The exact place of the family in a healthy political community, and the appropriate way to sustain it, are complicated and difficult questions. The contributors to this book endeavour to provide some answers. The first part of the book explores what is distinctive in the current situation of the family, and offers both optimistic and pessimistic assessments of the family in our time, as well as a historical overview. In the second part, authors look at the family today. Demographics, economics and social pathologies are all discussed. Part Three offers analysis of the family and American law, especially the law of divorce, while Part Four deals with the relationship between the family and two profoundly important facets of American life: the capitalist economic system and the cultural power of the media. Finally, the fifth part surveys the various areas of public policy, and concludes by asking whether, and what, public policy can do for the family.