Books

The Future of the Family

– Moynihan, Timothy M. Sneeding, and Lee Rainwater, The Future of the Family, Russell Sage Foundation, 2006.
From the publisher: High rates of divorce, single-parenthood, and nonmarital cohabitation are forcing Americans to reexamine their definition of family. This evolving social reality requires public policy to evolve as well. The Future of the Family brings… More

Secrecy: The American Experience

– Secrecy: The American Experience , New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.
From the publisher: Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, chairman of the bipartisan Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, here presents an eloquent and fascinating account of the development of secrecy as a mode of regulation in American… More

Miles to Go: A Personal History of Social Policy

– Miles to Go: A Personal History of Social Policy, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.
From the publisher: Has liberalism lost its way—or merely its voice? This book by one of the nation’s most insightful, articulate, and powerful Democrats at last breaks the silence that has greeted the Republican Party’s revolution of 1994. When voters… More

Pandaemonium: Ethnicity in International Politics

– Pandaemonium: Ethnicity in International Politics, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
From the publisher: Ten years before the Soviet Union collapsed, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan stood almost alone in predicting its demise. As the intelligence community and cold war analysts churned out statistics demonstrating the enduring strength of the… More

On the Law of Nations

– On the Law of Nations, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990.
From the publisher: Foreign Policy. “In the annals of forgetfulness there is nothing quite to compare with the fading from the American mind of the idea of the law of nations.” Grenada. “We might have benefited from a weekend’s pause in which we could… More

Came the Revolution: Argument in the Reagan Era

– Came the Revolution: Argument in the Reagan Era, New York: Harcourt, 1988.
From Publishers Weekly: A quarter-century of failed presidencies signifies that the institution itself is in a period of protracted crisis, asserts Moynihan, outspoken senator from New York. He further contends that, since 1981, the crisis has been aggravated… More

Family and Nation: The Godkin Lectures

– Family and Nation: The Godkin Lectures, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.
From Publishers Weekly: Moynihan first argued for a national family policy in 1965, and continues to press for it in these informed and persuasive lectures. Examining key factors shaping family-related matters in recent yearsGreat Society efforts, the… More

Loyalties

– Loyalties, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984.
From the New York Times Review by Richard Bernstein: The mind of Daniel Patrick Moynihan has ranged so nimbly over so many subjects that the senior Senator of New York may well be the foremost scholar-politician of the land. This slender volume, appearing… More

Counting Our Blessings: Reflections on the Future of America

– Counting Our Blessings: Reflections on the Future of America, New York: Little Brown, 1980.
From Amazon: Moynihan served in the cabinet or subcabinet of four consecutive Presidents, as Ambassador to India, Professor of Government at Harvard University and as U.S. Senator from New York. In this book he examines crucial issues facing the United States… More

A Dangerous Place

– Moynihan with Suzanne Weaver, A Dangerous Place, New York: Little Brown, 1978.
Excerpt: This volume, part journal and part commonplace book, seeks to describe certain ideas and events that contributed to the recent emergence of human rights as an issue of American foreign policy. It will, I hope, be of some historical interest, but my… More

Ethnicity: Theory and Experience

– Moynihan and Glazer, eds., Ethnicity: Theory and Experience, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995.
From the publisher: This volume launches a far-reaching exploration into the meaning, manifestations, and significance of ethnicity in modern society and politics. The authors seek neither to celebrate nor to deplore ethnicity, but rather to examine it as a… More

Coping: On the Practice of Government

– Coping: On the Practice of Government, New York: Vintage Books, 1975.
Essays by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The central theme of each essay is how to frame the problems facing politicians correctly, how to identify what is really at stake. Lucidly written, it will enlighten both the political scientist and the… More

On Equality of Educational Opportunity

– Moynihan and Frederick Mosteller, On Equality of Educational Opportunity, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972.
In this volume are papers derived from the Harvard University Faculty Seminar on the Coleman Report. The Carnegie Corporation provided funds to support a faculty seminar for the academic year 1966-1967. Out of this seminar developed this present collection of… More

Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding: Community Action in the War on Poverty

– Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding: Community Action in the War on Poverty, New York: Free Press, 1970.
From Amazon: Describes the origin, implementation and results of the sociological theory, incorporated in the 1964 Opportunity Act, that anti-poverty programs be carried out with the maximum participation of community residents.

Toward a National Urban Policy. New York: Basic Books

– (editor), Toward a National Urban Policy, New York: Basic Books, 1970.
Moynihan’s attempt to deal with the problems of the cities as they were developing in the late sixties. Also see the article published in The Public Interest here: https://www.nationalaffairs.com/public_interest/detail/toward-a-national-urban-policy

On Understanding Poverty: Perspectives from the Social Sciences

– (editor) On Understanding Poverty: Perspectives from the Social Sciences , New York: Basic Books, 1969.
From Kirkus: This is the first of two volumes which emerged from a year long seminar on poverty sponsored by the National Academy of Arts & Sciences under Mr. Moynihan’s chairmanship. This volume attempts to isolate and systematize… More

Beyond the Melting Pot: The Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians, and Irish of New York City

– Moynihan and Nathan Glazer, Beyond the Melting Pot: The Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians, and Irish of New York City, New York: MIT Press, 1963.
From the publisher: Beyond the Melting Pot was one of the most influential books published during the 1960s. This second edition includes a new 90-page Introduction, “New York City in 1960,” in which the authors, with all their previous depth and… More