Making sense of American liberalism

Abstract

This book offers refreshing and intelligent new perspectives on postwar American liberalism. The book challenges popular myths about liberalism in the United States. It presents the Democratic Party and liberal reform efforts such as civil rights, feminism, labor, and environmentalism as a more united, more radical force than has been depicted in scholarship and the media emphasizing the decline and disunity of the left. Chapters assess the problems liberals have confronted in the twentieth century, examine their strategies for change, and chart the successes and potential for future liberal reform. Each chapter tackles a different example of the challenges and achievements of liberal politics, from organized labor to the links between liberalism and social democracy in U.S. political life. The book emphasizes the powerful liberal reform impulse in making modern American politics, while remaining cognizant of the importance of the right in shaping policy and ideology.