Democracy Books - Page 12

Contemporary Political Ideologies: A Comparative Analysis

Lyman Tower Sargent

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Editorial Review:

Since its initial publication 35 years ago, CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS has been the leading text in the field. This text successfully introduces readers to current and emerging political ideologies--offering a comparative analysis of nationalism, democracy, Marxism, and Islam, as well as an effective introduction to the lesser-known ideologies surrounding environmentalism, feminism, and liberation theology. The goal is to help readers draw their own conclusions about each ideology. To this end, the author makes every effort to present a balanced presentation of the ideologies covered in the text, and to objectively discuss the way that ideology functions today.

Hatred of Democracy

Jacques Ranciere

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

briefly, a dense buckshot 5 out of 5 stars.
21 of 23 people found this review helpful.

Ranciere continues with his premise that equality is the true basis of human life, whether in straw man notions, such as intelligence, traditionally the ruling class realm of cultural aesthetics, or the ramifications of governance. His basic thesis is that democracy is not a form of government or society, but that it is action... he ascribes the benefits that we take for granted, such as free speech, etc., to the hard work of those engaged in such action (democracy). He adroitly criticises Agamben and Negri, while ironically making the claim that 'all regimes are oligarchies,' which he actually quotes from proponent of free market liberal/parlimentary democracies. A dense 97 pages, but devoid of sugar coating and b.s.

Editorial Review:

A vehement defense of the principle of democracy against neo-conservative repression.

Jacques Rancière was a student of Althusser before he famously turned against his mentor; now, he's regarded as one of the major thinkers of our age. In his new book, he examines how the West can no longer simply extol the virtues of democracy by contrasting it with the horrors of totalitarianism. As certain governments are exporting democracy by brute force, and a reactionary strand in mainstream political opinion is willing to abandon civil liberties and destroy collective values of equality, Rancière explains how democracy—government by all—is the principle that de-legitimates any form of power based on the superiority of those who govern. Hence the fear, and consequently the hatred, of democracy amongst the new ruling class. Hatred of Democracy rediscovers the ever-new and subversive power of the democratic idea.

Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and Democracy (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

Jose Antonio Cheibub

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Editorial Review:

This book addresses the following question: why are presidential democracies more likely to break down than parliamentary ones? Conventional wisdom among political scientists pointS to the incentives generated by the form of government itself; the independence of the executive and legislature that defines presidentialism generates incentives that are not conducive to the consolidation of democracy. On the basis of a data set that covers all democracies between 1946 and 2002, this book demonstrates that this is not the case: the incentives generated by presidentialism are as conducive to the consolidation of democracy as the ones generated by parliamentarism. The book argues that what kills presidentialism is the fact that it exists in countries where democracies of any type are not likely to survive. This book will be of interest to academic researchers, graduates and advanced undergraduates enrolled in courses on comparative politics and political economy.

Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy's Guide (Eminent Lives)

Joseph Epstein

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Editorial Review:

Alexis de Tocqueville was among the first foreigners to recognize and trumpet the grandness of the American project. His two-volume classic, Democracy in America, published in 1835, not only offered a vivid account of what was then a new nation but famously predicted what that nation would become. His startling prescience, as well as the endurance of his political ideas, has firmly established Tocqueville's place in American history; his chronicle of our infancy is a fixture on every American history syllabus. Nearly all of his clairvoyant predictions about American political life, from the influence of Evangelical Christianity to the advent of our "consumer society," have come true—and on the schedule he set.

Yet in his own time, Tocqueville had little evidence for the truth of his ideas. Introspective, sickly, prone to self-doubt, he was an unlikely visionary. Joseph Epstein, America's most versatile essayist, proves an ideal guide to his predecessor. In wry, elegant prose, he engages Tocqueville's intellectual contributions, illuminates the development of his thought, and provides a referendum on his various prophecies. (His record was far from perfect—he thought the federal government would wither away as the states rose in power.) Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy's Guide is an altogether human portrait of the Frenchman who would become an American icon.

