The Idea of Democracy

The essays in this book address a variety of foundational questions about democracy.

David Copp (Edited by), Jean Hampton (Edited by), John E. Roemer (Edited by)

9780521483261, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 February 1995

464 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.68 kg

In the wake of the recent expansion of democratic forms of government around the world, political theorists have begun to rethink the nature and justification of this form of government. The essays in this book address a variety of foundational questions about democracy: How effective is it? How stable can it be in a pluralist society? Does it deserve its current popularity? Can it successfully guide a socialist society?

Introduction
Part I. The Point of Democracy: 1. Tocqueville and democracy Stephen Holmes
1a. Tocqueville, commerce and democracy Debra Satz
2. Making truth safe for democracy David Estlund
2a. Could political truth be a hazard for democracy? David Copp
3. Democratic rights at national and workplace levels Richard J. Arneson
3a. Justified to whom? Robert Sugden
Part II. Democracy and Preferences: 4. Public choice versus democracy Russell Hardin
4a. Social choice and democracy Thomas Christiano
5. Democracy and shifting preferences Cass R. Sunstein
5a. Must preferences be respected in a democracy? John Ferejohn
Part III. Democracy and Public Reason: 6. The domain of the political and overlapping consensus John Rawls
6a. Moral pluralism and political consensus Joshua Cohen
6b. The moral commitments of liberalism Jean Hampton
7. Constituting democracy David Gauthier
7a. On contractarian constitutional democracy Christopher W. Morris
Part IV. Democracy and Economics: 8. The possibility of market socialism John E. Roemer
8a. Alternative conceptions of feasibility Michael S. McPherson
9. A political and economic case for the democratic enterprise Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis
9a. Contested power Karl Ove Moene
Part V. Democracy: Case Studies: 10. Capitalist development and democracy: empirical research on the social origins of democracy John D. Stephens
10a. Comments on John D. Stephens 'Capitalist development and democracy' Pranab Bardhan.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS]