he conservative philosophy, not to mention the political clout, of the Reagan administration appears to have called all in doubt about American liberalism. To some, such as neoconservative essayist Peter Shaw, liberalism has been in retreat for several years. To others, such as political scientist Peter J. Steinberger, it is more a case of advancing in a different direction, a direction away from what Mr. Steinberger calls "social engineering" yet still adhering to the path of what he terms "social justice." But, wherever liberalism is marching, on one point Mr. Shaw and Mr. Steinberger would agree, namely this: the old liberalism of FDR, JFK, and LBJ is at one with Nineveh and Tyre. The question now is what shape the phoenix rising from the ashes of the old will take, and the answer is not likely to be forthcoming before 1988 at the earliest.

A native New Yorker, Peter Shaw received his Ph.D. degree in English from Columbia. He has taught at several institutions, including the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the University of Virginia, and (this past spring) Barnard College. He served as an associate editor of Commentary in 1968—69 and is the author of The Character of John Adams (1976) and American Patriots and the Rituals of Revolution (1981). Mr. Shaw is currently completing a book of essays on the present state of intellectual discourse.

Mr. Steinberger has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside. He taught at the University of Denver before moving to Reed College in Oregon, where he is an associate professor and chairman of the political science department. He is the author of Ideology and the Urban Crisis (1985), and his articles and reviews have appeared in numerous publications.