Nelson, William. "Huntington on Democratic Politics: A Review of American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony." Philosophy & Public Affairs 13:1 (Winter 1984): 89-98.

“Samuel P. Huntington’s most recent book, American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony, is an original and intriguing account of American political history. Underlying this history, according to Huntington, is an enduring consensus on democratic political ideals, and this consensus explains both the political institutions we have and also a pattern of recurring periods of upheaval stemming from the perception that institutions fail to realize these ideals completely. This account is not of interest merely to historians, for it embodies (in partial form) what I call a theory of democratic politics, at least for the democracy and this country; and a theory of democratic politics, in turn, plays a role in a complete philosophy of democracy. One motive for Huntington’s book is his interest in political stability. The fear it expresses is that democratic societies are inherently unstable and their governments ineffective.”

– Excerpt

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