From Dan Quayle to Bill Clinton, Americans are increasingly alarmed by the crisis of values in our society. What are the roots of the crisis? What can be done to solve it? Putting aside the sterile, old categories of liberal versus conservative, this book forcefully argues for a new approach to social problems - an approach based on rediscovering civic virtue and strengthening the institutions of civil society. Bringing together prominent contributors from across the human sciences and across the political spectrum, Seedbeds of Virtue is a seminal contribution to the emerging debate on rebuilding civil society.