Democratic Theory Today: Challenges for the 21st Century

by April Carter (Editor), Geoffrey Stokes (Editor)

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, liberal democracy appears as the only valid form of democracy. Nonetheless, the well-established parliamentary regimes are facing serious threats to both their liberal and their democratic values. Among these threats are economic globalization and the growing assertion of cultural difference and nationalism.
This book examines some key theoretical and practical problems for democracy today, such as the nature of citizenship and forms of inequality and exclusion based on poverty, gender and ethnic or cultural difference. It also explores the challenges posed by nationalism and by claims for group rights and indigenous autonomy.
The authors discuss recent theoretical responses to the problems of political apathy and inequality, as well as globalization and identity politics. These various approaches accept the basic institutions of liberal democracy but look for ways of revitalizing political debate and participation, promoting greater equality and responding to the erosion of national sovereignty by global forces.
Democratic Theory Today will provide a lively and accessible guide for students of political science, political theory and political philosophy. It will also be of interest to those engaged in current debates about democracy.
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320 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2002

Reviews

[Sergei Moska · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this (used) just for the Warren article, I was surprised at how good the essays in general were. They give excellent overviews of the state of various parts of democratic theory. The one consistent problem, though, is the quality of the original contributions attempted by the authors. When they are describing, it's very, very good. When they're proposing, it gets a bit embarrassing and you're tempted to skip ahead.