Larry G. Gerber, 'The Limits of Liberalism' (Book Review)

Although it cannot be said to have been free from ideological conflict, the American experiment with democracy has indeed been a limited one. A major premise of 'The Limits of Liberalism' is that the American democratic experience has proceeded from a consensus of liberal values that excludes conflict over fundamental socioeconomic issues (p. 5). However, the study concludes that despite the best efforts of some twentieth-century public figures to eradicate it, recent experience demonstrates that contemporary American social life is beset by manifestly unequal distribution of power and wealth,a maldistribution that is stinging evidence of the failure of social egalitarians to foster by their efforts any real alteration of social and economic stratification