America's Crisis of Values: Reality and Perception.By Wayne E. Baker. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006.328p. $18.95.

Wayne Baker's America's Crisis of Values: Reality andPerception offers a recent addition to a growingliterature in political science that examines the perception and,perhaps, reality of the polarization of American politics aroundcultural and moral issues. In this book, Baker sets out to providean empirical examination of three aspects of America's perceivedcrisis of values. The first of these is the trend hypothesis: Inrecent decades, America has experienced a significant decline in itscommitment to traditional moral values. The second is the comparisonhypothesis: Moral values in the United States have declined relativeto most other nations. Third and finally is the distributionhypothesis: Americans have become increasingly polarized in theircommitment to traditional moral values.