William Galston

Dr. William A. Galston is the Saul I. Stern Professor of Civic Engagement and the Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland. 

"Dr. Galston is a political theorist who both studies and participates in American politics and domestic policy. Galston was Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy during the first Clinton administration and Executive Director of the National Commission on Civic Renewal, which was chaired by Sam Nunn and William J. Bennett. He has served as Director of Economic and Social Programs at the Roosevelt Center for American Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., as chief speech writer for John Anderson's National Unity campaign, as issues director for Walter Mondale's presidential campaign and as senior advisor to Albert Gore, Jr. during his run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1991-1992. Since 1995, Galston has served as a founding member of the Board of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and as chair of the Campaign's Task Force on Religion and Public Values. Galston's teaching and research interests include social policy, family policy, normative analysis, education policy and civic renewal." - "William Galston (Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Chicago), is a political theorist who both studies and participates in American politics and domestic policy. In the first two years of President Bill Clinton's administration, Galston served as the Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. He formerly taught at the University of Texas, Austin in the Government Department, and served as Director of Economic and Social Programs at the Roosevelt Center for American Policy Studies in Washington, DC. Other experience includes stints as issue director for Walter Mondale's presidential campaign (1982-1984), senior advisor to Albert Gore, Jr., in his 1988 run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Galston is a founding co-editor of The Responsive Community, a journal that explores the issues of community, responsibility, and the common good in public policy. His most recent book is Liberal Purposes: Goods, Virtues, and Diversity in the Liberal State (1991), and he has also authored a series of articles on family policy. In recent years Galston has focused increasingly on family policy."

"After serving as a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and then receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1973, Galston taught for nearly a decade in the Department of Government at the University of Texas. In the 1990s, he served as deputy assistant for domestic policy to President Clinton, and later as executive director for the National Commission on Civic Renewal. Presently, he directs the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, an organization he founded with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts. He has long been a senior advisor to the Democratic Leadership Council, and since 1995, has directed the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland. He is the author of six books and nearly one hundred articles on questions of political and moral philosophy, American politics and public policy. His most recent book is Public Matters: Politics, Policy, and Religion in the 21st Century (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). Galston is also a co-author of Democracy at Risk: How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation and What We Can Do About It, to be published in September by the Brookings Press."


 * Director, National Endowment for Democracy
 * National Advisory Board, AmericaSpeaks
 * Advisory Council, Center on International Media Assistance
 * Editorial Committee, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas

Related Sourcewatch

 * Compassionate Conservatism
 * communitarianism