Apathy, lack of political involvement and a decrease in social trust are just some of the things a political philosopher speaking at SIUC tonight thinks is wrong with modern America.

Presenting material from her book Democracy on Trial, Jean Bethke Elshtain will deliver this fall’s Morton-Kenney Public Affairs Lecture.

Elshtain said she believes democracy in the United States is in trouble, despite a move toward democracy countries such as Hatiti and the former Soviet Union. She attributes the problems to many factors, including a rise in national cynicism.

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To highlight her concerns, Elshtain said she will be looking at the good, the bad and the ugly of the 1960s. That era’s emphasis on individual freedom lies at the heart of today’s society, she said.

What happens to the vulnerable, to families, schools and churches, to all the social institutions we require to help individuals become individuals, if you push that emphasis too far? They collapse, Elshtain said. We didn’t recognize that, and now we’re paying the price.

Elshtain said getting back on the right road may be hard, but not impossible.

I think we still have it within ourselves to draw upon the best we can be, Elshtain said.

America is still the beacon for those who are imprisoned, tortured and demeaned, Elshtain said.

The question is, how can we live up to what we represent?, she said.

Elshtain has written 11 books, and hundreds of essays for opinion and scholarly journals. She has a doctorate in politics and has taught at Harvard, Vanderbilt and Yale University. She now teaches social and political ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

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Elshtain’s speech is a part of the Morton-Kenney lecture series, which was established last spring by Jerome Mileur. Mileur is a graduate of SIUC and is now a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts.

Mileur gave a $270,000 lecture series gift to SIUC in honor of two of his favorite professors, Ward Morton and David Kenney.

The lecture begins at 8 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium. A reception in the Student Center Gallery Lounge will follow the speech.