Overview

"Democracy, unlike any other form of government, demands that citizens take responsibility for their politics. And yet, over the past fifty years, observers of American democracy have worried that Americans are failing to do so. With occasional exceptions, voter turnout and civic engagement are declining, and the average citizen's knowledge of public affairs is flimsy at best. Citizens' political posture is mostly passive: they receive political propaganda designed by marketing professionals and consume staged political spectacles that are scarcely distinguishable from other forms of ""reality"" entertainment. The Rockwellian ideal of democracy-participatory, deliberative, egalitarian-that still captivates our imaginations is for the most part anachronistic. How should we respond to these worries? Alex Zakaras argues that we must develop an ideal of citizenship suitable for mass society. To do so, he turns to a pair of nineteenth-century philosophers--John Stuart Mill and Ralph Waldo Emerson--who were among the first to confront the specific challenge of making mass democracy work, and whose moral and political insights are deeply relevant to America today. He focuses especially on the idea of individuality, which lies at the very center of their theories of democracy. Individuality emphasizes each citizen's personal complicity in the injustices committed by democratic officials, and calls on each of us to resist such complicity by speaking and acting against injustice. Individuality suggests that those of us who do no more than vote--who otherwise lead strictly private lives--are guilty of moral and civic negligence."

Full Product Details

9780195384680

Table of Contents

Reviews

This is a very well-written, well-argued, and thoroughly researched volume...Highly recommended. CHOICE

This is a very well-written, well-argued, and thoroughly researched volume...Highly recommended. --CHOICE Much recent (and not so recent) political theory has resisted including the question of human excellence as central to a democratic politics. In this view, 'democracy' requires competitive elections, minimal agreement on procedures, and a more or less free press--and that is about all. It is the great merit of Alex Zakaras's excellent book to show that this vision of democracy is perversely limited and limiting. Drawing upon Mill and especially Emerson, Zakaras develops and critically extends the conception of human excellence contained within the idea of democratic individuality. He shows that it can and should be a central component of a democratic polity--without in any way being elitist, impractical, culturally specific, or undermining the practice of citizenship. I--we--have been waiting for a book like this. --Tracy B. Strong, Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego

<br> This is a very well-written, well-argued, and thoroughly researched volume...Highly recommended. --CHOICE<br> Much recent (and not so recent) political theory has resisted including the question of human excellence as central to a democratic politics. In this view, 'democracy' requires competitive elections, minimal agreement on procedures, and a more or less free press--and that is about all. It is the great merit of Alex Zakaras's excellent book to show that this vision of democracy is perversely limited and limiting. Drawing upon Mill and especially Emerson, Zakaras develops and critically extends the conception of human excellence contained within the idea of democratic individuality. He shows that it can and should be a central component of a democratic polity--without in any way being elitist, impractical, culturally specific, or undermining the practice of citizenship. I--we--have been waiting for a book like this. --Tracy B. Strong, Professor of Political Science, Universi

Author Information

Alex M. Zakaras is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. He specializes in political philosophy and the history of political thought. His interests include the philosophy of democracy and democratic citizenship, the ideal of autonomy and its place in the liberal tradition, and the political thought of the nineteenth century.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available