Our age marks a departure, by governments throughout the west, from the norms that had come to define advanced, liberal democracies in the post-war period. Alas, western democracies are everywhere backsliding and retreating from their adherence to these values and institutions.

The essays in this volume probe the sources and malaise now confronting liberal constitutional democracy. However, they go much further. Many of the essays are, indeed, roadmaps for a realistic and cultivated response to our present condition. The clues for a rehabilitated democracy are found here both analytically and prescriptively.