Democracy and Goodness
A Historicist Political Theory

Proposes a new democratic theory, rooted in activity not consent, and intrinsically related to historical understandings of power and ethics.

John R. Wallach (Author)

9781108422574, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 January 2018

320 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.65 kg

'Wallach argues on the opening page of this ambitious, erudite, and wide-ranging book, 'democracy' is often treated as self-evidently 'good'. Why - on the basis of what conceptualizations of democracy and goodness - have successive generations of self identified democrats believed that? And how should future democracies act so as to bring democracy and goodness closer together? Wallach argues that efficacious answers to the second question require the kind of critical political judgment that can be developed by answering the first one.' Daniela Cammack, University of California

Citizens, political leaders, and scholars invoke the term 'democracy' to describe present-day states without grasping its roots or prospects in theory or practice. This book clarifies the political discourse about democracy by identifying that its primary focus is human activity, not consent. It points out how democracy is neither self-legitimating nor self-justifying and so requires critical, ethical discourse to address its ongoing problems, such as inequality and exclusion. Wallach pinpoints how democracy has historically depended on notions of goodness to ratify its power. The book analyses pivotal concepts of democratic ethics such as 'virtue', 'representation', 'civil rightness', 'legitimacy', and 'human rights' and looks at them as practical versions of goodness that have adapted democracy to new constellations of power in history. Wallach notes how democratic ethics should never be reduced to power or moral ideals. Historical understanding needs to come first to highlight the potentials and prospects of democratic citizenship.

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Historicizing democratic ethics
2. Democracy and virtue in ancient Athens
3. Representation as a political virtue and the formation of liberal democracy
4. Civil rightness: a virtuous discipline for the modern Demos
5. Democracy and legitimacy: popular justification of states amid contemporary globalization
6. Human rights and democracy
Conclusion: political action and retrospection
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV], Social & political philosophy [HPS]