Liberalism & the Liberal StateFurious Fancies: American Political Thought in the Post-Liberal Era. By Philip Abbott Social Justice in the Liberal State. By Bruce A. Ackerman Political Philosophy and the Issues of Politics. By Joseph Cropsey The Collapse of Liberal Empire: Science and Revolution in the Twentieth Century. By Paul N. Goldstene Approaches to Democracy: Philosophy of Government at the

Abstract

The books under consideration represent current ways of thinking about liberalism and the liberal democratic state. That liberal democracy is riddled with problems is generally acknowledged. The symptoms are familiar enough: racial discrimination, breakup of the family, social injustice, inflation, and so on. These problems affect the standing of liberal democracy both at home and abroad. There is skepticism as to its workability in its present, or any other, form. Critics go beyond liberal democracy's failure to deal with the obvious problems and attempt to discover their causes, emerging with at least two distinct interpretations. Some writers allege that the liberal state's institutions are not democratic (or democratic enough). They would reorganize them so as to make them democratic (or more democratic) by making them more responsive to popular aspirations (for example, reform the party system