Democracy: A Reader

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