Description
Democracy in Theory and Practice presents an authoritative overview of democratic theory today. Its distinctive approach links theory to practice, emphasizing the wide variety of institutions and procedures through which core democratic principles are implemented and the normative and practical dimensions of the choices to be made among these alternatives.
Designed for courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level, the book features eighteen chapters organized thematically and divided into sections and subsections for easy reference; historical and current examples, citations for specific ideas, annotated references, and further readings throughout enhance the volume's utility for students, scholars, and researchers. Sidebars give biographical sketches of classic theorists and democratic ideas from the US founders and constitutional tradition.
Featured topics discussed include:
- Majority Rule; Participation; Deliberation; Accountability; Representation; Constitutionalism; Electoral Laws; Parties; Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Functions.
- The Boundary Problem; The "All-Affected" Principle; Contested Senses of Liberal and Procedural Democracy; The Pros and Cons of Term Limits; Proportional Representation; Referendums; Problems of Democratic Transparency and Reversibility.
Written by a leading authority in the field, Frederick G. Whelan encourages us to think of the many alternative ways of putting democracy into practice and of these alternatives as requiring choices. This diversity means that there is no unique or correct democratic outcome from a given set of preferences, since outcomes are shaped by the methods followed in reaching them.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Democratic Principles
3. Democracy and Other Values
4. The Right to Vote
5. Issues in Democratic Voting
6. Voting and Decision Methods
7. Participation and Democracy
8. Direct and Formative Democracy
9. Communication and Deliberation
10. Accountability and Representation
11. The Representation of Interests
12. Constitutionalism
13. Forms of Democratic Government
14. Electoral Systems, Parties, and Party Government
15. Legislatures
16. Additional Principles of Democratic Governance
17. The Executive Power
18. The Judicial Power
