
Democracy
A Reader
Edinburgh University Press
Published on 15. March 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
592 pages
978-0-7486-1267-3 (ISBN)
Description
A Reader designed to provide students with a broad range of texts on Democracy from Classic Political Philosophy to the present day.Arranged into four sections - 1. Traditional Affirmations of Democracy; 2. Key Concepts; 3. Critiques of Democracy; 4. Contemporary Issues - this Reader features key statements from a large number of writers including Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Rousseau, Bentham, Wollstonecraft, Schumpeter, Berlin, Marx, Lenin, Phillips, Rawls, Walzer, Weber, Hayek, Habermas, Scruton, Barry, Giddens, and Mouffe.Key topics include:* Freedom and Autonomy* Equality* Representation* Majority Rule* Citizenship* Marxist and Socialist Critiques* Conservative, Elitist and Authoritarian Critiques* Feminist Critiques* Participation* Rational Choice* Civil Society* The Market* Nationalism* Multiculturalism* Non-Western Perspectives* Deliberation* The Future of Democracy Written with the needs of the student in mind, a general introduction highlights the historical complexity of the subject and guides readers through the current areas of controversy. A comprehensive bibliography is structured to follow the major divisions of the text.This is the only Reader easily available that covers the subject of Democracy in such a broad way. Its comprehensive nature and the editorial commentaries will make it an ideal text for students.Key Features:*Democracy is a core element of all Politics courses - this is the only Reader available in the area* Comprehensive coverage of the core texts on the subject of Democracy makes the Reader likely to become a set text on Democracy courses* Broad-ranging - moves from classical political philosophy to the future of democracy* Accessible - assumes no prior familiarity with the subject
Reviews / Votes
All the classical thinkers, ancient and modern, are represented, sometimes in more than one section, as well as a fair smattering of contemporary contributors to the current debate ... The collection will provide an effective and relatively painless introduction to students commencing in this area ... This volume provides a handy preliminary sweep through the most salient areas and arguments, and will undoubtedly prove useful to new students of democratic theory. -- John Kane, Griffith University * Australasian Journal of Political Science * This massive new reader on democracy should be part of any university library and, given the decent price of the paperback, also provides a valuable and affordable addition to the private libraries of political scientists...Undoubtedly, the editors have accomplished their main stated objective, i.e. "to bring together as wide a range of material on democracy as can be assembled in one volume" (p.xi). -- Cas Mudde, University of Edinburgh * ECPR - Standing Group on Extremism and Democracy * This is arguably the most comprehensive reader on the subject available in English...The book presents an overview, which will be indispensable for the students... [it] deserves to be widely used for many years to come. -- Mads H. Qvortrup, LSE * Political Studies * Students found this to be very useful and liked the book a great deal. -- Karen M Ford, University of Manchester Students found this to be very useful and liked the book a great deal." -- Karen M Ford, University of ManchesterMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 172 mm
Weight
1049 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7486-1267-3 (9780748612673)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Ricardo Blaug is a Reader in Democratic Theory at the University of Westminster. John Schwarzmantel is a Visiting Research Fellow in POLIS, University of Leeds
Editor
Reader in Democratic TheoryUniversity of Westminster
Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Politics and International StudiesUniversity of Leeds
Content
Selection of contents:PART ONE: Traditional Affirmations of Democratic Values Pericles, Funeral Oration; Aristotle, The Politics; Machiavelli, The Discourses; Hobbes, Leviathan; J.-J. Rousseau, The Social Contract; J.S. Mill, Representative Government; De Tocqueville, Democracy in America; Paine, Rights of Man; A. Lincoln, Gettysburg Address; J.A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy; PART TWO: Key Concepts Freedom and Autonomy I. Kant, Political Writings; I. Berlin, Two Concepts of Liberty; R.P Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism; Equality J. Locke, Second Treatise on Government; Rousseau, Social Contract; Rousseau, Discourse on the Origins of Inequality; B. Williams, The Idea of Equality; Representation; Burke, Speech to Bristol Electors; James Mill, Essay on Government; A. Phillips, The Politics of Presence; I.M. Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference; Majority Rule Rousseau, Social Contract; J.S. Mill, Representative Government; De Tocqueville, Democracy in America; G. Sartori, Theory of Democracy Revisited; R.A. Dahl, Polyarchy, Participation and Opposition; Citizenship Aristotle, Politics; T.H. Marshall, Class, Citizenship and Social Development; W. Kymlicka and W. Norman, The Return of the Citizen; PART THREE: Critiques of Democracy Marxist and Socialist Critiques Marx, On the Jewish Question; Marx, The Civil War in France; Lenin, State and Revolution; C.B. Macpherson, Democratic Theory, Essays in Retrieval; Conservative, Elitist and Authoritarian critiques Plato, The Republic; Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France; M. Weber, Economy and Society; B. Mussolini, extract from The Doctrine of Fascism; J. Schum