Invitation to
Post Election Forum on
The Values Divide and the
American Electorate
The Center for the Study of Culture and Values (CSCV) and
the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP) will
sponsor a post-election forum at noon on Nov. 8 at the
National Press Club. It will review the national election
results in the light of the new work of Prof. John K.
White's new book, The
Values Divide (see
below). To attend the luncheon call The Center at 202-
319-6089.
The Values Divide is
an accessible yet penetrating study of the value structure
of the American electorate. At this pivotal moment it
identifies new directions in American culture and politics.
Hence, this National Issues Forum devoted to the discussion
of White’s finding promises the shed important light on the
interpretation of the results of the present election and
indicate avenues for the preparation of the next.
Prof. White will be joined by a number of specialists on the
multiple American electorates and their value patterns: John
Zogby, a leading public opinion analyst, whose recent work
along with James Zogby, President of the Arab American
Institute (AAI), "What Ethnic Americans Really Think" was
previously featured at an NCUEA/CRVP/NIAF National Issues
Forum; Dr. Charles A. Kromkowski, author of Recreating
the American Republic, Cambridge University Press and
Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of Religion and
Democracy; Dr. John Kromkowski, President of the National
Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs; Dr. Alfred Rotondaro,
former executive director of the National Italian American
Foundation; and Prof. George F. McLean, President of the
international Council for Research in Values and Philosophy
(CRVP). Also participating will be a set of public
intellectuals from Uzbekistan, the Ukraine, Kenya, Somalia,
Cameroon, India and China who are currently at The Catholic
University of America for a ten week CSCV seminar on
“Cultural Identity and Globalization”.
Endorsements of The
Values Divide include:
"John White has a deep understanding of our culture. Every
corner of it--politics, television, journalism, religion,
scholarship, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. This book puts it
all together in the story of our times." --Bill Schneider,
Senior Political Analyst, CNN
"John White's new book cuts a wide swath, from America in
the 1600s to the stereotypical post-WWII family through the
closing years of the 1900s and the wrenching events of the
recent past. His thorough research highlights the diversity
of opinion in a free society and raises important questions
for America in the 21st Century." --Bob Kerrey, President,
New School University
"John Kenneth White's The Values Divide goes directly to the
core of contemporary American politics. White's book
explores the cultural and moral polarizations in American
society that have come to shape both elections and policy.
The Values Divide is essential reading not only for students
of politics, but for everyone interested in public policy
and the nature of the conflicts that underpin the emergence
of forces as diverse as the Religious Right and feminism,
and played crucial roles in the Clinton impeachment debate,
the election of President George W. Bush and in the defining
of a new liberalism and a new conservatism." -- Thomas B,
Edsall, The Washington Post
"Increasingly, Americans are divided on election day not by
their economic interests or ethnic origins, but by their
values. The Values Divide looks at our politics and shows
how this came to be, what it meant in the close presidential
election of 2000 and what it means after September 11."
--Michael Barone, Senior Writer, U.S. News & World Report
"A fascinating, up to the minute account that puts recent
American politics in a broad and meaningful context,
including our divided values. Highly recommended to the
reader who wants to make sense of our complex politics."
--James MacGregor Burns, Williams College
Political change too often is dissected, described, and
analyzed in the narrow frames of reference of issues,
images, and candidates and coalitions: These, as John
Kenneth White masterfully points out in his latest book, The
Values Divide, when considered alone none capture the
dynamic political force of clashing values nor recognize
that values underpin almost all significant political change
that reflect in the emerging issues, party images,
coalitions and the candidates." --Richard Wirthlin, Chairman
of the Board of Wirthlin Worldwide
"John Kenneth White brings vast erudition and keen political
insights to study of the critical value clashes that have
recently divided not only our political life but our entire
society. Covering the evolution of American values from the
1950s to the response to the tragedies of September 11,
2001, he finds a nation deeply torn-- but with a welcome
glimpse of possible healing and reunion at the end." --
James Reichley, Georgetown University
"The Values Divide cogently captures the critical role
culture plays in American politics. It is a primer for
understanding the Clinton and Bush eras, and more
importantly, what lies beyond." --John Green, Head of the
Ray C. Bliss Institute
"The Values Divide is a grand book; Chatham House--and the
rest of us--are fortunate to have it. John White's
observations on Clinton missing the Cold War and Bush's
preference for unchallenged command have doubled force these
days." --Wilson Carey McWilliams, Rutgers University
