Why We Lost the Era

This postmortem of the Equal Rights Amendment and the turbulent ""ERA decade'' of 19721982 is thoroughly researched, meticulously footnoted, judiciously balanced and mercifully free of ax-grinding. Mansbridge (Beyond Adversary Democracy, a professor of political science and sociology at Northwestern University, pinpoints the major causes of the ERA movement's decline and ultimate demise: the ideological purity of its volunteers, mushrooming power of the new right, and legislative skepticism and fear of judicial authority. Although she laments the passing of a decade of feminist activity that saw national attention focused on the public and private roles of women, she welcomes the current ferment of debate, asserting that the drive for ERA ratification compelled its backers into an artificial posture of unity that checked the flow of innovative ideas. Mansbridge's discussions on the depth of American traditionalism and the vagaries of organizations are particularly apt. (October)