
Democracy Despite Itself
Why a System That Shouldn't Work at All Works So Well
MIT Press
Published on 27. January 2012
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-262-01723-7 (ISBN)
Description
Why democracy is the most effective form of government despite irrational (and sometime oblivious) voters and flawed (and sometimes inept) politicians.Voters often make irrational decisions based on inaccurate and irrelevant information. Politicians are often inept, corrupt, or out of touch with the will of the people. Elections can be determined by the design of the ballot and the gerrymandered borders of a district. And yet, despite voters who choose candidates according to the boxer-brief dichotomy and politicians who struggle to put together a coherent sentence, democracy works exceptionally well: citizens of democracies are healthier, happier, and freer than citizens of other countries. In Democracy Despite Itself, Danny Oppenheimer, a psychologist, and Mike Edwards, a political scientist, explore this paradox: How can democracy lead to such successful outcomes when the defining characteristic of democracy-elections-is so flawed?Oppenheimer and Edwards argue that democracy works because regular elections, no matter how flawed, produce a variety of unintuitive, positive consequences. The brilliance of democracy, write Oppenheimer and Edwards, does not lie in the people's ability to pick superior leaders. It lies in the many ways that it subtly encourages the flawed people and their flawed leaders to work toward building a better society.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass.
United States
Publishing group
MIT Press Ltd
Target group
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
12 figures; 12 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-262-01723-7 (9780262017237)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Danny Oppenheimer | Mike Edwards
Democracy Despite Itself
Why a System That Shouldn't Work at All Works So Well
Book
09/2013
MIT Press
€9.89
Article exhausted; check different version

Danny Oppenheimer | Mike Edwards
Democracy Despite Itself
Why a System That Shouldn't Work at All Works So Well
E-Book
01/2012
MIT Press
€19.49
Available for download
Persons
Danny Oppenheimer is on the faculty at UCLA with a joint appointment in Psychology and the Anderson School of Management.
Mike Edwards founded and regularly contributes to Leftfielder.org, a blog on politics and media.
Mike Edwards founded and regularly contributes to Leftfielder.org, a blog on politics and media.