Democracy Against Itself the Future of the Democratic Impulse

by Jean-François Revel, Roger Kaplan (Translator)

In this remarkable new book—as much a work of political philosophy as a meditation on current affairs—Jean-Francois Revel provides the first complete account of the startling events that have led to the revival of democracy throughout the world. Recalling the "euphoria" that swept the democratic countries after the fall of communism, Revel asks whether it was justified, and he concludes that we came much closer to losing the Cold War than many believe. Indeed, communism fell despite the weakness of the democratic front and the cynicism, self-hatred, and romantic illusions about revolution that have pervaded the Western elites in recent decades. In fascinating detail, Revel masterfully recreates the final phase of the Cold War and argues that the movement to end communism was not a revolution in the ordinary sense, but a reaction against revolution which paved the way for an acceptance of democracy as the only form of government that works. For while admittedly imperfect, democracy is still the only self-correcting system, while totalitarian societies are always forced to the catastrophic end of their own logic. Yet despite this worldwide rejection of utopian illusions, the victory of democracy is by no means historically inevitable. Vigorous alternatives remain, particularly in the Third World, where Islamic fundamentalism offers perhaps the most serious contemporary challenge to democratic values. In order to ensure its success, Revel argues, we must identify our interests with the flourishing of democratic principles. Thus, our foreign aid must place political reforms ahead of economic development, and we must establish a right to intervene in the internal affairs of nondemocratic regimes, respecting only those that are rooted in popular sovereignty. But even under democratic governments, we are unlikely ever to construct a world that is much better than ourselves. That is why the deepest challenge to democracy is a moral and political challenge from within. "Democracy allows free men to be born," Revel concludes, "but only free men allow democracy to last."

Genres: Politics

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Jean-François Revel was a French politician, journalist, author, prolific philosopher and member of the Académie française since June 1998.

He was best known for his books Without Marx or Jesus: The New American Revolution Has Begun, The Flight from Truth : The Reign of Deceit in the Age of Information and his 2002 book Anti-Americanism, one year after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In the latter book, Revel criticised those Europeans who argued that the United States had brought about the terrorist attacks upon itself through misguided foreign policies. He wrote thus: "Obsessed by their hatred and floundering in illogicality, these dupes forget that the United States, acting in her own self-interest, is also acting in the interest of us Europeans and in the interests of many other countries, threatened, or already subverted and ruined, by terrorism." In 1975 he delivered the Huizinga Lecture in Leiden, The Netherlands, under the title: La tentation totalitaire (The Totalitarian Temptation).

Reviews

[Michael Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Analyzes the future of the democratic spirit.