• About this Book
• About the Author
• Read an Excerpt
• Table of Contents

Written by Ted Halstead and Michael Lind

• Format: Trade Paperback, 272 pages
• Publisher: Anchor
• On Sale: October 8, 2002
• Price: $13.00
• ISBN: 978-0-385-72029-8 (0-385-72029-7)

about this book

Record numbers of Americans describe themselves as “independents” and reject the conventional agendas of Left and Right. In this widely acclaimed book, Ted Halstead and Michael Lind explain why today’s ideologies and institutions are so ill-suited to the Information Age, and offer a groundbreaking blueprint for updating all sectors of America society. Taking on partisans and experts on both sides of the political divide, they propose far-reaching reforms for the way we provide health and retirement security, collect taxes, organize elections, enforce civil rights, and educate our children.

Twice before the United States has dramatically reconfigured itself, shifting from an agrarian to an industrial society after the Civil War and successfully adapting to the massive technological and demographic changes of the early twentieth century during the New Deal era. Uniting a sweeping historical vision with bold policy proposals, The Radical Center shows us how to reinvent our nation once again so that all Americans can reap the benefits of the Information Age.


“Hats off to Halstead and Lind for . . . rising above policy blather and advocating some unconventional things.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A political manifesto worthy of the Information Age.”
—Senator John McCain

“A provocative read . . . The book demonstrates that the center need not be a tepid or uncreative spot on the political spectrum. It can be an unpredictable place where intelligent people stir up controversy and offer genuinely unorthodox proposals for change.” —The Washington Post Book World

“A bold and refreshing perspective on the challenges ahead. This is a short, pithy book, but it packs a powerful intellectual punch.” —The Washington Times

“Part historical tract, part policy agenda, part visionary manifesto, The Radical Center is . . . a bracing alternative to the poll-obsessed, cliché-ridden volumes that roll out of Washington think tanks.” —New York Observer

“A provocative, thoughtful, and timely message for the political establishment and the governing class, The Radical Center should be mandatory reading for everyone in office and for those of us who cover them.” —Tom Brokaw, NBC News

“A milestone in political thinking. Nowhere else has the case for the irrelevance of the old categories of Left and Right been put so forcefully. The Radical Center is required reading for anyone who aspires to political literacy.” —John Gray, author of False Dawn

“Halstead and Lind have done a superb job of outlining a provocative starting point for the radical center.” —The American Prospect

“In this brilliant book, Halstead and Lind capture a new center visible to the next generation but never before expressed. Regardless of your political party, your future is here.” —Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google

“A fresh and intelligent roadmap for America’s future.” —Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek

“A clear and coherent program of innovative policy ideas adapted to the Information Age. With a creative drive and passion . . . Halstead and Lind offer a bold vision of institutional transformation.” —Eric Benhamou, chairman of 3Com Corporation

“Subtle, clear, and provocative. . . . The authors present a remarkably coherent vision for the renewal of America.” —Publishers Weekly

“Halstead and Lind represent important and refreshing new voices of the generation to come, whose work will challenge received opinion about public policy.” —Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History

“Halstead and Lind offer us a new progressive center. I hope this book starts the wide-ranging debate that we need.” —Bill Joy, cofounder of Sun Microsystems

“The Radical Center represents new thinking, combining lessons learned from the past with an optimistic view of the future. This book deserves to be read by thoughtful Americans of all generations.” —John C. Whitehead, former chairman of Goldman Sachs

“The curse of modern politics is what the technology world calls ‘legacy code’—inherited taboos, biases, and blinders that prevent most public figures from expressing, or even thinking, original thoughts. The Radical Center shows us how we could deal with a number of intractable public issues if we were willing actually to think about them rather than just operating by reflex and rote.” —James Fallows, chairman of the New America Foundation

“Persuasive . . . clear, succinct. . . . This book adds many fresh insights to our currently stale political discourse.” —Library Journal