Crises of the Republic was published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1972, collecting four essays that Arendt wrote in response to the political crises of the late 1960s and early 1970s: the Vietnam War, the Pentagon Papers, the rise of civil disobedience, and the growing credibility gap between government and citizens.
“Lying in Politics” examines the Pentagon Papers as a case study in governmental deception — not the ordinary lies of politicians but the systematic, institutionalized self-deception of an entire bureaucratic apparatus. Arendt argues that the Pentagon planners were trapped in an image of reality that they had constructed and that no amount of contradicting evidence could penetrate. The problem was not that they lied to the public (though they did) but that they lied to themselves — they inhabited a world of “problem-solving” abstractions that had no connection to the reality of Vietnam.
“Civil Disobedience” defends the legitimacy of civil disobedience as a political practice, arguing that it is not criminal (because it is public and principled) and not revolutionary (because it accepts the legitimacy of the constitutional order it is challenging). Arendt proposes that civil disobedience should be recognized as a constitutionally protected form of political participation — a right of minority dissent within a democratic framework.
“On Violence” (reprinted from the 1970 edition) and “Thoughts on Politics and Revolution” (an interview) complete the volume, which together constitute Arendt’s most direct engagement with American politics.
Collecting Crises of the Republic
First edition (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1972): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $30–$80
- Without jacket: $8–$20
- Paperback first printing: $5–$12