The Good Citizen: a Hisory of American Public Life
- List Price: $58.00
- Binding: Hardcover
- Publisher: Free Press
- Publish date: 01/01/2005
Description:
When this nation was first founded, good citizenship was demonstrated by trusting a local aristocrat and accepting his complimentary food on election day. In the 19th century, it was shown by zealous demonstrations, including torchlight parades and public attacks on one's foes. But today, Americans are expected to be self-motivated watchdogs who read daily newspapers, write their Congressmen, vote in every election, and faithfully watch C-Span.
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In The Good Citizen, Michael Schudson argues that our new ennui may in fact be a good thing. We have passed through three distinct eras of citizenship with different rules and expectations for each; we may now be entering a fourth. Perhaps instead of the public-spirited wardens of the past, we will become more selective monitors who only react when the politicians need to hear a message. For all serious students of the American "experiment", this history of citizenship will be a must-read
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