The inaugural issue of American Political Thought: A Journal of Ideas, Institutions, and Culture features a set of articles titled "American Exceptionalism: Is It Real, Is It Good.", including Rogers M. Smith (Penn): “Our Republican Example”: The Significance of the American Experiments in Government in the Twenty-First Century; and Patrick Deneen (Georgetown): Cities of Man on a Hill. From New English Review, Mark Anthony Signorelli on how the typical attitude of American exceptionality needs a great deal of tempering. Michael Kazin explains what Americanism is and how it differentiates from other nationalisms around the world. How Joseph Stalin invented “American Exceptionalism”: The phrase is often attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville, but the real author was the Soviet dictator — and it wasn't a compliment. American politicians love American exceptionalism — or at least to talk about it; Scott McLemee wonders if they know the concept's odd history. Enough with "Only in America": Mitt Romney digs his country. What are some of the most interesting or shocking things Americans believe about themselves or their country?
