This volume focuses on the challenge of multiculturalism and the politics of recognition facing democratic societies today, concentrating on the United States and Canada in particular. The initial inquiry by Charles Taylor considers whether the institutions of liberal democratic government make room for, or even should accommodate, recognizing the worth of distinctive cultural traditions. This exploration is joined in this edition (the second in English) by an extensive essay by Jurgen Habermas, first included in the German edition, on the issues of recognition and the democratic constitutional state. Habermas argues that equal protection under the law is not enough to guarantee a constitutional democracy. K. Anthony Appiah offers commentary on the tensions between personal and collective identities, such as those shaped by religion, gender, ethnicity, race, and sexuality, and the tendency of multicultural politics to gloss over such tensions. These essays are joined by commentaries by: (1) Amy Gutmann; (2) Susan Wolf; (3) Steven C. Rockefeller; and (4) Michael Walzer. (SLD)