philosophy / Political, Political Science / Political Ideologies / Democracy

Reviews

""Winfield has produced a tightly argued work....Recommended." —Choice“While Winfield is in one sense rewriting Hegel's system as it applies to political philosophy, he is equally writing an entirely novel and original contribution. His ability to create this vision in the ambitious systematic picture he provides is truly incredible and exciting to uncover....Winfield's The Just State is a highly interesting tour de force.”—Political Studies Review
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The Just State

Rethinking Self-Government

Richard Dien Winfield

The Just State

Rethinking Self-Government

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