Democratic Culture and Moral Character

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction to Democratic Culture and Moral Character: A Study in Culture and Personality

   • Jerome Braun

   Pages 1-29

3. Democracy and Character

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31

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   2. Understanding Democracy as a Prerequisite for Spreading Democracy

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 33-41

   3. The Faking of Charisma and Decadence: Cultural Decay Through the Ages

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 43-54

   4. Modernity and Intimacy

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 55-68

   5. How Nationalism is Similar to Juvenile Delinquency

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 69-85

4. Pragmatism and Character

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 87-87

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   2. Pragmatism as the Basis of American Culture in an Individualistic Society

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 89-101

   3. Formal and Informal Uses of Law for Ensuring Political Freedom: A Short Cross-Cultural Comparison

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 103-110

5. The Evolution of Democratic Character and Culture

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111

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   2. Limited Alternatives and Personal Identity: The Relation Between Freedom and Personal Responsibility

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 113-132

   3. America as a Post-Feudal Society, or How to Relate to the Islamic World

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 133-138

   4. Personal Versus Impersonal Forms of Exploitation

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 139-153

6. Conclusion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 155-155

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   2. Politics from the Bottom Up, Rather Than the Top Down

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 157-159

   3. Means and Ends in Personal Relationships

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 161-177

   4. The Sense of Self in Democratic Societies

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 179-213

   5. A Basic Summary on Social Evolution and Character

      • Jerome Braun

      Pages 215-229

7. Back Matter

   Pages 231-264

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This book returns critical theory to its roots in both psychology and the social sciences. It shows some of the relationships between equality in a political and social sense and personal identity that either relates well to such equality, or rebels against it. All this reflects processes of social and cultural influence that involve not only random change but also processes of social and cultural evolution that themselves have effects regarding potentials for self-fulfillment and even public morality. This book provides a framework to help one study the interaction between individual aspirations and social opportunities.

Jerome Braun, known for his writings in interdisciplinary social science, an approach he calls pragmatic critical theory, here provides a book that discusses issues relevant to the moral underpinnings of democratic society, including issues of social evolution and of culture and personality. 

This book will be of particular interest to scholars and students of Psychology (particularly in the areas of Psychology of Personality and Cultural Psychology), Sociology (especially those interested in Sociology of Alienation and Sociology of Culture, as well as Sociology of Mental Health), Anthropology (particularly in the area of Psychological Anthropology), Cultural Studies, and Social Theory in general.

• Alienation in Modern Society
• Critical Theory
• Democratic Culture and Personality
• Ensuring Personal Freedom
• Modernity
• Nationalism and Juvenile Delinquency
• Personal Relationships
• Personal and Impersonal Forms of Exploitation
• Post-Feudal American Society
• Pragmatism Basis of American Culture
• Psychology of Personality and of Personal Relationships
• Social Evolution
• The Self in Democratic Societies
• Understanding and Spreading Democracy

• Chicago, USA

  Jerome Braun

Jerome Braun is known for his writing in interdisciplinary social science, the kind not usually covered in most Ph.D programs, with some emphasis on culture and personality and on democracy from a cross-cultural perspective. Much in the spirit of pragmatic critical theory, he started out writing on industrial democracy and on alienation in the workplace, and eventually expanded to writing on democracy in general and on alienation in the world at large. A good deal of his writing tends to lie on the border between disciplines, such as the borders between psychology and anthropology, and sociology and economics, at the same time informed by a knowledge of history, all of which produces a rather holistic point of view, partly inspired by classical sociology. In general he has studied alienation in modern society, and its effects on both culture and personality. In particular his writing on the psychology of personality, and on how the fulfillment of personality can be hampered or fostered by various kinds of social and cultural environments, is in the spirit of such humanistic writers as Erich Fromm and Christopher Lasch. He takes a rather pragmatic approach to the study of social evolution, and in this regard is much inspired by the work of Max Weber. He gave the Willard and Margaret thorp Lecture at Princeton University on October 12, 2000 where he spoke on “Liberal and Authoritarian Versions of Democracy.” He also was a consultant to the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign as a member of their Labor, Employment, and Workplace Policy Committee. He co-edited with Prof. George McCall Issue 192 (June 2008) of the International Social Science Journal sponsored by UNESCO devoted to the topic of “Dilemmas in Nation-Building.” His contribution is an essay on “Character, Civil Society, and Prospects for Democracy.”

Policies and ethics