Pluralism may appear to be on the rise. Many societies are being transformed
by a plurality of cultural groups, each with different and perhaps
legitimate norms. Many states are being transformed by the new
governance with its plurality of organizations working in all kinds of
overlapping legal and regulatory frameworks. These social and political
trends mean that pluralist issues are prominent in many contemporary
debates about public policy. For a start, the increasingly diverse
nature of many societies has inspired various discussions about multiculturalism.
1 What are the social and political implications of cultural
diversity? Do we need to rethink our morality and even our laws to
respond to cultural pluralism? In addition, the changing nature of the
state has inspired various debates about governance.2 Has the state been
hollowed-out, supplemented or supplanted by a patchwork of public,
private, and voluntary organizations formulating policy and delivering
services through markets and networks? What are the implications of
this new governance for accountability and other democratic values?
Given the prominence of pluralist issues in contemporary public
debates, it is not surprising that recent years have seen an upsurge of
scholarly interest in the history and prospects of political pluralism.
Recent works on the history of modern pluralism have concentrated
on its rise in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.3