THE NEW BELIEF IN THE COMMON MAN

A book intended primarily, I should think, for students of social philosophy, government, etc., and dealing with the theory, the meaning and the belief in the ""common man"". He opens with the concept as voiced by Paine and Bentham, as expanded through the American Revolution and the Jeffersoniah concept, to the point where today it means ""democratic man"". The problems challenging this belief are probed:- the paradox between worship of the state and of the individual; modern propaganda, which must be revalued as a new force, a phase of education; the controversy between majority and minority rule and the validity of the qualified majority, retaining dissent as an important factor in democratic life; the conflict between the ""common man"" and the ""elite"" (whether of mind or spirit or wealth or power). At the close, Friedrich states a future in which a ""common man"" has been educated with the stress on ethics and character, and given a sense of responsibility and workmanship in the group. He draws on classic philosophers for development and concepts; he uses modern cases to illustrate certain points in practice. A book not intended for the average layman. The author is a professor of government at Harvard.