In this timely book, Cass R. Sunstein shows that organizations and nations are far more likely to prosper if they welcome dissent and promote openness. Attacking "political correctness" in all forms, Sunstein demonstrates that corporations, legislatures, even presidents are likely to blunder if they do not cultivate a culture of candor and disclosure. He shows that unjustified extremism, including violence and terrorism, often results from failure to tolerate dissenting views. The tragedy is that blunders and cruelties could be avoided if people spoke out.
Sunstein casts new light on freedom of speech, showing that a free society not only forbids censorship but also provides public spaces for dissenters to expose widely held myths and pervasive injustices. He provides evidence about the effects of conformity and dissent on the federal courts. The evidence shows not only that Republican appointees vote differently from Democratic appointees but also that both Republican and Democratic judges are likely to go to extremes if unchecked by opposing views. Understanding the need for dissent illuminates countless social debates, including those over affirmative action in higher education, because diversity is indispensable to learning.
Dissenters are often portrayed as selfish and disloyal, but Sunstein shows that those who reject pressures imposed by others perform valuable social functions, often at their own expense. This is true for dissenters in boardrooms, churches, unions, and academia. It is true for dissenters in the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court. And it is true during times of war and peace.
Cass R. Sunstein is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard and the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School. He is the author of hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including Impeachment: A Citizen’s Guide, Nudge (with Richard Thaler), Law and Leviathan (with Adrian Vermeule), How to Interpret the Constitution, On Freedom, and Can It Happen Here? Authoritarianism in America. He is a recipient of the Holberg Prize, sometimes described as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for the humanities and social sciences.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Conformity and Dissent
1 Doing What Others Do
2 Obeying (and Disobeying) the Law
3 Traveling in Herds
4 What Will the Neighbors Think?
5 Free Speech
6 The Law of Group Polarization
7 The Framers' Greatest Contribution
8 Are Judges Conformists Too?
9 Affirmative Action in Higher Education
Conclusion: Why Dissent?
Notes
Index
What People are Saying About This
Conformism is a drive sufficiently powerful to produce disasters even in countries endowed with constitutional protections for free speech. In this timely book written in characteristically lucid and entertaining prose, Cass Sunstein develops the underlying logic. His elegant argument also has an optimistic side. Where conformism is at work, courageous dissenters may prevent catastrophes by sowing doubts about the apparent conventional wisdom, or simply by implanting in cowed individuals the courage to air objections.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
This is a timely and important book by one of America's most thoughtful and respected scholars. Cass Sunstein discusses the genius of the Constitution and the indispensable role of free speech, dissent, and tolerance for new ideas in maintaining and strengthening modern society. This is the book for anyone who has ever wondered how to make sense of pluralism and diversity in our world.
Timur Kuran
Conformism is a drive sufficiently powerful to produce disasters even in countries endowed with constitutional protections for free speech. In this timely book written in characteristically lucid and entertaining prose, Cass Sunstein develops the underlying logic. His elegant argument also has an optimistic side. Where conformism is at work, courageous dissenters may prevent catastrophes by sowing doubts about the apparent conventional wisdom, or simply by implanting in cowed individuals the courage to air objections. — Timur Kuran, University of Southern California, and author of Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification
Richard Zeckhauser
Societies thrive on information exchange, yet powerful forces-from courtesy, to enthusiasm for consensus, to disdain for the heretic-suppress the expression of dissenting views. In this wide-ranging book, Sunstein traces the virtues of dissent in the most important decisions society makes, such as how to allocate resources, administer justice, and choose a government. His arresting findings are important to anyone who wants to know how organizations-from the family unit to the national government-should make decisions. — Richard Zeckhauser, John F. Kennedy School of Government, and co-author of The Early Admissions Game: Joining the Elite
Senator Patrick Leahy
In an age of ever-increasing partisanship, political 'spin,' finger-to-the-wind politics and mega media mergers, Cass Sunstein offers a cogent and timely reminder that dissent is not merely an individual right; reasoned dissent and balanced debate are the very essence of a healthy, democratic society.
Randall Kennedy
Why Societies Need Dissent displays Cass Sunstein's keen eye for the interesting question, his boundless intellectual energy, and his ability to bring theoretical sophistication to bear on pressing contemporary problems. I always read and benefit from reading Sunstein's work. Why Societies Need Dissent offers a welcome opportunity to learn anew from one of the nation's leading intellectuals. — Randall Kennedy, Harvard Law School, and author of Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity, and Adoption
