Publisher's Synopsis
Building on de Tocqueville's concept of American exceptionalism, this collection of essays, contributed by some of the nation's top scholars and thinkers, takes on the weighty task of sizing up America in a way its people and others can comprehend. Far more than simple history, they outline the current state of American institutions and policiesfrom the legal system to marriage to the military to the Drug Warand anticipate where these are headed in the future.