By Michael Mandelbaum
This can be a severe exam of the expansion, sustainability and destiny outlook for democracy in the course of the global. within the 20th century, democracy skilled the identical of a increase, spreading outward from mere 10 democratic nations in 1900 to an overpowering one hundred twenty of the world's one hundred ninety international locations by way of the 12 months 2000. In "Democracy's reliable Name", Michael Mandelbaum examines this seismic shift in governance, urging us to contemplate the heritage of democratic effect, its power for spreading and protecting peace, in addition to its destiny in key un-democratic outposts round the globe.While many people imagine democracy to be the normal order of items, Mandelbaum illustrates that its considered necessary elements - renowned sovereignty and liberty - were traditionally targeted political traditions (the marriage of which happened relatively past due during human history). How then, did this close to common attractiveness of contemporary democracy happen? And what are the bigger implications of its institution? during this sure-footed account, Michael Mandelbaum deals us a cogent background of democracy and sheds mild at the symbiotic dating among it and the loose industry. In his research of the way forward for democracy, Michael Mandelbaum rigorously assesses the main exceptions to the rule of thumb within the circumstances of China, Russia and the Arab international, and examines every one when it comes to capability conversion to democracy. Thoughtfully and provocatively argued, "Democracy's reliable identify" deals perception into what's arguably the furthest achieving and strongest doctrine of our time.
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Additional resources for Democracy's Good Name: The Rise and Risks of the World's Most Popular Form of Government
Example text
The historical record suggests that human groups do not spontaneously protect liberty and conduct elections: if anything, they seem disposed not to do either. A working democracy requires not only a constitution to embody democratic principles but also institutions to put those principles into practice. Democracies need functioning legislatures; governmental bureaucracies; a full-fledged legal system with police, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges; as well as 44 Democracy’s Good Name political parties to conduct elections and form effective parliamentary groupings.
Indeed, the question of how generous such benefits should be stands at the center of the politics of the Western democracies. In none of these countries, however, does the return to a world without a social safety net command significant support. The establishment of generous welfare states made possible what for centuries had been regarded as contrary to the immutable laws of politics. It reduced one of the risks of rule by the people by serving as a kind of dowry for liberty, making it an acceptable marriage partner for popular sovereignty.
The triumph of popular sovereignty in principle did not, however, lead to its successful implementation in practice everywhere. To the contrary, this proved difficult because drawing the borders within which the people could rule was not easy to do; and even when this fundamental political task was accomplished, the government that held sway, while not placing ultimate authority in the hands of an hereditary monarch or foreigners, often was not subject to effective public control, either. In the wake of the French Revolution the demands of justice, it was almost everywhere conceded, required that the people rule.