Civic hope : how ordinary Americans keep democracy alive /
Civic Hope is a history of what everyday Americans say, in their own words, about the government overseeing their lives. Based on a highly original analysis of 10,000 letters to the editor from 1948 to the present published in twelve U.S. cities, the book overcomes the limitations of survey data by...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge ; New York :
Cambridge University Press,
[2018]
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| Series: | Communication, society, and politics.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Civic Hope is a history of what everyday Americans say, in their own words, about the government overseeing their lives. Based on a highly original analysis of 10,000 letters to the editor from 1948 to the present published in twelve U.S. cities, the book overcomes the limitations of survey data by revealing the reasons for people's attitudes. While Hart identifies worrisome trends, including a decline in writers' abilities to explain what their opponents believe and their attachment to national touchstones, he also shows why the nation still thrives. Civic Hope makes a powerful case that the vitality of a democracy lies not in its strengths but in its weaknesses and in the willingness of its people to address those weaknesses without surcease. The key, Hart argues, is to sustain a culture of argument at the grassroots level. |
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| Physical Description: | xvii, 356 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-343) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781108422642 1108422640 9781108435628 1108435629 |