Review by Choice Review
Recent times have been fruitful for the production of literature exemplary of conservative thought; this is one of a few recent works that takes conservatism seriously as a subject for scholarly study and analysis (see also, Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind, CH, Apr'12, 49-4729). Farney (Univ. of Regina, Canada) undertakes a comparative analysis of the movement of social conservatives into active party politics in the US and Canada since the 1960s. His work is notable for both its detailed description of the development of a social-conservative influence in politics in both countries, and its grounding--implicit and explicit--in frameworks emphasizing ideological analysis, comparative political culture, and insight informed by the new institutionalism. Farney is particularly strong in his articulation of the distinction among three branches of conservatism, and in tracing the different cultural and structural challenges confronting social conservatives breaking into political party institutions traditionally dominated by traditionalist and laissez-faire varieties of conservatism. Different understandings of party discipline, the predominance of legislative politics, and different cultural understandings around the political nature of the personal account for the later and less profound impact of social conservatives in Canada than in the US. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, undergraduate students, and graduate students. S. P. Duffy Quinnipiac University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
