Democracy: A Very Short Introduction

by Bernard Crick

Book Overview

No political concept is more used, and misused, than that of democracy. Nearly every regime today claims to be democratic, but not all "democracies" allow free politics, and free politics existed long before democratic franchises.
This book is a short account of the history of the doctrine and practice of democracy, from ancient Greece and Rome through the American, French, and Russian revolutions, and of the usages and practices associated with...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019280250X
• ISBN13: 9780192802507
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 4.5" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Beginner's guide with very high quality

It's a tiny book, but it contains various materials with high quality which lead us to the core of Politics. Obviously it is helpful to beginners such as undergraduates (especially freshmen). It's a tiny book, and so students in Non-English area could read it easier.

Democracy in Perspective

Democracy is spoken of as the panacea for the world's woes. Fukuyama's END OF HISTORY seemed to operate just on this premise. Crick's book focuses on democracy's historical evolution, its polyvalent adaptations and its transformation into republicanism. Following his essay from Greece to Rome to American and European democracy, we see how democracy is not necessarily another way of saying just and/or good politics. Most interesting are the final chapters on the conditions needed for a democratic polity and the responsibilities of the individual in a system of democratic citizenship. He ends with a nice quote from Reinhold Niebuhr, "Man's inclination to justice makes democracy possible; but man's capacity for injustice makes it necessary."