Among Renaissance utopias, The City of the Sun is perhaps second in importance only to More's more famous work. There are striking similarities between Campanella's utopia and More's, but also striking differences which reflect both changed historical circumstances and the highly original nature of Campanella's thought. La citta del sole is one of many books written by Tommaso Campanella--philosopher, scientist, astrologer, and poet--while imprisoned in Naples for his part in rebellion against the Spanish and ecclesiastical authorities who ruled his native Calabria.

This...

Tocqueville pessimistically predicted that liberty and equality would be incompatible ideas. Robert Dahl, author of the classic A Preface to Democratic Theory, explores this alleged conflict, particularly in modern American society where differences in ownership and control of corporate enterprises create inequalities in resources among Americans that in turn generate inequality among them as citizens.

Arguing that Americans have misconceived the relation between democracy, private property, and the economic order, the author contends that we can achieve a society of real...