Professor Huntington has brilliantly set forth the persisting conflict between American ideals and American institutions which can energize our society or paralyze it, depending on whether it is understood for what it is. A liberating insight; a brilliant book.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan Samuel Huntington is not only a preeminent scholar of modern governing institutions and their underlying ideas, democratic and ... Read moreotherwise; he has also often served as adviser to policymakers in several nations, including our own. His book should be read by everyone who is concerned with the capacity of our institutions to meet the fearful challenges they now face.
Austin Ranney, American Enterprise Institute This controversial book will spark considerable debate about American values, the origins and meaning of reform, and foreign policy. It will influence current discussions of the United States, and it will change the way we think about American political and social behavior.
Seymour Martin Lipset, Stanford University More than his famous 'clash of civilizations' thesis of the 1990s, it is this lesser-known 1981 work that most clearly speaks to our time. Huntington points to the gap between the values of the American creed (liberty, equality, individualism, constitutionalism) and the government's efforts to live up to those values as the central tension of national life.
(11/17/2017) [A] brilliant book... [Huntington addresses] contemporary concerns with a masterly command of theory and history which will ensure his book an enduring place as a work of scholarship.
The New Republic An illuminating book, ambitious in range and ingenious in analysis... Filled with imaginative insights.
New York Times Book Review An exceptional book, combining political theory with American history and contemporary policy analysis in a fashion that will challenge and inform any reader interested in the American experience.
Boston Globe [Huntington] squarely confronts the problem of legitimating American power at home and abroad and argues persuasively...for his exceptionalist political vision. Few have the courage
fewer the talent
to pose and systematically answer the critical questions that Huntington raises.
American Political Science Review Show Less