The Fractured Republic
Renewing America's Social Contract in the Age of Individualism
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From a leading conservative intellectual, a clearheaded assessment of why American society is so fragmented—and innovative proposals for strengthening the nation
“Should be required reading for all those trying to understand contemporary America.” —Financial Times
Americans today are anxious—about the economy, about politics, about our government. The institutions that once dominated our culture have become smaller, more diverse, and personalized. Individualism has come at the cost of dwindling solidary. No wonder, then, that voters and politicians alike are nostalgic for a time of social cohesion and economic success.
But the policies of the past are inadequate for the America of today. Both parties are stuck presenting old solutions to new problems. In The Fractured Republic, Yuval Levin details his innovative answers to the dysfunctions of our fragmented national life. By embracing subsidiarity and diversity and rejecting extremism and nostalgia, he believes we can revive the middle layers of society and enable an American revival. The Fractured Republic helps us navigate our fraught political waters.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Levin (The Great Debate), founder and editor of National Affairs, examines America's "subculture wars" in this disappointing book-length essay. He posits that the country's economic and cultural fracturing, as seen in the rise of a two-class society and the polarization of politics, haunts all good-faith efforts at reform. Levin's cautious analysis covers political ground that's already been walked many times. His equivocal strategies for conservatives such as presenting themselves as "an attractive minority in a nation of minorities" have self-evidently limited political appeal. Levin critiques "expressive individualism" and multiculturalism, but in such muted ways that it's hard to understand why he disapproves of them. Sober, abstract, and professorial, Levin's book is nuanced and measured to the point of being bloodless. His high-minded reflections on first principles, fragmented institutions, and centralized power may impress establishment conservatives, especially those for whom Donald Trump and the Republican Party insurgency are a troubling surprise. But the rapid realignment of political sentiments amid election-year tumult makes Levin's musings seem detached from current affairs.
