One Nation Undecided: Clear Thinking about Five Hard Issues That Divide Us

by Peter H. Schuck

Overview

How to think intelligently about the most divisive public issues confronting us today

We’ve all expressed opinions about difficult hot-button issues without thinking them through. With so much media spin, political polarization, and mistrust of institutions, it’s hard to know how to think about these tough challenges, much less what to do about them. One Nation Undecided takes on some of today’s thorniest issues and walks you through each one step-by-step, explaining what makes it so difficult to grapple with and enabling you to think smartly about it. In this unique what-to-do book, Peter Schuck tackles poverty, immigration, affirmative action, campaign finance, and religious objections to gay marriage and transgender rights. No other book provides such a comprehensive, balanced, and accessible analysis of these urgent social controversies. One Nation Undecided gives you the facts and competing values, makes your thinking about them more sophisticated, and encourages you to draw your own conclusions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691191584
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/06/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	440
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Peter H. Schuck is the Simeon E. Baldwin Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale University. His many books include Why Government Fails So Often (Princeton), Meditations of a Militant Moderate, Diversity in America, and Agent Orange on Trial.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction 1

2 Poverty 23

3 Immigration 115

4 Campaign Finance 192

5 Affirmative Action 273

6 Religious Exemptions From Secular Public Policies 316

7 Conclusion 364

Notes 373

Index 419

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“[Peter Schuck’s] richly detailed, tough-minded book will inform and challenge readers, whether they are on the political left, right, or center. . . . Schuck has given us a model for an informed citizenry. And, alas, a palpable demonstration that hard thinking isn’t easy.”—Glenn C. Altschuler, Huffington Post

“Nuanced, intellectually eclectic, and scrupulously honest.”—John D. Donahue, Harvard Kennedy School

“Peter Schuck expertly weaves deep questions of principle and nuanced policy specifics into one unified stream of analysis. America’s atrophied national debates need more of the clarity and precision on display in One Nation Undecided.”—Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute

"Bringing together legal, political, empirical, and normative analysis, Peter Schuck trains his immense critical faculties and deep learning on five knotty public problems. The result is bracing. No policy wonk is likely to agree with all of the conclusions offered by this self-described 'militant moderate.' But all who care about the commonweal will come away thinking more clearly and more wisely."—Kay Lehman Schlozman, Boston College

“Every policymaker at every level of government, and ideally every citizen, should read this book.”—Robert E. Litan, author of Trillion Dollar Economists

Editorial Reviews

"[Peter Schuck's] richly detailed, tough-minded book will inform and challenge readers, whether they are on the political left, right, or center. . . . Schuck has given us a model for an informed citizenry. And, alas, a palpable demonstration that hard thinking isn't easy."—-Glenn C. Altschuler, Huffington Post

From the Publisher