Is democracy a force for good or something much more dangerous?
Democracy today is widely regarded as an ideal form of government. Yet in practice it sometimes seems a sham, a political puppet show in which hidden elites pull all the strings.
As trust in elected representatives around the world plunges, it is no wonder that democratic revolts have erupted – from Cairo to Kiev and beyond – in an effort to ‘take back control’.
In this urgent and lively history, James Miller reminds us that democracy has always generated tensions and contradictions. Through philosophical debates and violent uprisings, it has been contested, corrupted, and refined. In different times and different places – from ancient Athens to revolutionary France to post-war America – its meaning has shifted in surprising ways.
For over two thousand years, the world has experimented with democracy. But can it really work – especially in complex modern societies?
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‘An attractively broad and accessible account of democracy from the Greeks to the present… Particularly timely.’
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New York Review of Books"
‘What makes the book compelling is its focus on colorful thinkers, activists, and political leaders who lived and breathed the democratic moment throughout history… Miller shows that democracy’s ascent is best seen not as a gradual unfolding of a political principle driven by reason and moral destiny but rather as a grand roller coaster ride of struggle, revolution, and backlash. Today’s populist outbursts look quite ordinary alongside this history.’
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Foreign Affairs"
‘In this smart, tremendously readable history, Miller tackles the paradox at the centre of the democratic dream… Both challenging and accessible, this title is highly recommended.’
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Booklist, starred review
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‘The strength of this book lies…in the exquisite portraits it paints of characters who stand behind the immortalized Pericles, Robespierre, and Thomas Jefferson… [Miller] forces the reader to sit up and realize that history isn’t a definitive greyed parchment beyond reproach, but actually a living force constantly capable of new interpretation and meaning in our current world… Like the ekklesia in Athens, the constituent assembly in Versailles, and the soviet in Petrograd – Can Democracy Work? offers insightful context on how our own body politic will survive these turbulent times.’
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Christian Science Monitor