Brandeis Beyond Progressivism Philippa Strum 240 pages, 6 x 9 American Political Thought Cloth ISBN 978-0-7006-0603-0, $25.00 Paper ISBN 978-0-7006-0687-0, $17.95 Revered as the "People's Attorney," Louis D. Brandeis concluded a distinguished career by serving as an associate justice (1916–1939) of the U.S. Supreme Court. Philippa Strum argues that Brandeis--long recognized as a brilliant legal thinker and defender of traditional civil liberties--was also an important political theorist whose thought has become particularly relevant to the present moment in American politics. Brandeis, Strum shows, was appalled by the suffering and waste of human potential brought on by industrialization, poverty, and a government increasingly out of touch with its citizens. In response, he developed a unique vision of a "worker's democracy" based on an economically independent and well-educated citizenry actively engaged in defining its own political destiny. She also demonstrates that, while Brandeis's thinking formed the basis of Woodrow Wilson's "New Freedom," it went well beyond Wilsonian Progressivism in its call for smaller governmental and economic units such as worker-owned businesses and consumer cooperatives. Brandeis's political thought, Strum suggests, is especially relevant to current debates over how large a role government should play in resolving everything from unemployment and homelessness to the crisis in health care. One of the few justices to support Roosevelt's New Deal policies in the 1930s, he nevertheless consistently criticized concentrated power in government (and in corporations). He agreed that the government should provide its citizens with some sort of "safety net," but at the same time should empower people to find private solutions to their needs. A half century later, Brandeis's political thought has much to offer anyone engaged in the current debates pitting individualists against communitarians and rights advocates against social welfare critics. "If there are any who doubt that Louis Brandeis is one of the truly great Americans of this century, let them read this book. Strum has brilliantly explicated Brandeis's ideas to show their applicability not only to his times, but to ours as well."--Melvin I. Urofsky, author of A March of Liberty and coeditor (with David W. Levy) of Half Brother, Half Son: The Letters of Louis D. Brandeis to Felix Frankfurter "Strum has mastered virtually all of the relevant materials relating to the thought of this central figure. She has combined these materials with her own marvelous insight and penetrating intelligence. As an exposition of the evolution of Brandeis's ideas, there is nothing else in print that even comes close to equaling this book."--David W. Levy, author of The Life and Thought of Herbert Croly "The most practical and sophisticated of all American judges has been Louis Brandeis. This gem of a book is the best short study of the totality of his life, thought, and work, on and off the bench."--Norman Dorsen, professor of law, New York University, and President, American Civil Liberties Union 1976–1991 "Philippa Strum has here produced a wonderful, readable, and politically meaningful discussion of the ideas of one of America's great thinkers on issues of politics and economics--and on the interrelation of politics and economics."--H. N. Hirsch, author of The Enigma of Felix Frankfurter and A Theory of Liberty: The Constitution and Minorities "Concise and insightful. Strum shows how Brandeis's ideas about industrial organization, Zionism, and the rights and duties of citizenship derived from his experiences as a lawyer, and why we should locate Brandeis in the tradition of American pragmatism."--Mark Tushnet, author of Red, White, and Blue: A Critical Analysis of Constitutional Law PHILIPPA STRUM, professor of political science at the City University of New York–Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center, is author of numerous books, including When the Nazis Came to Skokie: Freedom for Speech We Hate, Brandeis on Democracy, Louis D. Brandeis: Justice for the People, The Supreme Court and "Political Questions," and Presidential Power and American Democracy.   Home | About the Press | Recent Awards | Contact Us | Order New Books: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series Books in Print: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series ©2007 University Press of Kansas 2502 Westbrooke Circle, Lawrence, KS 66045-4444 Phone (785) 864-4155; Fax (785) 864-4586