Description
Book SynopsisWhat should we expect from democracy, and how likely is it that democracies will live up to those expectations? This work offers an assessment of contemporary answers to these questions, and explores its implications for policy and political action. It includes accounts of democracy's purposes that focus on aggregating preferences.
Trade Review"With great insight and nuanced judgment, Shapiro weaves together three literatures-normative democratic theory, the empirical literature on democratization, and debates over the nature of power (and domination). And the book ranges even farther than that: The facility with which [Shapiro] incorporates economic theory, ethnographies of impoverished communities, and constitutional law is extraordinary."--Leonard C. Feldman, Perspectives on Politics "[Shapiro's] book is not only an authoritative source, but also exceptionally clear, compact, and well written."--George Klosko, Review of Politics "[Shapiro] is one of the leaders of an emerging literature that combines insights from political theory and empirical scholarship. In [this book], he deploys both to good effect. The book also couples impressive analytical sophistication with clarity of exposition that makes it accessible to lay readers."--Ilya Somin, Cato Journal
Table of ContentsPreface ix Introduction 1 CHAPTER ONE: The Common Good 10 CHAPTER TWO: Deliberation against Domination?35 CHAPTER THREE: Power and Democratic Competition 50 CHAPTER FOUR: Getting and Keeping Democracy 78 CHAPTER FIVE: Democracy and Distribution 104 CHAPTER SIX: Reconsidering the State of Democratic Theory 146 Bibliography 153 Index 173
