Why We Lost the ERA
-
- $37.99
-
- $37.99
Publisher Description
In this work, Jane Mansbridge’s fresh insights uncover a significant democratic irony - the development of self-defeating, contradictory forces within a democratic movement in the course of its struggle to promote its version of the common good. Mansbridge’s book is absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in democratic theory and practice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This postmortem of the Equal Rights Amendment and the turbulent "ERA decade'' of 19721982 is thoroughly researched, meticulously footnoted, judiciously balanced and mercifully free of ax-grinding. Mansbridge (Beyond Adversary Democracy, a professor of political science and sociology at Northwestern University, pinpoints the major causes of the ERA movement's decline and ultimate demise: the ideological purity of its volunteers, mushrooming power of the new right, and legislative skepticism and fear of judicial authority. Although she laments the passing of a decade of feminist activity that saw national attention focused on the public and private roles of women, she welcomes the current ferment of debate, asserting that the drive for ERA ratification compelled its backers into an artificial posture of unity that checked the flow of innovative ideas. Mansbridge's discussions on the depth of American traditionalism and the vagaries of organizations are particularly apt.
