Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government
Adam Przeworski - Cambridge University Press, 2010
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| Anteprima |
The
political institutions under which we live today evolved from a
revolutionary idea that shook the world in the second part of the
eighteenth century: that a people should govern itself. Yet if we judge
contemporary democracies by the ideals of self-government, equality, and
liberty, we find that democracy is not what it was dreamt to be. This
book addresses central issues in democratic theory by analyzing the
sources of widespread dissatisfaction with democracies around the world.
With attention throughout to historical and cross-national variations,
the focus is on the generic limits of democracy in promoting equality,
effective participation, control of governments by citizens, and
liberty. The conclusion is that although some of this dissatisfaction
has good reasons, some is based on an erroneous understanding of how
democracy functions. Hence, although the analysis identifies the limits
of democracy, it also points to directions for feasible reforms.
