Whatyoubelieveaboutpoliticsmatters.ThedecadessincetheColdWar,withnewalignmentsofpost-9/11globalpoliticsandthechaosofthelate2010s,areswirlingwithalternativevisionsofpoliticallife,rangingfromethnicnationalismtoindividualisticliberalism.Politicalideologiesarenotmerelyamatterofgovernmentalefficacy,butareintrinsicallyandinescapablyreligious:eachcarriescertainassumptionsaboutthenatureofreality,individualsandsociety,aswellasaparticularvisionforthecommongood.Thesefundamentalbeliefstranscendthepoliticalsphere,andtheastuteChristianobservercandiscerntheways--sometimessubtle,sometimesnot--inwhichideologiesarerootedinidolatrousworldviews.Inthisfreshlyupdated,comprehensivestudy,politicalscientistDavidKoyzissurveysthekeypoliticalideologiesofourera,includingliberalism,conservatism,nationalism,democracy,andsocialism.Koyzisgiveseachphilosophycarefulanalysisandfaircritique,unpackingtheworldviewissuesinherenttoeachandpointingoutessentialstrengthsandweaknesses,aswellasrevealingthe“narrativestructure“ofeach--thestoriestheytelltomakesenseofpubliclifeandthedirectionofhistory.KoyzisconcludesbyproposingalternativemodelsthatflowoutofChristianity’shistoricengagementwiththepublicsquare,retrievingapproachesforbothindividualsandtheglobal,institutionalchurchthatholdpromiseforthecomplexpoliticalrealitiesofthetwenty-firstcentury.Writingwithbroadinternationalperspectiveandkeenanalyticalinsight,KoyzisisasaneandsensibleguideforChristiansworkinginthepublicsquare,culturewatchers,politicalpundits,andallstudentsofmodernpoliticalthought.
