African Americans and the New Policy Consensus: Retreat of the Liberal State? [Hardcover]

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.

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 ofPublic 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 includeAchieving Sex Equality for Minority Womenin Susan Klun (ed.),Handbook for Achieving Sex Equality through Higher Education.

Theory and Concepts
Introduction by N. Jackson and M. Lashley
The Liberal State: What Retreat? An Examination of Philosophical Ambivalence and Continuity in Perspectives and Treatment of African Americans in the U.S. Political System by N. Jackson
Mythologies of Cultural Politics and the Discreet Charm of the Black Petite Bourgeoisie by A. Reed
Culture as Human Capital: Methodological and Policy Implications by R. Williams
African-American Empowerment Strategies and Responses
Reclaiming the State: Representative Government and Public Policy Access by M. Lashley
Who Represents the People? African Americans, PubllS-