Uncommon Sense

Ian Shapiro is Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale. He has written widely and influentially on democracy, justice, and the methods of social inquiry. His recent books include Politics against Domination, Responsible Parties with Frances Rosenbluth, and The Wolf at the Door with Michael Graetz.

“Uncommon Sense is a major statement about the contemporary position of the politics of the world’s residual democracies. No one else in political science, and certainly no one at all in political philosophy, combines Shapiro’s analytic ability, his astonishing range of political knowledge, and his gritty intensity of political purpose.”—John Dunn, Emeritus Professor of Political Theory, University of Cambridge“Ian Shapiro’s work has always stood out for his careful argument and insistence on anchoring considerations of democratic theory in important concrete issues in political life. Uncommon Sense continues that high standard.”—Adolph Reed, Jr., author of The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives“Knowledge is possible and helpful; domination is bad; democracy remains central to resisting domination. It seems astonishing that we need a new book from an eminent and insightful scholar to defend those statements—and yet we do. Luckily, Ian Shapiro has stepped up with compelling evidence, analysis, and advocacy. Democratic citizens and would-be citizens are in his debt.”—Jennifer Hochschild, author of Genomic Politics: How the Revolution in Genomic Science Is Shaping American Society“Ian Shapiro defends a ‘chastened’ version of the Enlightenment Project, but the defense itself is by no means chastened. It is a wonderfully robust argument for majoritarian democracy, strong parties, and a vigorously partisan politics—and a brilliant polemic against every opposing view. Shapiro’s intellectual partisanship is a model for the political arguments that, he believes, sustain our freedom.”—Michael Walzer, author of The Struggle for a Decent Politics