Next: The Road to the Good Society

Amitai Etzioni has produced yet another stimulating book. With the enormous economic success of the 1990s, Etzioni asks us to think about what's next? The pot of gold is also filled with a golden rule. In Next, Etzioni sets an agenda for a rich society to become a good society. Using the communitarian approach, for which he has become the leading advocate, Etzioni not only points out the necessary components of a good society, but shows us how to get there.Etzioni outlines what he calls a centrist communitarian approach, but this centrist approach is quite different from the 3rd way hailed by the centrist New Democrats. While Etzioni shares, to some extent, the New Democrats' belief in the use of market incentives to achieve policy objectives, he does not attach himself to a midpoint between Republicans and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Instead, he argues for a policy agenda that is at once very liberal (e.g., arguing for a much more generous safety net) and conservative (e.g., supporting government funding of religious organizations' to fulfill social services).Etzioni's communitarian approach relies heavily on communities, rather than on the state or on unfettered market, as the primary agent for ensuring that social obligations are met. Next is a thoughtful book, which I recommend to any citizen interested in public policy.