African Americans and the New Policy Consensus - (Contributions in Political Science) by Melane Jackson & Marilyn Lashley (Hardcover)

About the Book

This edited collection describes and discusses the advances of African Americans since the 1960s in the context of political philosophy, specifically, utilitarian liberalism revisited as 1980s and 1990s conservatism. Identifying the basic assumptions of utilitarian liberalism with respect to governance and representation, it uses these constructs to explain public policy outcomes in African-American communities. The three core themes are: governance and the role of the state; African American responses and strategies for empowerment; and policy adjustments of the state. It is a major contribution to the discourse on a problem central to contemporary public policy debate: the appropriate role of government in the regulation of public and private behavior to achieve a balance between freedom and justice.

Book Synopsis

This edited collection describes and discusses the advances of African Americans since the 1960s in the context of political philosophy, specifically, utilitarian liberalism revisited as 1980s and 1990s conservatism. Identifying the basic assumptions of utilitarian liberalism with respect to governance and representation, it uses these constructs to explain public policy outcomes in African-American communities. The three core themes are: governance and the role of the state; African American responses and strategies for empowerment; and policy adjustments of the state. It is a major contribution to the discourse on a problem central to contemporary public policy debate: the appropriate role of government in the regulation of public and private behavior to achieve a balance between freedom and justice.

Review Quotes

.,."much-needed critique of the liberal state's machinations, machinations that until now have been thought to be the result of manipultaion by interest groups or elites. What this collection does, and does very well, is demystify two notions that have dominated public policy literature until now: that the problems of blacks were somehow due to African American culture and that traditional social welfare programs will "solve" the persisting poverty plaguing the black community."-Perspectives On Political Science

?...much-needed critique of the liberal state's machinations, machinations that until now have been thought to be the result of manipultaion by interest groups or elites. What this collection does, and does very well, is demystify two notions that have dominated public policy literature until now: that the problems of blacks were somehow due to African American culture and that traditional social welfare programs will "solve" the persisting poverty plaguing the black community.?-Perspectives On Political Science

..."much-needed critique of the liberal state's machinations, machinations that until now have been thought to be the result of manipultaion by interest groups or elites. What this collection does, and does very well, is demystify two notions that have dominated public policy literature until now: that the problems of blacks were somehow due to African American culture and that traditional social welfare programs will "solve" the persisting poverty plaguing the black community."-Perspectives On Political Science

About the Author

MARILYN E. LASHLEY is an Assistant Professor in the Afro-American Studies Program at the University of Maryland at College Park. She is the author of Public Television: Panacea, Pork Barrel, or Public Trust? and several journal articles.

MELANIE NJERI JACKSON is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her publications include Achieving Sex Equality for Minority Women in Susan Klun (ed.), Handbook for Achieving Sex Equality through Higher Education.