The presence of the past : essays on the state and the Constitution

"In this book, our foremost theorist of the political moves beyond his classical work to a critique of the state...For Wolin, the past must live through a memory of past injustices and the experience of political action. He quotes Richard Hooker to the effect that five hundred years of acts are ours. In defending the value of political experience, Wolin stays true to his distinctive ground."--'American Political Science Review.' "The enlightenment so generously supplied by Wolin reveals a grim view of the American Republic in the wake of its Bicentennial celebrations...Clearly this is a very important book, and I recommend it most highly."--'Journal of Politics'