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The Communitarian Update
Number 27
April 27, 2000
Special rights for parents?
Several advocates recently complained about preferential treatment given for people
who have children. For instance, several corporations allow employees to take off 2
hours a given number of times each year. Does fairness call for all employees to be
given the same rights or does the higher value of children justify a different treatment?
Does liberalism and communitarianism lead us to different conclusions in this matter? We
would love to hear from you.
New Issue of the Responsive Community!
(Free sample issues available)
FOR OTHER NEWS SCROLL DOWN
Up Front
Inequality in America: The Recent Evidence - Robert Z. Lawrence (available on our web site!)
A New American Race? - Amitai Etzioni (available on our webs site!)
Essays
The Hidden Foundations of Liberal Society: "Thick" and "Thin" Versions of Liberalism - Ronald Beiner
According to some, we have reached the end of the liberal-communitarian debate. And the winner is . . . .
The Dangerous Claims of the Animal Rights Movement - Richard A. Epstein
Animals can feel pain, they can show anger, they can plan. So why shouldn't they have rights?
Overcoming Voter Isolation: Citizenship Beyond the Polls - Michael Schudson
What if the candidate you voted for thanked you by buying you a drink? That used to happen, here in America.
Were they on to something?
The Power and Purpose of Jewish Law - Michael J. Broyde
An exploration of non-legal sources of law enforcement.
Privacy and Living Arrangements - Steven L. Nock
More privacy invites more, rather than less, intrusion.
Reflections on Responsibility: More than Just Following Rules - Philip Selznick
"Responsibility" has a specific legal meaning. But for families and communities to thrive, it must mean much more.
Departments
An R.C. Document: Preparing for Longer and More Varied Lives
Geoff Mulgan
From Our Critics: Communitarianism: A Medicine Worse than the Disease?
Václav Klaus
The Community Bookshelf: Building Inclusive Communities - Steven Jones
Review of Henry Tam's Communitarianism: A New Agenda for Politics and Citizenship.
The Moral Dimension of the Media: Government and Hollywood, Together Again
Paul Lieberman
Kaleidoscope: Wrongs and Responsibilities: The United Nations and the Fall of Srebrenica
Authoritarians, Libertarians, Communitarians
Commentary - Burns H. Weston
Visit The Responsive Community on the web: http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/rcq. If you would like to
receive a FREE sample back issue of The Responsive Community for yourself or your organization,
please let us know at comnet@gwu.edu, or call (800) 245-7460. Same--to subscribe.
OTHER NEWS
Congregational Government Funding
Only about 3 percent of congregations surveyed receive government funds today according to a
study conducted of more than 1,200 congregations by Mark Chaves of the University of Arizona
and recently published in the American Sociological Review. The study also showed that Catholic
and liberal-to-moderate Protestant congregations are more likely to apply for government funds
than are conservative and evangelical congregations.
The Movie Mom
Nell Minow runs a web site that helps parents choose movies for their kids. It includes
guidelines, recommendations for kids of different ages and other helpful tips. Check it
out at http://www.moviemom.com/.
A right to spank?
Corporal punishment of children is illegal in eight European countries, including Sweden,
Austria and Latvia. However, the British Labor government demurs. Surveys show that Brits
overwhelmingly support the right of parents to hit their children. "There's a strong
strand in English culture that thinks this is the best way of disciplining children,"
said Alexander Chancellor, a columnist for The Guardian who reports, nonetheless, that
it "would never have occurred to me to hit my kids."
Filters voted down in Michigan
Voting on the nation's first ballot measure to allow filters that shield children from
pornography, the people of Holland, Michigan chose not to force a public library to filter
computer access to the Web. Residents voted 55 percent to 45 percent against the proposal,
which would have cut off municipal financing for the library unless it blocked access to
sites containing "obscene, sexually explicit or other material harmful to minors."
Who wants to be a millionaire?
A KPMG International poll of college seniors found that fully 74% of the students expect to become a millionaire.
Florida's Successful Anti-Smoking Campaign
The Florida Youth Tobacco Survey reports that Florida's aggressive anti-smoking campaign has produced
an unprecedented 54 percent decline in middle school tobacco use over the past two years, and a
24 percent drop among high school students. Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free
Kids, called the Florida results "the strongest evidence yet that aggressive comprehensive programs
can make a dramatic difference in the number of our children who smoke."
Theft or Law?
The Cato Institute views attempts to make the tobacco industry and gun manufacturers liable
for the public costs their products engender as "theft" masquerading as law. (Cato Policy
Report, Vol. xxii, no 2, p 1)
Internet Community
The small Georgia city of La Grange has announced plans to put every household, school,
government office and retail store in town on to one high-speed network. The system is
being created by combining the town's existing fiber-optic network with coaxial cable
from Charter Communications, the local cable provider. The system, to be paid for by
the municipal government, is to be fully in place by fall.
Does Internet suppress community?
"Yes" reports Professors Norman Nie and Lutz Erbring. Amitai Etzioni argues that the same
data shows just the opposite. Nie and Erbring violently disagree. The Public Perspective
publishes both views in its just issued publication. It does not include Etzioni's response
barred by Nie and Erbring. See all three at http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps
Seminar on Communitarian Theory and Policy at LSE
You are invited to nominate participants for an invitation-only seminar on Communitarian
Theory and Policies to be conducted by Amitai Etzioni at the London School of Economics.
These special sessions take place on July 7, preceding the SASE meeting that opens that evening.
No fees are involved. Please send nominations with their email addresses to Joanna Cohn at
comnet@gwu.edu. Please put the word "seminar" in the subject line. For details,
visit http://www.sase.org/homepage.html
You are invited!
For the first time since 1991, The Communitarian Platform is being reopened for
endorsement. To read and endorse the platform, go to our web site: http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps.
See our new endorsers!
New Publications
The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty by David Myers (Yale University Press,
2000). Explores the "American paradox" of expanding material affluence and declining civic health.
Book preface, introduction, and table of contents available online at http://www.davidmyers.org/paradox.
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by Andreas Duany,
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck (North Point Press, 2000). Duany and coauthors share
the fruits of their extensive experiences designing new neighborhoods and community revitalization
projects in this investigation into the nature of sprawl and the failure of suburbs.
Robert Nisbet: Communitarian Traditionalist edited by Brad Lowell Stone (ISI Books, due out June 2000).
An intellectual biography of the sociologist Robert Nisbet who anticipated much that is being said
today by communitarians and civil society theorists.
Family, Religion, and Social Change in Diverse Societies edited by Sharon K. Houseknecht and Jerry G.
Pankhurst (Oxford University Press, 2000). Demonstrates that both family and religion are well rooted
in societies throughout the world. The persistence and vitality of these two institutions contradict
the secularization thesis or the family decline thesis.
To Promote the General Welfare: A Communitarian Legal Reader edited by David E. Carney (Lexington Books,
1999). Ten preeminent scholars explore nine areas of the law--civil, criminal, constitutional--to explicate
how a communitarian worldview might change or interpret the existing law.
Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society by
Brian Stiltner (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999). Focusing on the conceptions of common good in liberalism
and communitarianism, Stiltner argues that the two theories are not as irreconcilable as they seem,
that they can be combined into a communal liberalism.
The Communitarian Update is compiled by Jennifer Ambrosino. Send RELEVANT news items to comnet@gwu.edu.
Please consider forwarding the Update to others who may be interested.
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