Nearly twenty years ago in the first edition of this path-breaking book, Peter Berger and Richard John Neuhaus anticipated the major worldwide project of the 1990s: the renewal of civil society. They showed that such "mediating structures" as family, neighborhood, church, voluntary associations, and civic organizations are crucial institutions, whose weakening spells disaster.

They warned public policy experts, then mesmerized by promising new government programs, that these were likely to be less successful than mediating institutions. Now, many of their ideas vindicated, the authors have returned to their original argument to assess what has succeeded, what has gone wrong, and what remains to be done. For this new edition, they have invited twelve scholars to join them in pointing toward new directions for the future.

With reform of the welfare state on the international agenda, this new edition of To Empower People will likely become the beacon for the next generation.