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    The Radical Center

    The Future of American Politics

    Author Ted Halstead, Michael Lind
    Ebook
    Knopf | Anchor
    On sale Nov 12, 2002 | 272 Pages | 9781400033294
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    Record numbers of Americans describe themselves as “independents” and reject the conventional agendas of Left and Right. In this widely acclaimed book, Ted Halstead and Michael Lind explain why today’s ideologies and institutions are so ill-suited to the Information Age, and offer a groundbreaking blueprint for updating all sectors of America society. Taking on partisans and experts on both sides of the political divide, they propose far-reaching reforms for the way we provide health and retirement security, collect taxes, organize elections, enforce civil rights, and educate our children.

    Twice before the United States has dramatically reconfigured itself, shifting from an agrarian to an industrial society after the Civil War and successfully adapting to the massive technological and demographic changes of the early twentieth century during the New Deal era. Uniting a sweeping historical vision with bold policy proposals, The Radical Center shows us how to reinvent our nation once again so that all Americans can reap the benefits of the Information Age.
    Introduction: Digital Disjuncture

    One:     The First Three Americas
    Two:     New Economy, New Social Contract
    Three:     Digital Era Democracy
    Four:     Unity and Community in the Twenty-First Century
    Five:     The Politics of the Radical Center

    Acknowledgments
    Notes
    Index
    Ted Halstead View titles by Ted Halstead
    © LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin
    Michael Lind is the author of more than a dozen books of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, including The New Class War, The Next American Nation, and Land of Promise. He is a columnist for Tablet and has been an editor or staff writer for The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New Republic, and The National Interest. He has taught at Harvard and Johns Hopkins and is currently a professor of practice at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. View titles by Michael Lind
    “Hats off to Halstead and Lind for . . . rising above policy blather and advocating some unconventional things.” —The New York Times Book Review

    “A political manifesto worthy of the Information Age.”–Senator John McCain

    “A provocative read . . . The book demonstrates that the center need not be a tepid or uncreative spot on the political spectrum. It can be an unpredictable place where intelligent people stir up controversy and offer genuinely unorthodox proposals for change.” –The Washington Post Book World

     “A bold and refreshing perspective on the challenges aheadÉ This is a short, pithy book, but it packs a powerful intellectual punch.” –The Washington Times

    “ Part historical tract, part policy agenda, part visionary manifesto, The Radical Center is . . . a bracing alternative to the poll-obsessed, cliché-ridden volumes that roll out of Washington think tanks.” –New York Observer

    About

    Record numbers of Americans describe themselves as “independents” and reject the conventional agendas of Left and Right. In this widely acclaimed book, Ted Halstead and Michael Lind explain why today’s ideologies and institutions are so ill-suited to the Information Age, and offer a groundbreaking blueprint for updating all sectors of America society. Taking on partisans and experts on both sides of the political divide, they propose far-reaching reforms for the way we provide health and retirement security, collect taxes, organize elections, enforce civil rights, and educate our children.

    Twice before the United States has dramatically reconfigured itself, shifting from an agrarian to an industrial society after the Civil War and successfully adapting to the massive technological and demographic changes of the early twentieth century during the New Deal era. Uniting a sweeping historical vision with bold policy proposals, The Radical Center shows us how to reinvent our nation once again so that all Americans can reap the benefits of the Information Age.

    Table of Contents

    Introduction: Digital Disjuncture

    One:     The First Three Americas
    Two:     New Economy, New Social Contract
    Three:     Digital Era Democracy
    Four:     Unity and Community in the Twenty-First Century
    Five:     The Politics of the Radical Center

    Acknowledgments
    Notes
    Index

    Author

    Ted Halstead View titles by Ted Halstead
    © LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin
    Michael Lind is the author of more than a dozen books of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, including The New Class War, The Next American Nation, and Land of Promise. He is a columnist for Tablet and has been an editor or staff writer for The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New Republic, and The National Interest. He has taught at Harvard and Johns Hopkins and is currently a professor of practice at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. View titles by Michael Lind

    Praise

    “Hats off to Halstead and Lind for . . . rising above policy blather and advocating some unconventional things.” —The New York Times Book Review

    “A political manifesto worthy of the Information Age.”–Senator John McCain

    “A provocative read . . . The book demonstrates that the center need not be a tepid or uncreative spot on the political spectrum. It can be an unpredictable place where intelligent people stir up controversy and offer genuinely unorthodox proposals for change.” –The Washington Post Book World

     “A bold and refreshing perspective on the challenges aheadÉ This is a short, pithy book, but it packs a powerful intellectual punch.” –The Washington Times

    “ Part historical tract, part policy agenda, part visionary manifesto, The Radical Center is . . . a bracing alternative to the poll-obsessed, cliché-ridden volumes that roll out of Washington think tanks.” –New York Observer

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