The new historical synthesis will be based neither on the progressive historians' false myth of immutable class conflict nor upon the consensus historians' false myth of peaceful progress. What is most striking about the search for a new synthesis in American history is the common bond of a distinctive and consensual culture. Singal's dialectical scheme embraces the organizational synthesis proposed by Galambos, and Collins views his consumer synthesis as consistent with the design of Bender's public culture as well as with the framework proposed by Singal and Galambos. Woodward weaves these synthetic themes and others into a complex and subtle analysis that accommodates tensions within its development. Most important from the perspective of the debate over political violence is that all five of the major contenders for a new interpretive synthesis in American history share with contingency theory a culturalist explanation of distinctive national cultures and public ideologies. 58 notes.