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The last half of the 20th century has been an era of democratic triumph. The main anti-democratic regimes - communist, fascist, Nazi - have disappeared, and new democracies are emerging vigorously or tentatively throughout the world. In this book, one of the most prominent political theorists of our time provides a primer on democracy that clarifies what it is, why it is valuable, how it works, and what challenges it confronts in the future.
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During the last half of the twentieth century the world witnessed an extraordinary and unprecedented political change. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
During the last half of the twentieth century the world witnessed an extraordinary and unprecedented political change. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Tremendous breadth and perspective on the major political dilemmas of our time from a wise scholar of the academy and citizen of the world. Everyone from experts to laypersons can enjoy, understand, and gain from Dahl's insights and characterizations regarding the fundamental political dilemmas of our time. Rarely, does such a combination of scholarly erudition and simple prose ever come along. I am greatful to Robert Dahl for contributing and elevating political discourse here and around the world with this book. Please read it if you are remotely interested in the politics of any country and the politics of the world. You can probably read it in one long sitting.
On another level, this book will forever remain the textual staple of the "Introduction to Comparative Government Courses" I teach.
This review does not mean that I agree with Dahl on all his positions it just means that I think his book is important.
This book is a provocative, informative, prudent, understated, and insightful explanation of the world's post-Soviet political era. (In this respect, Dahl's book is much better than Francis Fukuyama's ridiculously overstated, criminially impractical, triumphantly-and-arrogantly-toned treatise on "the end of the history." And guess what? Dahl's book is much shorter.)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Dahl sets out in his book to provide a guide to democracy - to expound its nature, to argue its superiority and to examine the necessary criteria for its survival. At the same time, it appears that he very much would like to make his work accessible to a broad public. However, his endeavours to make his arguments comprehensible to all also makes his argumentation somewhat superficial and lacking in academic depth.
The superiority of democracy to other forms of government is the subject of several chapters and is a theme throughout the book. However, to a very large degree, Dahl simply states this as a fact, as for example in chapter three, where he lists ten desirable consequences of democracy, implicitly and without satisfying references claiming that democracy implies these consequences better than any other form of government.
This type of argumentation is generally present to some degree throughout the book. While it ensures that the book is easy to read, it severely detracts from the depth of his arguments and makes him very much less convincing.
Dahls book may be recommended as a general first introduction to the nature of democracy, but is in general not academic enough to provide a robust defense of democracy as the premier type of government, which ultimately makes the book somewhat disappointing.
The superiority of democracy to other forms of government is the subject of several chapters and is a theme throughout the book. However, to a very large degree, Dahl simply states this as a fact, as for example in chapter three, where he lists ten desirable consequences of democracy, implicitly and without satisfying references claiming that democracy implies these consequences better than any other form of government.
This type of argumentation is generally present to some degree throughout the book. While it ensures that the book is easy to read, it severely detracts from the depth of his arguments and makes him very much less convincing.
Dahls book may be recommended as a general first introduction to the nature of democracy, but is in general not academic enough to provide a robust defense of democracy as the premier type of government, which ultimately makes the book somewhat disappointing.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Simple and clean; a great review after years away from school. A great start for that child who has a paper due for school. This essay left me curious and wanting to learn more about the different forms of democracy used around the world. If there is one drawback, it is that some of the best further reading suggestions are no longer available in print, or were not published in the U. S.
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