Richard E. Flathman, Pluralism and Liberal Democracy (Book Review‪)‬

Richard E. Flathman, Pluralism and Liberal Democracy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), vii + 218 pp. The constellation of issues concerning the relation of pluralism to liberal democracy could not be more deserving of the attention of contemporary political philosophers. Both domestically and globally, we live within increasingly diverse social contexts, where distinct and potentially opposed cultures, communities, moral doctrines, ways of life, and religious systems cannot avoid mutual confrontation. Since liberal democracy is based in the idea that the political legitimacy of the state is rooted in the consent of the governed, theorists of liberal democracy must address the problem of how a regime may win widespread and continuing consent among people who disagree strongly over moral fundamentals. In Pluralism and Liberal Democracy, Richard Flathman addresses this issue by means of an examination of four otherwise disparate thinkers, each of whom espouses some variety of pluralism. In a synthesizing final chapter, Flathman attempts to articulate a vision of liberalism that incorporates the virtues of each thinker's pluralism.