Civic Hope How Ordinary Americans Keep Democracy Alive

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...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hard, Roderick R. (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Cambridge ; New York, NY Cambridge University Press 2018
Series:Communication, society, and politics
Subjects:
Online Access:Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
Physical Description:xvii, 356 pages illustrations 24 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN:9781108422642
9781108435628