DEMOS

In this groundbreaking essay, the US professor Dr Amitai Etzioni offers a powerful account of what the Third Way really means, and roots it in a vision of the 'good society'.

He argues that such societies achieve a dynamic balance between state, market and community, and blends theoretical discussion with the practical implications of such an approach.

At the core of the analysis is the idea that the Third Way is an ethical position that seeks to treat people as ends in themselves. While flexibility and pragmatism are important to the new politics, they should be understood as components of a broader framework in which social progress is measured by more than the accumulation of material goods.

How do we manage devolution succesfully? What approach should government take to inequality? What is the proper relationship between rights and responsibilities? The Third Way to a Good Society illuminates these and other issues, and calls for a broad-ranging moral dialogue to address them. It will be required reading for anyone seeking a guide to the contours of our new political landscape.

Amitai Etzioni teaches at George Washington University. For Demos, Dr Etzioni has written The Parenting Deficit and chapters in Life After Politics and Opening Minds.