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Democracy: A Guided Tour

by Jason Brennan (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2 ratings
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How did “democracy” go from a pejorative label for mob rule to the widely shared ideal of enlightened self-rule? How has it evolved as an idea and a set of practices? How have the ways democracy has been practiced impacted the idea of democracy itself? In this short, accessible book, leading democratic theorist Jason Brennan guides readers through the evolution of the concept of democracy and actual democratic practice over time to help them understand the foundations of this longstanding and yet newly fragile political system.

In his wide-ranging tour of the concept, Brennan will examine what democracy meant to the Greeks who first developed the concept before examining how it changed throughout European and later Western history. This will open up rich and perplexing questions. Over time, democracy shifted from being a fringe idea to the gold standard of political institutions: how did this change occur? How did the question of who counts as part of the ruling “people” change over time? As monarchies were replaced with democracies, what did theorists think the promises and perils of republican democracy were? How did actual democratic practice change the debates? What have we learned about how democracy functions--and in some cases, doesn't function--and what does this mean for future philosophical or empirical work? Brennan provides a curated, guided tour of the most important arguments for and against democracy, looking through the core values of stability, virtue, wisdom, freedom, and equality. The goal is to help readers understand what is really at stake in democracy and its alternatives.

Democracy: A Guided Tour gives readers a crash course on the evolution of the idea of democracy, how it has been and is currently practiced, and how we might think about it as we head into a new chapter in its story.
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  1. ISBN-10
    019755881X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0197558812
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    March 7, 2023
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    9.71 x 1.05 x 4.61 inches
  7. Print length
    328 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"What's so great about democracy? If it is great, it's urgent to know why, and there couldn't be a better place to start. Jason Brennan brilliantly gathers and explains the best contending philosophical arguments-old and new. He shows how they challenge our preconceptions and invites us to think about democracy afresh. It comes not a moment too soon, and I hope it is widely read." -- David Estlund, Brown University

"This is a brilliant, eminently readable introduction to philosophical thinking about democracy. Brennan ingeniously frames the discussion as a series of paired arguments concerning whether democracy is good for helping us to achieve five key ideals: stability, virtue, wisdom, liberty, and equality. In each case, historical thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, and Lenin are brought into lively conversation with contemporary philosophers. The result is magnificent, getting the reader right to the most interesting ideas while allowing plenty of room for philosophers of the past and present to speak for themselves. I can think of no better introduction to democratic theory" -- Alexander Guerrero, Rutgers University

About the Author

Jason Brennan is the Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at Georgetown University. He is the author of fifteen books, including Debating Democracy (with Hélène Landemore), Against Democracy, and The Ethics of Voting. His books have been translated twenty-seven times into fourteen languages. He specializes in politics, philosophy, and economics.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (March 7, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 019755881X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0197558812
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.04 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.71 x 1.05 x 4.61 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2 ratings

About the author

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Jason Brennan

Jason Brennan

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Jason Brennan (Ph.D., 2007) is Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at the McDonough School of Business, and by courtesy, Professor of Philosophy, at Georgetown University. He specializes in issues at the intersection of politics, philosophy, and economics.

He is the author of ten books, including Cracks in the Ivory Tower: The Bad Business of Higher Ed (Oxford 2019), with Phil Magness; When All Else Fails: The Ethics of Resistance to State Injustice (Princeton 2018); In Defense of Openness: Why Global Freedom is the Humane Solution to Global Poverty (Oxford 2018), with Bas van der Vossen; Against Democracy (Princeton 2016); and Markets without Limits (Routledge 2016). He is currently writing, with Chris Surprenant, Injustice for All: How Financial Incentives Created America's Dysfunctional Criminal Justice System and How to Fix It, for Routledge Press.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
2 global ratings

Top review from the United States

Scott Aguila
5.0 out of 5 stars This book helped me SWELV
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2023
Verified Purchase
I love the organization of this book. You can use one of five standards to think about the pros and cons of democracy: stability, wisdom, equality, liberty, and virtue. Or SWELV (not an acronym you'll find in the book).

For example, you can use the criterion of stability to argue for democracy: that it gives us "stability through shared power." Or you can use that same standard to argue against democracy: that it destabilizes society by polarizing us and injecting too much passion into political discourse.

Now, whenever I come across a fact, idea, or claim that touches on the virtues or vices of democratic institutions, I just SWELV, and slot it into the broad framework that Brennan packaged and gifted to us in accessible and even-handed prose.
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