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Is America Different?

A New Look at American Exceptionalism

Byron E Shafer editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:15th Aug '91

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Is America Different? cover

`American Exceptionalism' is the scholarly term for the common perception that there is something different about American life, stemming from the origins of the United States and its subsequent evolution, and marking it off from the experience of other developed nations. There is a long, rich, and varied argument about this perception, its reality, and its component elements. In Is America Different? major scholars from the realms of history, politics, economics, and sociology return to the question in the light of changes in the last thirty years and debate an answer which is appropriate to our time. Politics, economics, religion, culture, education, and public policy receive particular attention in this debate, while a major introductory essay by Seymour Martin Lipset and a final integrating chapter by Byron E. Shafer isolate common themes and recurring disputes. The other contributors are: Daniel Bell, Peter Temin, Andrew M. Greeley, Aaron Wildavsky, Martin Trow, and Richard Rose.

`Richard Hofstadter once remarked: "It has been our fate as a nation not to have ideologies but to be one." In this stimulating volume, Shafer and his colleagues make a significant contribution to explaining that ideology today - and the distinctive American traits which comprise it.' Financial Times
`Greeley and Wildavsky's contributions along with those of Seymour Martin Lipset and Daniel Bell - two authors whose contribution to the exceptionalism debate over the past four decades has been seminal - ensures a place for the book on the reading list of any student of the subject.' David McKay, Times Higher Education Supplement
'American exceptionalism may then lie in being a model that fits the rest of the world much more than Europe ever could. As the bipolar world unfreezes, this model commands attention and this valuable book is an excellent beginning.' David Morgan, University of Liverpool, American Politics Review, Number 28 July 1992
`Is America Different? is a standing invitation to other, parallel conferences in the humanities, arts, and sciences ... Shafer's volume sets an intellectual and scholarly standard for discussion and debate.' American Politics

ISBN: 9780198277347

Dimensions: 224mm x 144mm x 22mm

Weight: 490g

282 pages