One Nation Undecided: Clear Thinking About Five Hard Issues That Divide Us

Yale law professor Schuck (Why Government Fails so Often) explains how Americans can think rigorously about hard public issues. The five issues he focuses on are certainly controversial—poverty, immigration, campaign finance, affirmative action, and religion’s place in public life—but Schuck works hard to be evenhanded, noting that controversy arises precisely because there are rational arguments for differing views. As he states, he doesn’t “much care where readers come out on these issues so long as they approach them with... clear thinking.” Despite this disclaimer, Schuck doesn’t sit on the sidelines, observing that the facts about immigration “argue in favor of far-reaching legislative and administrative policy changes.” Specifically, he argues for increased legal immigration until American workers have been retrained to fill the job needs of today’s economy, a goal that he says “must be among our highest social priorities.” However, readers may feel that the central concept Schuck advocates—evidence-based policy arrived at after respectful consideration of differing viewpoints and perspectives—is too idealistic for the realities of 21st-century American politics. [em](Mar.) [/em]