By Richard Swift The No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy (No-Nonsense Guides) [Paperback]

No-Nonsense Guides

by Richard Swift

In this updated edition of the No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy , Richard Swift explores how democracy has been constricted and deformed by economic power-brokers and a self-serving political class from Birmingham to Bangalore.The book includes chapter-length discussions of topics such as the economic meltdown, Barack Obama, eco-democracy, democratizing the economy, and democracy in the Global South. It is not only a guide to the rich diversity of forms of elected government, but it also contains practical ideas for empowering today's voters around the world.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Richard Swift was co-editor for the New Internationalist magazine from1984 to 2007 and is based in Toronto. He has written and broadcast on questions of ecology and democracy for many years. In 2011 he won the Daniel Singer Millennium Prize for an original essay which helps further socialist ideas.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Required reading for an english class at college. The professor made me hate the class so my view on the book may be bias-ly negative.

[Matthew Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall not bad. Swift basically defends what he calls 'strong democracy' (in which people participate fully and actively in decision-making and power is distributed to enable this) against 'weak democracy' which he associates with some theorists of liberal democracy and its Western champions. I sometimes felt he was a bit unfair on the theorists of liberal democracy but overall his argument is quite compelling.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skimmed the last 40 or so pages, thereby exercising my democratic right to waste as little of my time as possible.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carefully argued and straightforward. A good introduction to economic and social justice and democratic practices.

[Harvey Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sound enough but a tad dry. My edition has practically no margins which I don't find attractive.