Toward Democracy

The Struggle for Self-Rule in European and American Thought

Nonfiction, History, World History, Modern
Cover of the book Toward Democracy by James T. Kloppenberg, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: James T. Kloppenberg ISBN: 9780190457686
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: May 6, 2016
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: James T. Kloppenberg
ISBN: 9780190457686
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: May 6, 2016
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

In this magnificent and encyclopedic overview, James T. Kloppenberg presents the history of democracy from the perspective of those who struggled to envision and achieve it. The story of democracy remains one without an ending, a dynamic of progress and regress that continues to our own day. In the classical age "democracy" was seen as the failure rather than the ideal of good governance. Democracies were deemed chaotic and bloody, indicative of rule by the rabble rather than by enlightened minds. Beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries, however, first in Europe and then in England's North American colonies, the reputation of democracy began to rise, resulting in changes that were sometimes revolutionary and dramatic, sometimes gradual and incremental. Kloppenberg offers a fresh look at how concepts and institutions of representative government developed and how understandings of self-rule changed over time on both sides of the Atlantic. Notions about what constituted true democracy preoccupied many of the most influential thinkers of the Western world, from Montaigne and Roger Williams to Milton and John Locke; from Rousseau and Jefferson to Wollstonecraft and Madison; and from de Tocqueville and J. S. Mill to Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Over three centuries, explosive ideas and practices of democracy sparked revolutions--English, American, and French--that again and again culminated in civil wars, disastrous failures of democracy that impeded further progress. Comprehensive, provocative, and authoritative, Toward Democracy traces self-government through three pivotal centuries. The product of twenty years of research and reflection, this momentous work reveals how nations have repeatedly fallen short in their attempts to construct democratic societies based on the principles of autonomy, equality, deliberation, and reciprocity that they have claimed to prize. Underlying this exploration lies Kloppenberg's compelling conviction that democracy was and remains an ethical ideal rather than merely a set of institutions, a goal toward which we continue to struggle.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this magnificent and encyclopedic overview, James T. Kloppenberg presents the history of democracy from the perspective of those who struggled to envision and achieve it. The story of democracy remains one without an ending, a dynamic of progress and regress that continues to our own day. In the classical age "democracy" was seen as the failure rather than the ideal of good governance. Democracies were deemed chaotic and bloody, indicative of rule by the rabble rather than by enlightened minds. Beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries, however, first in Europe and then in England's North American colonies, the reputation of democracy began to rise, resulting in changes that were sometimes revolutionary and dramatic, sometimes gradual and incremental. Kloppenberg offers a fresh look at how concepts and institutions of representative government developed and how understandings of self-rule changed over time on both sides of the Atlantic. Notions about what constituted true democracy preoccupied many of the most influential thinkers of the Western world, from Montaigne and Roger Williams to Milton and John Locke; from Rousseau and Jefferson to Wollstonecraft and Madison; and from de Tocqueville and J. S. Mill to Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Over three centuries, explosive ideas and practices of democracy sparked revolutions--English, American, and French--that again and again culminated in civil wars, disastrous failures of democracy that impeded further progress. Comprehensive, provocative, and authoritative, Toward Democracy traces self-government through three pivotal centuries. The product of twenty years of research and reflection, this momentous work reveals how nations have repeatedly fallen short in their attempts to construct democratic societies based on the principles of autonomy, equality, deliberation, and reciprocity that they have claimed to prize. Underlying this exploration lies Kloppenberg's compelling conviction that democracy was and remains an ethical ideal rather than merely a set of institutions, a goal toward which we continue to struggle.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book The Economics of American Art by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book A Just Zionism by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Taking Sudoku Seriously by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Celtic Mythology by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Italy's Lost Greece by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book The Pornography Industry by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Samuel Barber by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book The Fall and Rise of Keynesian Economics by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Gender and Discourse by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Helping Parents with Challenging Children Positive Family Intervention Parent Workbook by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Tudor Stuart Britain and the Wider World, 1485-1685: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Why Should Jews Survive? by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book The Sacred Willow by James T. Kloppenberg
Cover of the book Can God Be Trusted? by James T. Kloppenberg
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy