Beyond Left and Right

Arguing that ``our obsession with rights'' overwhelms any thought of collective obligations, Chickering, a Jack Kemp-style conservative and founder of the International Center for Economic Growth in San Francisco, muses provocatively on the paucity of American political debate. He thoughtfully opines that both conservatism and liberalism are riven by conflict over freedom and order, and that capitalism and socialism are complementary, not conflicting. He suggests that political discourse has sometimes degenerated into ``codependency''--e.g., blaming drug dealers for the drug crisis ``militates against the assumption of personal responsibility that is crucial for rehabilitation.'' However, although Chickering asserts early in the book that a renewed politics must engage local, self-governing institutions, his own proposals for such innovations as public school voucher systems or tenant management of public housing remain thin. (July)