Implementing Pragmatic Liberalism: Leadership, Citizenship, and Community

Abstract

Acivil society is not a product, but a process. It is not a goal to be achieved, nor a project to be completed. Rather, it is a continuously emergent valued state, created and recreated in the everyday actions of its citizens. It is not to be found in the genius of a single constitutional document, but in the common discourse permeating the complex relationships of all its constituents. It is not immutable and immemorial but consciously constructed and eternally emergent. Forever threatened by extremes on all fronts, it must be defended by vigilance and commitment from those of every station. It needs leaders and citizens joined together in a community, committed to the common wealth and the common welfare.