ABSTRACT
The gradual disappearance from Western society of the type of moral self-control and discrimination on which constitutional democracy depends has produced general sociopolitical fragmentation and an increasingly egregious pursuit of self-interest. Modern Western democracy displays two tendencies that might appear unrelated and even opposed to each other but which are actually different manifestations of one and the same deterioration of moral community. Superficially regarded, what has here been called social fragmentation might seem as an example of the kind of decentralized and group-oriented sociopolitical dynamic that has been described as integral to constitutional democracy. The program of nationalization, initiated by a putative "conservative", helped disarm conservatives who were opposed to the US Department of Education and created an opening for additional federal educational initiatives. William Bennett's plan made it much easier for the Democrats to introduce the plan that they, barely changing the name, called "Goals 2000" an ambitious bid for further nationalization of education.
