A Theory of Universal Democracy: Beyond the End of History

by L. Ali Khan

Democracy is often associated with Western liberal values, such as free markets, individual rights and secularism. Some scholars assert that liberal democracy is the end of history. Disputing such claims, this work presents the concept of Universal Democracy to think beyond the values of Western democracy. A Theory of Universal Democracy empowers cultures and communities across the world to custom design democracy in consonance with their traditional values. For example, the book makes concrete proposals for Muslim countries to democratize their constitutions without accepting Western values and without violating the principles of Islamic law. More importantly, Universal Democracy further develops the idea of Free State, which the author first presented in his previous book, The Extinction of Nation-States . The proposed fusion of Universal Democracy and Free State is designed to revolutionize the classical theory of government and to offer a new paradigm that accommodates both universality and uniqueness.

284 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2001