Democratic Bearing

In this rich analysis of the changing ideals of citizenship, Stephen K. White offers a path for the renewal of democratic life in the twenty-first century. Looking beyond passive notions of citizenship defined in terms of voting or passport possession, White seeks a more aspirational portrait, both participatory and inclusive, that challenges citizens, especially in the middle class, to confront power structures to achieve greater justice. Using the Tea Party as a foil, he shows how that group's resentful and exclusivist conception of active citizenship undermines democratic aspirations. White explores how such deleterious influence might be effectively engaged by a robust counter-conception on the democratic left. The book makes this aspirational ideal conceptually clear, normatively compelling and aesthetically attractive.