The Politics of Participation: From Athens to E-DemocracyWe live in an age of democracy. Very few people challenge the virtues of "government by the people", yet, politicians and commentators are fond of decrying the "crisis of democracy". How do these views square up? This book provides the answer by surveying the philosophical history of democracy and its critics and by analyzing empirical data about citizen participation in Britain and other developed democracies. In addition to analysis of major political thinkers like Plato, Machiavelli and J.S. Mill, the book analyzes how modern technology has influenced democracy. An essential book for students of politics, history and media studies this study puts the debate about democracy into perspective and offers a solid grounding for future discussions. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
a methodological overview | 7 |
Participation and democracy from the Greeks to our times | 15 |
Copyright | |
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according activities all-postal voting Arendt argued Aristotle Assembly Australia ballot bill Blair Britain British campaign cent changed chapter citizen politics civic class voting committees Conservative countries debate decision to hold democratic designer politics developed devolution Dicey direct democracy e-democracy economic election electoral system elite erendum Eurobarometer European Constitution factors favour figures focus groups France Friday Agreement Hannah Arendt hold a referendum House of Commons ibid idea increase institutions introduction issues juries Labour Party legislation less Lords Luxembourg Maastricht Treaty Machiavelli majority Netherlands Northern Ireland opinion polls Oregon Parliament parliamentary party identifiers party's perhaps policies political participation political parties political science political scientists politicians postal voting predictor Prime Minister proposed protest PSOE PvdA Qvortrup referen representative democracy representative government republic result Roman republic rule seems social survey terrorism terrorists theory tion Tocqueville Tories Treaty voters