The optimism gap : the I'm ok--they're not syndrome and the myth of American decline / David Whitman ; foreword by Christopher Jencks
- Bib ID:
- 2253884
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Whitman, David
- Description:
-
- New York : Walker and Co., c1998
- xviii, 190 p. ; 22 cm.
- ISBN:
- 0802713343 (alkaline paper)
- Summary:
-
Millions of people, in all parts of the United States and in all sorts of circumstances, are upbeat about their own lives and futures - yet have exactly the opposite feeling about the country as a whole. As a result, they tend to exaggerate national problems and distrust the country's ability to solve them, while they understate problems in their own backyard and cannot be inspired to address them. This breeds complacency and civic paralysis; it also explains why so many seemingly popular initiatives, such as trimming the budget, reforming health care, and fixing schools, are so difficult to enact.
Through historical analysis and compelling case studies - ranging from the courtyards of the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago to the halls of Congress - David Whitman offers eye-opening insights into how public opinion actually affects our lives. In the process, he punctures the long-standing belief of both conservatives and liberals that America is on the decline, and he offers suggestions about how we can reduce the optimism gap.
- Full contents:
-
- Foreword / Christopher Jencks
- Ch. 1. The New Pandora's Box
- Ch. 2. The Roots of the Optimism Gap
- Ch. 3. The Self-Admiring American
- Ch. 4. The Myth of Social Regression
- Ch. 5. The Myth of Moral Decline
- Ch. 6. The Myth of Economic Decline
- Ch. 7. Slowing the Alarmism Cycle.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [133]-180) and index.
- Subject:
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1998
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