"Everyone who argues about democracy needs to read this compelling book. It illuminates all of the key debates. It sparkles with intensity. It shows how democracy evolved. It assesses weaknesses and strengths. It compares the globe's different versions of democratic practice. It is a defining primer of theory and reality." -- Robert I. Rotberg, Harvard University
Introduction, Theodore K. Rabb and Ezra N. Suleiman Pre-Modern Europe 1. Conditions for Athenian Democracy, Josiah Ober 2. Republic and Democracy: On Early Origins of Democratic Theory, Maurizio Viroli 3. Institutions and Ideas: Planting the Roots of Democracy in Early Modern Europe, Theodore K. Rabb 4. A Response to Ober, Viroli and Rabb, George Kateb Modern Europe 5. Hope, Disappointment and Self-Restraint: Reflections on the Democratic Experiment, Anne Sa'adah 6. Democracy in Spain: Two Paradigms, Edward Malefakis 7. Potemkin Democracy, Stephen Holmes 8. Dilemmas of Democracy in the European Union, Ezra Suleiman Asia, Africa and the Middle East 9. Recasting the Primacy of Politics in Israeli Democracy, Asher Arian 10. Prospects for Democracy in Tropical Africa, Robert L. Tignoe 11. The Nature of South African Democracy: Political Dominance and Economic Inequality, Jeffrey Herbst 12. Democracy in Turkey, Bernard Lewis 13. East Asian Demographic Transitions, Kent E. Calder 14. A Response to Arian Tignor, Herbst, Lewis and Calder Latin America 15. Captialism and Democracy in South America, Jeremy Adelman 16. Democratic Pathways: Crossroads, Detours, Dead Ends in Central America, Deborah J. Yashar United States 17. The Possibilities for Democracy in America, Jennifer L. Hochschild 18. Race, Ethnicity and American Democracy: An (Ungarded) Optimistic View, Sean Wilentz 19. Conclusion
Theodore K. Rabb is Professor of History at Princeton University. He is the founder and coeditor of TheJournal of Inter-Disciplinary History He the author or editor of more than a dozen books and contributes book reviews to the TLS, The New York Review of Books,Commentary, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He is the founder and coeditor of The Journal ofInter-Disciplinary History and has served as an advisor for numerous PBS documentaries. Ezra N. Suleiman is IBM Professor in International Studies and Professor of Politics at Princeton University, where he also directs the Committee for European Studies. He serves on the editorial committee of Comparative Politics, and is the author of twelve books.