CALCULUS OF CONSENT, THE (Collected Works of James M Buchanan)

JAMES BUCHANAN, GORDON TULLOCK

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Editorial Review:

"The Calculus of Consent" was co-authored by Buchanan with Gordon Tullock, with whom Buchanan collaborated on many books and academic enterprises throughout their careers. As Robert D. Tollison states in the foreword: (this book) is a radical departure from the way democracies conduct their business. The 'Calculus' is already a book for the ages. This classic work analyses the political organisation of a free society through the lens of the economic organisation of society. The authors acknowledge their unease as economists in analysing the political organisation, but they take the risk of forging into unfamiliar territory because they believe the benefits of their perspective will bear much fruit.As the authors state, their objective in this book is 'to analyze the calculus of the rational individual when he is faced with questions of constitutional choice...We examine the (choice) process extensively only with reference to the problem of decision-making rules'. The authors describe their approach as 'economic individualism'. They believe that economists have explored individual choice extensively in the market sector while social scientists have largely ignored the dynamics of individual decision-making in the dynamics of forming group action in the public sector. Written in the early 1960s, "The Calculus of Consent" has become a bulwark of the public choice movement for which James M. Buchanan is so justly famous.

Forging Democracy from Below: Insurgent Transitions in South Africa and El Salvador (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

Elisabeth Jean Wood

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Recommend reading it. Excellent source of background... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

...information on the civil wars that took place in both countries. Explain theory of transition to democracy from below using the "most different" method (using two unlike countries that had a similar transition).

Editorial Review:

The recent replacement of authoritarian rule by democracy in both South Africa and El Salvador poses a puzzle: why did the powerful, anti-democratic elites of these countries abandon death squads, apartheid, and the other tools of political repression and take a chance on democracy? Forging Democracy From Below shows how popular mobilization--in El Salvador an effective guerilla army supported by peasant collaboration and in South Africa a powerful alliance of labor unions and poor urban dwellers--forced the elite to the bargaining table, and why a durable settlement and democratic government were the result.

Mexico Since 1980 (The World Since 1980)

Stephen Haber, Herbert S. Klein, Noel Maurer, Kevin J. Middlebrook

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Editorial Review:

This book addresses two questions that are crucial to understanding Mexico's current economic and political challenges. Why did the opening up of the economy to foreign trade and investment not result in sustained economic growth? Why has electoral democracy not produced rule of law? The answer to those questions lies in the ways in which Mexico's long history with authoritarian government shaped its judicial, taxation, and property rights institutions. These institutions, the authors argue, cannot be reformed with the stroke of a pen. Moreover, they represent powerful constraints on the ability of the Mexican government to fund welfare-enhancing reforms, on the ability of firms and households to write contracts, and on the ability of citizens to enforce their basic rights.

Waves of Democracy: Social Movements and Political Change (Sociology for a New Century Series)

John Markoff

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Best history of world-wide democracy 5 out of 5 stars.
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John Markoff is a truly original thinker and he discusses the progress and regress of democracy the world over without any nationalistic or ideological prejudice. The very best survey of the history of democracy I know.

Editorial Review:

Instead of presenting democracy as an ideal political system that humans only imperfectly realize, John Markoff conceptualizes democracy as something continually being reinvented. Instead of reducing democracy to well-defined and routine practices and institutions such as elections and parliaments, Markoff shows how political movements have repeatedly challenged and remade existing institutions. After reviewing two centuries of political conflict, he concludes with a thoughtful and exciting discussion on what democracy means today and what its future might be.

Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America (An Inter-American Dialogue Book)

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Editorial Review:

This latest edition of this acclaimed text examines four themes vital to building market-oriented democracies in Latin America: the development of democratic institutions, globalization's impact, socio-political integration, and market reforms. Within these broad themes, the contributors explore how issues such as the performance of political parties, civilian control of the military, human rights protections, and executive-legislative relations are playing out in eight countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. They find a mixed record on many fronts and discuss the uncertain state of democracy in several Latin American states in light of recent institutional setbacks and attempts to overhaul the political sphere.

Edited by Jorge I. Domínguez and Michael Shifter and featuring contributions from more than a dozen leading scholars of democratization studies, this volume provides a concise and up-to-date measure of the quality of democracy in Latin America.

Chicago '68

David Farber

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Editorial Review:

Entertaining and scrupulously researched, Chicago '68 reconstructs the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago—an epochal moment in American cultural and political history. By drawing on a wide range of sources, Farber tells and retells the story of the protests in three different voices, from the perspectives of the major protagonists—the Yippies, the National Mobilization to End the War, and Mayor Richard J. Daley and his police. He brilliantly recreates all the excitement and drama, the violently charged action and language of this period of crisis, giving life to the whole set of cultural experiences we call "the sixties."

"Chicago '68 was a watershed summer. Chicago '68 is a watershed book. Farber succeeds in presenting a sensitive, fairminded composite portrait that is at once a model of fine narrative history and an example of how one can walk the intellectual tightrope between 'reporting one's findings' and offering judgements about them."—Peter I. Rose, Contemporary Sociology