How Democracies Live
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€29.99
A01=Stein Ringen
aristotle
Author_Stein Ringen
Category=JPA
Category=JPB
Category=JPHV
citizenry
citizenship
cultural studies
defended
defense
democracy
democratic governments
engagement
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
free
freedom
function
governing bodies
government
impoverished
improvement
liberty
machiavelli
max weber
new definition
political science
politics
poverty
power dynamics
rule
statecraft
statesmanship
tocqueville
unfairness
Product details
- ISBN 9780226819129
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 06 May 2022
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Times have not been kind to democracy. This book is in its defense.
In the new century, the triumph of democracy at the end of the Cold War turned to retrenchment. The core democracies, in America and Britain, succumbed to polarization and misrule. Dictatorships, such as China, made themselves assertive. New democracies in Central Europe turned to muddled ideologies of "illiberal democracy." In this book, Stein Ringen offers a meditation on what democracy is, the challenges it faces, and how it can be defended. Ringen argues that democracy must be rooted in a culture that supports the ability of citizens to exchange views and information among themselves and with their rulers.
Drawing on the ideas of Machiavelli, Aristotle, Tocqueville, Max Weber, and others, Ringen shows how power is the fuel of government, and statecraft turns power into effective rule. Democracy should prize freedom and minimizing unfairness, especially poverty. Altogether, Ringen offers powerful insight on the meaning of democracy, including a new definition, and how countries can improve upon it and make it function more effectively. Timely and thought-provoking, How Democracies Live is a sober reminder of the majesty of the democratic enterprise.
Stein Ringen is emeritus professor at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, and visiting professor of political economy at King's College, London.
