Publisher's Synopsis
In this volume leading international scholars explore the relationship between power and democracy: - - Ian Shapiro contests that the main concern of democratic theory should be to develop ways of managing power relations so as to minimize domination. - Charles Tilly asks to what extent and how contentious politics and transformations of regimes are linked, suggesting that this question looms behind any analysis of interactions between democracy and power. - Anne Phillips puts egalitarianism back in its historical place at the centre of discussions of democracy. - Robert Goodin examines the dangers of a purely output-orientated approach to democratic theory, making the case for input models which prioritize the openness of the process to everyone's inputs. - Bo Rothstein explores the relationship between social capital and effective democracy and debates whether political rather than social variables influence social capital. - John Hall's historical account unravels the relationship between nationalism and democracy in the politics of modernity. - Paul Hirst looks at the possibilities for global democratic accountability, examining the paradox that governance on a world scale is controlled by the mature democracies of the wealthy countries over the majority of the world's population. - Øyvind Østerud presents the case for, and the problems with, concepts of post-national or supranational democracy as a response to globalization. - Michael Thompson uses cultural theory to examine the contested terrain of the internet and its perceived challenges to democracy. - Fredrik Engelstad discusses conceptions of democracy in the work sphere which he believes have for too long been modelled directly on the political democracy of the nation state.
