Beasts and gods
Subtitle: how democracy changed its meaning and lost its purpose
By: Roslyn Fuller
Publisher: Zed Books
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 414
ISBN-13: 9781783605439; 9781783605422
Subjects: Democracy; History
Other titles: How democracy changed its meaning and lost its purpose
Description: "Democracy has failed to deliver. Equal opportunity and the individual's ability to influence decision-making are a mirage, while both new and established democracies suffer a growing sense of malaise. Analysing a variety of voting methods across twenty countries, Roslyn Fuller shows that modern democracies are not really democracies at all. The side with better funding invariably wins elections and referenda, and the party that forms the government rarely receives the majority of the popular vote. This lack of representation then compounds at the international level, as delegated power is delegated yet again. Arguing for a return to the ancient Athenian idea of democracy based on citizen participation, Beasts and Gods is an extraordinary work, set to reconfigure the foundations of modern society."--Page 4 of cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 373-402) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : what is democracy?; title: Part I. Democracy in Athens : people power is born; title: The myth of representation; title: Buying and selling elections; title: Participation : bought in or locked out?; title: Modern democracy and the international system : a perfect storm; title: Non-governmental organizations and the civil society chimera; title: How did things get to be this way? The Roman Republican system and the founding fathers of America; title: Part II. The way forward : digital democracy; title: Disinformed is disenfranchised : why taming mass media is a necessary step towards democracy; title: Democracy and dissent : the balance between individual and community; title: Direct democracy today : cutting the Gordian knot.