Since the dawn of time, it seems, social critics have been warning ofa “crisis of legitimacy” in the political world. Manuel Castellsrepeats this ageless battle-cry in his 2004 Ithiel de Sola Poollecture (PS, January 2005, 9–16), warning darkly ofan “increasing alienation of citizens” that “threatens to undo thedemocratic system” (9). As proof, he offers an array ofpoint-in-time survey results from Western countries in recent years,as well as anecdotal evidence of “the expression of politicalprotest” in places like California and France (9). Yet, none of thisshows anything except the fact that states are imperfect creationsfor the expression of political community and, as Isaiah Berlinmight have added, the timeless costs of social life.