As the world’s sole remaining superpower, its most celebrated democracy, and the wellspring of an increasingly globalized popular culture, the United States of America excites fear, envy, and interest which are rarely matched by understanding. America is often said to be deeply divided, witlessly vulgar, religiously orthodox, militarily aggressive, economically savage, and ungenerous to those in need, while maintaining a political stability, a standard of living, and a love of country that is the envy of the world–all at the same time.

With America perplexing so many at home, as well as abroad, Peter Schuck of Yale Law School and James Q. Wilson of AEI’s Council of Academic Advisers have brought together leading experts from across the social sciences to assemble an authoritative and accessible single-volume account, using international comparisons of the exceptional nature of American cultures, institutions and public policies. Please join us for the launch of Understanding America: The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation (PublicAffairs, 2008) and a discussion of this wide-ranging and profound survey of American society.