Democracy's Good Name: The Rise and Risks of the World's Most Popular Form of Government

by Michael Mandelbaum

Book Overview

The last thirty years have witnessed one of the most remarkable developments in history: the rapid rise of democracy around the world. In 1900, only ten countries were democracies and by 1975 there... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586486640
• ISBN13: 9781586486648
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant, clear and a must-read

This is a great book, ideal for anyone from high school through retirement. It is clearly written---no, it is vividly written---and you will learn more from this one book about the full meaning of democracy than you will in a hundred other books. This is the one.

Democracy 101

This is a fast easy read. Democracy is not easy, and this book clearly explains why.

Not Quite as Good as the Ideas that Conquered the World

This book was very good, but it just wasn't quite as excellent as was "The Ideas that Conquered the World," and also not as innovative. Again, Mr. Mandelbaum's writing style is excellent -- very clear and to the point. The discussion as to how democracies came about was well done. However, I felt like the themes were being repeated so that what is presented here was a pamphlet, that was expanded into a short book. If you haven't yet read "The Ideas that Conquered the World," I would suggest reading that book before this one.

Democracy's Required Reading

Dr. Mandelbaum's highly readable and stunningly insightful review of the origins of democracy, how countries become democracies, and the future of democracy is feat of unparalleled analytic skill. This outstanding work should be required reading for all candidates seeking national office in any country, as well as anyone dealing with or interested in international affairs, and all who wish to comprehend or already cherish democratic freedom. Professor Mandelbaum is masterful in providing the reader with a clear, concise and wholly enjoyable history of democracy while explaining the interrelationship of democracy with free markets, international trade and how democracy determines whether we live in a world at war or we have peace. After reading this fine book one not only feels more optimistic about the future but you are well educated with an understanding of the basis for such optimism. Perhaps of equal importance, this book explains the risks to existing democracies and the factors that will determine whether democracy thrives or withers around the globe. The insights regarding Russia, China and the Arab world help explain the situation in those areas today and the potential outcomes for them in the future. This is a fact filled book written is a highly entertaining style that ties together a multitude of issues. For anyone interested in the future of our world this is a book you must read at least once (it is so interesting and such a pleasure to read that I am now reading it a second time).

Readable, authoritative and eminently persuasive

What surprised me in reading this very well written treatise on democracy was the fact that democracy is now the most common form of government in the world, and that has been a fact for only the last two or three decades. Prior to say the 1970s democratic governments were not only in the minority worldwide, but were seen by many as something of an experiment. After all, until the rise of Great Britain in 18th century, there were no nation-state democracies on the planet. Britain was first and the US was the second. Professor Mandelbaum explains all this and more in a most engaging manner. The problem has always been that democracy, far from having a "good name," was considered dangerous to liberty and private property. It was believed that if you allowed popular sovereignty, you were on the road to disaster since the majority would take resources from minorities and stifle opinions that the majority found disagreeable. But, as Mandelbaum is careful and anxious to note, if you add liberty to popular sovereignty you have the magic formula that leads to relative wealth and happiness, or at least the opportunity for same. Consequently what Mandelbaum calls democracy is really a hybrid of popular sovereignty and liberty. He shows how they go together like love and marriage. The book begins with the origins of democracy and ends with the future of democracy. Along the way Mandelbaum makes the case for democracies being more conducive to the creation of wealth and more peaceful than other forms of government; indeed he claims that no democratic state has ever attacked another democratic state. That is eye-opening. He also argues that a prerequisite for democracy is a market economy. He argues further that a market economy, because it is based on economic liberty, tends to lead toward political freedom and democracy. However, as is presently the case in China, a free market economy may exist without political freedom, but for how long? In the last chapter Mandelbaum looks at prospects for real democracy in Russia, China and the Arab states. He concludes that Russia is the closest to achieving it, but must overcome the habits of 70-some years of communist rule and before that the undemocratic mind set of the czarist state. He sees China as coming along more slowly because the communists are still firmly intrenched and he doesn't see them giving up power any time soon. In the Arab/Muslim Middle East the situation is more difficult. Mandelbaum notes that the autocratic states there will have to overcome not only a disinclination to follow Western ways, but the tenets of Islam itself which argue against democracy. Furthermore, petro states are very far from having either true market economies or the requisite institutions of civil society that foster popular sovereignty and liberty. As for the future of democracy in the democracies themselves, Mandelbaum sees that as rosy. Only a major catastrophe of some sort is likely to change the