A review by moreteamorecats
The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness: A Vindication of Democracy and a Critique of its Traditional Defense by Reinhold Niebuhr

3.0

The main analytic point here is one that Niebuhr makes so effectively, it's all but naturalized in American political life: There's a tradeoff between idealism and effectiveness. Moral cynics are likelier to recognize and use power than are actors driven by any sort of values, however pragmatically framed. The rest, after the first chapter, is basically boilerplate of purely historical interest—if you want Niebuhr at his best, try [b:Moral Man and Immoral Society|55235|Moral Man and Immoral Society Study in Ethics and Politics|Reinhold Niebuhr|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385233561s/55235.jpg|53848] or [b:Beyond Tragedy|3567409|Beyond tears Zimbabwe's tragedy|Catherine Buckle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327578054s/3567409.jpg|3609609].