How societies can preserve democracy with a human-directed social contract
The recent rise of populist movements, especially in Western democracies, has prompted considerable thoughtful analysis. This remarkable book, digging deeper than most such efforts, cites the global financial crisis as the proximate cause but finds the ultimate source in the twin failures of modern capitalism and the democratic state to fulfill a meaningful social contract for the vast majority of people.
The book's focus on the financial crisis underscores how the promises of liberal democracy were repeatedly broken by financial and political elites, with a backlash emerging in the form of "us-against-them" populism. By undermining the hopes and livelihoods of millions of people, the crisis created its own narrative, with consequences capable of causing lasting damage to the liberal world order.
To restore the values of liberal democracy, the author proposes a "truly human social contract" supported by a narrative of empathy. The basis of such a contract is a new view of civil and social rights as an expression of human dignity, with economic factors understood as moral concerns, not just as a matter of who gets the most.
- 164 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
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Table of contents
- Front Cover
- Front Flap
- Title Page
- Copyright Information
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- The Financial Crisis Sounds the Death Knell of the Liberal World Order
- What Constitute(d) a Liberal Democracy
- The New Populism and the Crisis of Democracy
- Untitled
- "Us Against Them"—Economic Separatism
- The Tectonic Tremor
- The Common Good and the Ethic of Participation
- Strongmen Are Not Strong: What We Really Need Now
- A New Social Contract
- Epilogue
- Index
- Back Flap
- Back Cover
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Yes, you can access Homo Empathicus by Alexander Gorlach in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Comparative Politics. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.