Democracy

By Philip Green

Book Overview

Brings together classical and contemporary arguments about pure democracy versus representative government, the role of elites in a democracy, possibilities for greater popular participation, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573925500
• ISBN13: 9781573925501
• Release Date: May 1993
• Publisher: Humanities Press Intl
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Direct Action for Democracy

Philip Green has put together an edited collection of key readings on democracy which is a good survey of many modern authors on democracy, but an excellent critical reader on contemporary liberal-democracy. As a survey of key intellectual accounts of democracy the book covers most of the key contemporary issues and many of key authors and perspectives on democracy. It does this thematically, by tracing the development of liberal democracy (or more accurately polyarchy) from its classical roots, and then identifying key critiques and alternatives. Thus the book begins with selections from authors articulating the "classical" view of democracy. It then moves to selections on "Representative Government", the theories and critiques of "Democratic Elitism" and "The Problem of Inequality, before finishing with two sections on "Radical Democracy" and "Democratic Rights". Along the way we encounter feminist, Marxist, and radical democratic views as well as the more received liberal, conservative and pluralist ones. In this respect my quibbles are mostly minor. Perhaps the one bias that niggled somewhat was the "under-representation" of advocates of deliberative democracy (if you will excuse the pun). I think this had less to do with most of these not being American and more to do with Green's belief in the unavoidability of representation, which he appears to assume (wrongly) that most deliberative democrats do not share. These omissions may also be due to timing as most of the literature on deliberative democracy has emerged at around the same time as Green's reader. Whatever the reason, it is a gap that needs addressing.When placed in the context of the main objectives of the book, most of the above niggles are alleviated. At its heart the reader is a trenchant critique of polyarchy and lively advocate of alternative democratic models and practices. It is clearly designed to be accessible and stimulate further reading and debate amongst readers not familiar with democratic theory. It is also clearly designed for an American audience, viewing the origins, character and critique of liberal-democracy through an American lens. It succeeds in all these things swimmingly.Furthermore, despite its American bias the book is deeply relevant for any student of democracy, and not simply because American politics is unavoidably relevant for the rest of us, but because it circumnavigates the central concern of contemporary scholars of democracy: the disjuncture between the participatory ideal of democracy and our experience of the stale remoteness of polyarchy. The frame might be American, but the picture is of a fuller landscape.One of the things I enjoyed most about the book is that it engages with the disjuncture between the democratic ideal and the real in a spirit which disavows acquiescence and inspires engagement and action. The rationale underlying this is ultimately political. Green's Democracy is part of a series entitled `Key Concepts in Political Theor