Seymour Martin Lipset is the Hazel Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University and a Senior Fellow
at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is the author of Political Man and The Politics of Unreason,
among other books. His The First New Nation (ISBN 0-393-00911-4) was a National Book Award finalist and is available
in Norton paperback.
Seymour Martin Lipset lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Review
"An illuminating new book."
--David Gergen, U.S. News & World Report
"[A] magisterial attempt to distill a lifetime of learning about America into a persuasive brief . . . [by]
the dean of American political sociologists."
--Carlin Romano, Boston Globe
"Invariably perceptive and revealing."
--Economist
W.W. Norton & Company Publishers Web Site, April, 2001
Summary
In this timely new study, one of our major political analysts, Seymour Martin Lipset, explores the deeply held
but often inarticulated beliefs that shape America's society and thought. Is this country in the throes of a revolution
from the right? Is it in decline morally? Is Japan about to replace us as the leading economic power? Why does
the United States have the highest crime rate, the most persons per capita in prison? Why is our electoral turnout
so low? Why are we the most open, socially mobile society and the most unequally developed nation in income distribution?
Why is America the most religious country in Christendom? What explains our persistently high rate of opposition
to wars and, conversely, our propensity for flag waving and expressions of patriotic enthusiasm? As the 1996 election
year begins, Professor Lipset examines the remarkable persistence of an American creed, a double-edged sword that
provides both good and bad, offering fresh insights into our culture and its future.
"Is America unique? One of our major political analysts explores the deeply held but often unarticulated
beliefs that shape the American creed. "(A) magisterial attempt to distill a lifetime of learning about America
into a persuasive brief . . . (by) the dean of American political sociologists." --Carlin Romano, Boston
Globe. 352 pages.
