Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History

The following discussion compares both relatively recent books in the field, as exemplars of two unalike approaches to the field, intended for different audiences and having different purposes. They are Political skill: An Introduction (2000), by Michael Roskin, Robert Cord, James Madieros, and Walter Jones; and Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History (1997), by Rogers Smith.

The first base of these works, as give noticeed by its title, is a general introductory textbook, written primarily for college undergraduates as their first extensive and formal introduction to the field. Like many textbooks it has asleep(p) through multiple editions, the edition considered here is the seventh to be published; the first edition appeared a generation ago, in 1974. It is a of fairly average length for a book, non quite 400 pages, the text being interspersed with numerous illustrations and items class off from the text in boxes, defining terms, noting important works, and so forth.

The primary title of the other work, Civic Ideals, might suggest a relatively broad work of policy-making philosophical system; but as the subtitle makes clear its scope is pretty narrower, dealing with the concept of citizenship as it has evolved specifically in the get together States, and with the implications this evolving concept has had for American politics and culture. Its primary audience is those provoke in American history and public affairs, whet

Finally, by what standard should we judge these books, each on its own or by comparison? Political scientific discipline: An Introduction is in a sense an interchangeable commodity, a standard introductory textbook. It has no strong point of view, and we do not expect one. It is a survey introduction to the unhurt field of political science; we would judge it by its intensity compared to other such introductions. Civic Ideals is not interchangeable. One whitethorn agree or disagree with its argument, and the effectiveness of its presentation, but it is not one choice of many for the ground it covers. It stands or locomote by itself.

Taken together, these two books illustrate the enormous width of political science, as broad as the human political have intercourse.

Roskin, Michael et al. Political Science: An Introduction. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.

Civic Ideals, though written by an American for Americans, is far more critical in tone. This tone is by chance hinted at even in the title; to speak of civic ideals is at once to suggest a standard against which material civic life and institutions may fall short. Any inquiry is resolved within the first paragraph, which contrasts Martin Luther King's "dream of an integrated estate" with contemporary arguments about whether this is even desireable. This opening paragraph ends with a sharply critical interpretation of American historical experience:

The book proceeds to a historical treatment of American citizenship law. (The back cover notes that the book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history, underlining the close relationship between political science and historical study.) While the book deals exclusively with American affairs, the author's "underlying surmise of citizenship laws" clearly raises broader issues, relevant to political scientists and those interested in political life everywhere.

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