The U.S. presidential election between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump is just five months away — and the country appears to be more divided than ever. Republicans claim that Democrats are too weak on the border, while Democrats are pushing for reinstating reproductive rights and fighting for stronger gun safety laws.
America’s political crisis has deep roots and has been the subject of debate for hundreds of years. Politicians, philosophers, and citizens in the U.S. have long had differing opinions on what it takes to make America a free and just country. The book, “Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis” argues that liberal democracy in the states has always been contradictory. Ideas of freedom, justice and equality are abstract concepts that have seldom been realized in practice.
So, how have we been able to move forward as a nation? Is the political polarization we’re experiencing new? Is our democracy nearing collapse? Sociologist and professor James Davison Hunter examines the history and future of American democracy in his new book, “Democracy and Solidarity.”
James Davison Hunter is a LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture and Social Theory at the University of Virginia. He is author of the book, “Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis.”
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This interview will be recorded on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.
