Description
Book SynopsisThrough a broad and unusual cast of characters-from American social scientists and legal academics, to German refugee intellectuals, to the philosopher John Rawls-Debating the American State shows that the "leviathan" administrative state was never given a proper and principled justification by the liberals who built and supported it.
Trade Review"Richly detailed and sharply argued, this beautifully-realized intellectual history offers a fresh perspective on how key liberal thinkers, not least John Rawls, grappled with the American state the New Deal made. Anyone concerned to understand the immanent tensions characteristic of the inescapable collision between constitutional democracy and concentrated power should ponder this deep and original assessment, and should consider the compelling lessons and legacies it conveys." * Ira Katznelson, author of
Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time *
"An extremely well-researched and brilliantly analyzed study of the burgeoning growth and the missing legitimacy of the administrative state and its relationship to the ideal of the rule of law.
Debating the American State is a stellar example of deep and rigorous transdisciplinarity." * Elizabeth Borgwardt, author of
A New Deal for the World: America's Vision for Human Rights *
"Anne Kornhauser thinks with a flair of originality about important subjects and has a knack for explaining complicated political ideas in lucid, accessible language. Tracing in a highly original way how recent debates over liberalism originated during the New Deal and how they evolved since, her book is a major contribution to modern political and intellectual history and sheds light on the turbulent debates over democracy, the rule of law, and the power of the state with which we live." * Eric Foner, Columbia University *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Chapter 1. Leviathan and Its Discontents
Chapter 2. Democracy and Accountability in the Administrative State
Chapter 3. The Rule of Law When the State Goes to War
Chapter 4. Liberal Democracy Conducts an Occupation and a War Crimes Tribunal
Chapter 5. Individual Autonomy and the Modern American State: The Philosophy of John Rawls
Epilogue
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
