Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracy

Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracy PDF Author: John Higley
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742553613
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This compelling and convincing study, the capstone of decades of research, argues that political regimes are created and sustained by elites. Liberal democracies are no exception; they depend, above all, on the formation and persistence of consensually united elites. John Higley and Michael Burton explore the circumstances and ways in which such elites have formed in the modern world. They identify pressures that may cause a basic change in the structure and functioning of elites in established liberal democracies, and they ask if the elites cluster around George W. Bush are a harbinger of this change. The authors' powerful and important argument reframes our thinking about liberal democracy and questions optimistic assumptions about the prospects for its spread in the twenty-first century.

Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracy

Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracy PDF Author: John Higley
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742553613
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
This compelling and convincing study, the capstone of decades of research, argues that political regimes are created and sustained by elites. Liberal democracies are no exception; they depend, above all, on the formation and persistence of consensually united elites. John Higley and Michael Burton explore the circumstances and ways in which such elites have formed in the modern world. They identify pressures that may cause a basic change in the structure and functioning of elites in established liberal democracies, and they ask if the elites cluster around George W. Bush are a harbinger of this change. The authors' powerful and important argument reframes our thinking about liberal democracy and questions optimistic assumptions about the prospects for its spread in the twenty-first century.

Elites, Non-Elites, and Political Realism

Elites, Non-Elites, and Political Realism PDF Author: John Higley
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 153816289X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
This provocative and groundbreaking book challenges accepted wisdom about the role of elites in both maintaining and undermining democracy in an increasingly authoritarian world. John Higley traces patterns of elite political behavior and the political orientations of non-elite populations throughout modern history to show what is and is not possible in contemporary politics. He situates these patterns and orientations in a range of regimes, showing how they have played out in revolutions, populist nationalism, Arab Spring failures to democratize, the conflation of ultimate and instrumental values in today’s liberal democracies, and American political thinkers’ misguided assumption that non-elites are the principal determinants of politics. Critiquing the optimistic outlooks prevalent among educated Westerners, Higley considers them out of touch with reality because of spreading employment insecurity, demoralization, and millennial pursuits in their societies. Attacks by domestic and foreign terrorists, effects of climate change, mass migrations from countries outside the West, and disease pandemics exacerbate insecurity and further highlight the flaws in the belief that democracy can thrive and spread worldwide. Higley concludes that these threats to the well-being of Western societies are here to stay. They leave elites with no realistic alternative to a holding operation until at least mid-century that husbands the power and political practices of Western societies. Drawing on decades of research, Higley’s analysis is historically and comparatively informed, bold, and in some places dark—and will be sure to foster debate.

Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy

Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy PDF Author: Michael Albertus
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110819642X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
This book argues that - in terms of institutional design, the allocation of power and privilege, and the lived experiences of citizens - democracy often does not restart the political game after displacing authoritarianism. Democratic institutions are frequently designed by the outgoing authoritarian regime to shield incumbent elites from the rule of law and give them an unfair advantage over politics and the economy after democratization. Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy systematically documents and analyzes the constitutional tools that outgoing authoritarian elites use to accomplish these ends, such as electoral system design, legislative appointments, federalism, legal immunities, constitutional tribunal design, and supermajority thresholds for change. The study provides wide-ranging evidence for these claims using data that spans the globe and dates from 1800 to the present. Albertus and Menaldo also conduct detailed case studies of Chile and Sweden. In doing so, they explain why some democracies successfully overhaul their elite-biased constitutions for more egalitarian social contracts.

The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy

The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy PDF Author: Christopher Lasch
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393313719
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This text challenges American notions of democracy and ambition, culture and civic responsibility, charting a decline in democratic values and debate. It states that this change is due to the "new elites" who, having lost their sense of communitarianism, will not accept ties to nation and to place.

The People Vs. Democracy

The People Vs. Democracy PDF Author: Yascha Mounk
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674976827
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
Uiteenzetting over de opkomst van het populisme en het gevaar daarvan voor de democratie.

The Elite Connection

The Elite Connection PDF Author: Amitai Etzioni
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 9780745610689
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Designed as a textbook for courses in political theory, political sociology and comparative politics, and as a contribution in its own right, this book explores the role of elite relations as a key to understanding democracy. Following a critical review of the literature on classes, democracy and elites, the author argues that although Western democracy is not `governed by the people' and has not created equality, it is unique in that (more than any other regime) it has generated a relative separation of power holders, or a relative autonomy of elites and sub-elites in the control of resources. Developing this argument the author discloses strengths and weaknesses in democracy's infrastructure. The Elite Connection contains a warning that a major danger to democracy stems from the tendency of elites to make incursions into the autonomy of other elites, and to develop excessively close dependency relations, either in subjugation of them, or in collusion with them, which result in threats to civil liberties and to the very foundations of democracy. It argues, however, that democracy has the built-in potential to counter its own subversions. Although it focuses on elites, the book has an egalitarian perspective: it concludes with the argument that the separation of elites makes possible struggles for greater equality. The still relatively independent elites of social movements have the potential of pushing democracy towards greater participation and equality.

American Elites in a Liberal Democracy

American Elites in a Liberal Democracy PDF Author: Penny Shemtob
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description


Twilight of the Elites

Twilight of the Elites PDF Author: Christopher Hayes
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307720454
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Analyzes scandals in high-profile institutions, from Wall Street and the Catholic Church to corporate America and Major League Baseball, while evaluating how an elite American meritocracy rose throughout the past half-century before succumbing to unprecedented levels of corruption and failure. 75,000 first printing.

The Crisis of Liberal Democracy and the Path Ahead

The Crisis of Liberal Democracy and the Path Ahead PDF Author: Bernd Reiter
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1786603667
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Offers insights into the Global Justice Movement – an influential transnational movement and predecessor of the recent struggles for economic and social justice and against austerity.

Inequality and Democratization

Inequality and Democratization PDF Author: Ben W. Ansell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316123286
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Research on the economic origins of democracy and dictatorship has shifted away from the impact of growth and turned toward the question of how different patterns of growth - equal or unequal - shape regime change. This book offers a new theory of the historical relationship between economic modernization and the emergence of democracy on a global scale, focusing on the effects of land and income inequality. Contrary to most mainstream arguments, Ben W. Ansell and David J. Samuels suggest that democracy is more likely to emerge when rising, yet politically disenfranchised, groups demand more influence because they have more to lose, rather than when threats of redistribution to elite interests are low.