Mirroring Modernity: America's Conflicting Identities

Abstract

The idea of presupposes a moral community and a thick description of a distinctive moral character. Yet liberal principles prioritize the right over the good and avoid exclusive descriptions of national character lest they constrain individual autonomy and liberty. The American political experience-and the best reflections on it-exemplify and accentuate this tension. The United States is a modern nation and the strains inherent in nationhood are likely to become more pronounced and American citizens more disenchanted with their politics unless they understand how their country, like any liberal state, is neither a pure form of moral community nor the embodiment of pure procedural justice but aspires to elements of both.