The Family, Civil Society, and the State / Edition 3

by Christopher Wolfe, Doug Bandow, David Blankenhorn, Gerard Bradley, Allan Carlson

Overview

The exact place of the family in a healthy political community, and the appropriate way to sustain it, are profoundly complicated and difficult questions. The distinguished contributors to this book endeavor to provide some answers. The first part of the book explores what is distinctive in the current situation of the family, and offers both optimistic and pessimistic assessments of the family in our time, as well as a historical overview. In the second part, authors look at the family today; demographics, economics, and social pathologies are all discussed. Part three offers analysis of the family and American law, especially the law of divorce, and the fourth part deals with the relationship between the family and two profoundly important facets of the structural framework of American life: our capitalist economic system and the cultural power of the media. Finally, the fifth part surveys the various areas of public policy, and concludes by asking whether, and what, public policy can do for the family. This is an important book for sociologists, legal scholars, political scientists, educators, and anyone concerned about the state of the family in America today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780847692255
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/03/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Christopher Wolfe is professor of political science at Marquette University and the author of How to Read the Constitution: Originalism, Constitutional Interpretation, and Judicial Power

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Part I: What Is Distinctive in the Current Situation of the Family? Chapter 3 Thoughts on the History of the Family Chapter 4 The Family Crisis Today Chapter 5 The Family in Extremis Chapter 6 Delegitimating the Family: The Classical Liberal Roots Chapter 7 The State’s Assault on the Family Chapter 8 Rawlsian and Feminist Critiques of the Traditional Family Part 9 Part II: Men, Women, and Children in the Family Today Chapter 10 The Demographic Picture of the American Family Today—and What It Means Chapter 11 The Indispensable Role of the Father in the Family Chapter 12 Is the Economic Emancipation of Women Today Contrary to a Healthy, Functioning Family? Part 13 Part III: Law, Divorce, and the Family Chapter 14 The Legal Definition and Status of Marriage Chapter 15 How current Constitutional Law Undermines the Family Chapter 16 The Moral Logic of No-Fault Divorce Part 17 Part IV: The Market, Media, and the Family Chapter 18 The Family in Capitalist America Chapter 19 Television as a Medium Undermining the Family Chapter 20 Family Values and Media Reality Chapter 21 Part V: What Public Policy Can Do for the Family Chapter 22 Government Tax policy and the Family Chapter 23 How Taxes Affect the Family Chapter 24 Privatizing Welfare to Help the Family: The Biblical Center Chapter 25 Reforming Welfare—the Right Way Chapter 26 How Government Schools [May] Displace the Family Chapter 27 The Sex-Ed Wars Chapter 28 Forging a United Front on Family Policy: Premises and Suggestions Chapter 29 A Conservative Perspective on Public Policy and the Family Chapter 30 Index