Ron Terchek has made a major contribution to the liberal-communitarian debate . . . with his rich, complex reading of classic texts . . . Tercheck's work should move the contemporary debate onto new ground.

Suzanne D. Jacobitti, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

Liberals and communitarians have long criticized each other, but here is a book that invites them to listen to one another . . . This is a doubly admirable book. The scholarship is first rate, and the presentation is remarkably even handed and open minded.

Alfonso J. Damico, University of Iowa

By inviting us to return to the past, Terchek has done us a service.

American Political Science Review

Terchek is to be commended for "welcoming politics back to theory". . .

The Review of Politics

Ronald J Terchek gazes upon the liberal/communitarian debate from an entirely new direction, essentially from the past. In arguing that both contemporary liberals and communitarians have neglected important parts of their own traditions. Tercheck journeys back to what he calls strong republicans (Aristotle, Machiavelli, and Rousseau) and anxious liberals (Locke, Smith, and J.S. Mill) to show that the earlier republicans/communiatrian and liberal philosophies were more complex and more subtle than often supposed. In doing this, Terchek has written an insightful book that is a good warning to all of us not to simplify classical and early modern thinkers in the European tradition.

Roger Boesche, Political Theory

Ronald Tercheck is a thoughtful and knowledgeable interpreter of the liberal and Republican traditions in political theory . . . he summons his insight . . . to deepen and refine our understanding of the purposes and problems of contemporary liberal democracy.

Thomas Spragens, Duke University