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Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. History -- 2. Theory -- 3. Politics -- Postscript: An Appeal to U.S. Civics Educators -- Appendix 1: Federal Age Requirements in Other Democracies -- Appendix 2: Average Age of Congress Since 1949 -- Notes -- Index -- Back Cover.

Prompted by the prominence of incest themes in the U.S. literary canon, the author raises and explores the idea of a "democratic theory of incest." To that end, the paper uncovers, tracks, and documents the interest in incest throughout the Western canon of political thought. It then presents and addresses a "standoff" in theoretical circles today: whereas many nonliberal political theorists have continued and developed the canonical interest in the politics of incest, contemporary liberals have largely dropped out of that extended discussion. By way of a re-reading of Freud's Totem and Taboo along with an analysis of John Sayles's 1996 film, Lone Star, the paper outlines a possible way out of a poststructuralist versus liberal theory impasse over incest, thus proposing movement in the direction of a democratic understanding of incest concerns. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright holder.]

Prompted by the prominence of incest themes in the U.S. literary canon, the author raises and explores the idea of a "democratic theory of incest." To that end, the paper uncovers, tracks, and documents the interest in incest throughout the Western canon of political thought. It then presents and addresses a "standoff" in theoretical circles today: whereas many nonliberal political theorists have continued and developed the canonical interest in the politics of incest, contemporary liberals have largely dropped out of that extended discussion. By way of a re-reading of Freud's Totem and Taboo along with an analysis of John Sayles's 1996 film, Lone Star, the paper outlines a possible way out of a poststructuralist versus liberal theory impasse over incest, thus proposing movement in the direction of a democratic understanding of incest concerns.

A review essay on books by (1) Dick Pels, The Intellectual as Stranger: Studies in Spokespersonship (London: Routledge, 2000); & (2) Andrew Sabl, Ruling Passions: Political Offices and Democratic Elites (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U Press, 2002).

Writing on the outskirts of Hollywood, where my college campus episodically turns into a set location for the filming of West Wing or, most recently, Pearl Harbor, I have picked up a few pointers about the biz just by keeping my ears perked. "Talk to me, babe! Luv ya. My agent will get back to you on that. What's my motivation?" And so on. Clichés and formulas do matter, however, in such a large-scale collaborative enterprise because often they provide the underlying rules of the game. The first rule of screenwriting, any insider knows, is that you must hook your reader on page one. If you do not grab your audience right from the start, even before the opening credits roll, the rest of the spec script will surely get tossed, and the movie will never get made.

This essay offers a new perspective on abortion politics by proposing that the background debate can be productively shifted from the question of the legal status of fetuses as potential persons to their religious status as potential souls (within a Christian framework). Such a deliberate turn toward metaphysics as an appropriate terrain for political contestation runs counter to a prevailing liberal doctrine -- best articulated by John Rawls -- that metaphysics, especially perfectionist notions, have little or no place within liberal political calculations. Rawls's shortcomings on the abortion debate are surveyed along with those of other recent commentators; & Christian theology on abortion is challenged by way of introducing some of Georges Bataille's notions of political economy. The Japanese practice of mizuko kuyo under Buddhism is offered at the end as a comparative foil to Western political conflicts over abortion. Adapted from the source document.