Democracy's Dangers & Discontents
eBook - PDF

Democracy's Dangers & Discontents

The Tyranny of the Majority from the Greeks to Obama

  1. 209 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Democracy's Dangers & Discontents

The Tyranny of the Majority from the Greeks to Obama

About this book

By democracy we usually mean a government comprising popular rule, individual human rights and freedom, and a free-market economy. Yet the flaws in traditional Athenian democracy can instruct us on the weaknesses of that first element of modern democracies shared with Athens: rule by all citizens equally. In Democracy's Dangers & Discontents, Bruce Thornton discusses those criticisms first aired by ancient critics of Athenian democracy, then traces the historical process by which the Republic of the founders has evolved into something similar to ancient democracy, and finally argues for the relevance of those critiques to contemporary U.S. policy. He asserts that many of the problems we face today are the consequences of the increasing democratization of our government and that the flaws of democracy are unlikely to be corrected. He argues that these dangers and discontents do not have to end in soft despotismā€”that American democracy's aptitude and strength can be recovered by restoring the limited government of the founders.

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Yes, you can access Democracy's Dangers & Discontents by Bruce S. Thornton in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Democracy. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Front Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Foreword
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Introduction: The Triumph of Democracy and the Antidemocratic Tradition
  9. 1 The Monitory Failures of Athenian Democracy
  10. 2 The Antidemocratic Tradition and the American Founding
  11. 3 Democracy and Leviathan
  12. Conclusion: Restoring Limited Government
  13. Bibliography
  14. About the Author
  15. About the Hoover Institutionā€™s Working Group on the Role of Military History in Contemporary Conflict
  16. Index