{"product_id":"the-therapeutic-state-justifying-government-at-centurys-end","title":"The Therapeutic State: Justifying Government at Century's End","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe United States has always been profoundly conflicted about the role and utility of its government. Simmering just beneath the surface of heated public discussions over the appropriate scope and size of government are foundational questions about the very purpose of the state  and the basis of its authority. Americas changing and diversifying cultural climate makes common agreement about the governments raison dtre all the more difficult. In The Therapeutic State  James Nolan shows us how these unresolved dilemmas have coalesced at centurys end. Today the American state  faced with a steady decline in public confidence  has embraced a therapeutic code of moral understanding to legitimize its very existence. By ranging widely across education  criminal justice  welfare  political rhetoric  and civil law  Nolan convincingly illustrates how the state increasingly turns to the therapeutic ethos as a justification for its programs and policies  a development that will profoundly influence the relationship between government and citizenry. In a tone refreshingly free of polemic  Nolan charts the dialectic relationship between culture and politics and  against the backdrop of striking historical contrasts  gives example after example of the emergence of therapeutic sensibilities in the processes of the American state.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44966753828917,"sku":"ByrdShop_081475791X","price":29.84,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780814757918.jpg?v=1770578240","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-therapeutic-state-justifying-government-at-centurys-end","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}