Democracy's discontent : America in search of a public philosophy / Michael J. Sandel.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [353]-[406]) and index.

1. The Public Philosophy of Contemporary Liberalism -- 2. Rights and the Neutral State -- 3. Religious Liberty and Freedom of Speech -- 4. Privacy Rights and Family Law -- 5. Economics and Virtue in the Early Republic -- 6. Free Labor versus Wage Labor -- 7. Community, Self-Government, and Progressive Reform -- 8. Liberalism and the Keynesian Revolution -- 9. The Triumph and Travail of the Procedural Republic -- Conclusion: In Search of a Public Philosophy.

Despite the success of American life in the last half-century - unprecedented affluence, greater social justice for women and minorities, the end of the Cold War - our politics is rife with discontent. Americans are frustrated with government. We fear we are losing control of the forces that govern our lives, and that the moral fabric of community - from neighborhood to nation - is unraveling around us.

What ails democracy in America today, and what can be done about it? Democracy's Discontent traces our political predicament to a defect in the public philosophy by which we live. In a searching account of current controversies over the role of government, the scope of rights and entitlements, and the place of morality in politics, Michael Sandel identifies the dominant public philosophy of our time and finds it flawed.

The defect, Sandel maintains, lies in the impoverished vision of citizenship and community shared by Democrats and Republicans alike. American politics has lost its civic voice, leaving both liberals and conservatives unable to inspire the sense of community and civic engagement that self-government requires.