On Statesmanship

Steven B. Smith is Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University and codirector of Yale’s Center for the Study of Representative Institutions. His books include Political Philosophy, Modernity and Its Discontents, and Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes. He splits his time between New Haven, CT, and Brooklyn, NY.

“An elegant essay, full of insight, on a subject that has been unduly neglected.”—Sir Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government, King’s College London“A fascinating and inspired lesson on the highest form of political wisdom and civic excellence. At a time when democracy is assailed from within and imperiled by a vacillating international order, On Statesmanship explores the genuine language and the timeless attributes of a lost art — not from a purely antiquarian perspective, but as a benchmark for understanding our present predicament.”—Ran Halévi, author of Le Chaos de la démocratie américaine [The Chaos of American Democracy]“It takes one of the world’s most lucid political theorists to begin to solve the problem of statesmanship now. Steven B. Smith shows that today’s crisis of leadership in liberal democracies may not be a lack of talent or ambition—but instead a dearth of deep civic education and public spirit.”—Jeffrey K. Tulis, author of The Rhetorical Presidency