Overview
The last half of the twentieth century has been an era of democratic triumph. The main antidemocratic regimes—communist, fascist, Nazi—have disappeared, and new democracies are emerging vigorously or tentatively throughout the world. In this accessible and authoritative book, one of the most prominent political theorists of our time provides a primer on democracy that clarifies what it is, why it is valuable, how it works, and what challenges it confronts in the future.Robert Dahl begins with an overview of the early history of democracy. He goes on to discuss differences among democracies, criteria for a democratic process, basic institutions necessary for advancing the goals of democracy, and the social and economic conditions that favor the development and maintenance of these institutions. Along the way, he illustrates his points by describing different democratic countries, explaining, for example, why India, which seems to lack most of the conditions for a stable democracy, is nevertheless able to sustain one. Dahl answers such puzzling questions as why market- capitalism can both favor and harm democracy. And he concludes by examining the major problems that democratic countries will face in the twenty-first century, problems that will arise from complexities in the economic order, from internationalization, from cultural diversity, and from the difficulty of achieving an adequate level of citizen competence.
About the Author:
Robert A. Dahl, Sterling Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Yale University, is also author of Who Governs? After the Revolution, Polyarchy, Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy, and Democracy and Its Critics, all available from Yale University Press.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The last half of the 20th century was an era of democratic triumph. The main antidemocratic regimes -- communist, fascist, Nazi -- disappeared, and new democracies emerged vigorously or tentatively throughout the world. In On Democracy, one of the most prominent political theorists of our time provides a primer on democracy that clarifies what it is, why it is valuable, how it works, and what challenges it confronts in the future.Publishers Weekly
[A] thorough but concise handbook by one of America's foremost political scientists. . . . Dahl nimbly sketches the various issues and neatly frames controversies for the reader. His accessible style makes this an excellent introduction for novices, as well as a trusty handbook for experts and political science mavens.Virginia Quarterly Review
As one of the most impressive scholars of our time, and as the authority in the discipline, it is of great importance that Dahl offers this tract on democracy. In a style many will find accessible, Dahl focuses on the questions he has considered over his long and distinguished career. . . . Any one who is a Democrat must read this book. Not only does it provide the analytical leverage for understanding the process of democratization ongoing in numerous countries, but it also turns and introspective and critical eye on the old democracies of Europe and North America.Alan Wolfe
On Democracy is a work which ought to be read, especially by those interested in a clear, concise, and always insightful introduction to what we all too often take for granted. Democracy, as Dahl, one of the great democratic theorists of our time, often reminds us, is hard work and one of the most important aspects of that work is bringing the kind of commitments to its understanding that Dahl achieves here.—( Commonwealth)