Democracy Against Itself - by Mark Chou (Paperback)

About the Book

Using 4 case studies - democratic Athens, the Weimar Republic, contemporary American democracy and China's fledging efforts to democratise - Mark Chou examines why democracy is prone to self-destruction.

Book Synopsis

Why do some democracies self-destruct? Using the collapse of democracy in ancient Athens and the Weimar Republic, as well as the uncertain fate of democratic rule in the United States and China today as illustrative examples, Mark Chou examines the conditions and characteristics of democracy that make it prone to self-destruct. In drawing out the political lessons from these past collapses, he explains how a democracy can, simply by being democratic, sow the seeds of its own destruction.

From the Back Cover

'An enormously important book on politics and democracy. What makes it both interesting and brilliant reading is not Chou's abandonment of democracy but his scorching analysis of how democracy is misrepresented - the perversions and swindles made in its name against its real promise. Read this book and you will never again take democracy for granted.' Henry A. Giroux is Professor of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University and a distinguished visiting scholar at Ryerson University. 'Mark Chou reveals the endogenous factors that can make democracy unsustainable. This eloquently written book offers new insights on democratic politics for scholars, students, and citizens.' Nancy S. Love, Professor of Political Science, Appalachian State University A lively exploration of the reasons why some democracies self-destruct That all democracies have, by their very nature, the potential to destroy themselves is a fact too rarely documented by acolytes of the system. In the decades since Joseph Goebbels, then as Reich Minister of Propaganda, reminded the world that it 'will always remain one of the best jokes of democracy that it gave its deadly enemies the means by which it was destroyed', democrats have quickly forgotten just how precarious a political framework it can be. Using as illustrative examples the collapse of democracy in ancient Athens and the Weimar Republic, as well as the uncertain fate of democratic rule in the United States and China today, this book examines the conditions and characteristics of democracy that make it prone to self-destruct. In drawing out the political lessons from these past collapses, Mark Chou explains how a democracy can, in the course of being democratic, sow the seeds of its own destruction. Mark Chou is Lecturer in Politics in the Faculty of Education and Arts at Australian Catholic University. He is also the author of Greek Tragedy and Contemporary Democracy (2012). Cover image: This isn't democracy (c) Steven Mileham. Cover design: [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com

Review Quotes

An enormously important book on politics and democracy. What makes it both interesting and brilliant reading is not Chou's abandonment of democracy but his scorching analysis of how democracy is misrepresented - the perversions and swindles made in its name against its real promise. Read this book and you will never again take democracy for granted.--Henry A. Giroux, McMaster University and Ryerson University, Canada

Mark Chou reveals the endogenous factors that can make democracy unsustainable. This eloquently written book offers new insights on democratic politics for scholars, students and citizens.--Nancy S. Love, Professor of Political Science, Appalachian State University

About the Author

Mark Chou is Lecturer in Politics in the Faculty of Education and Arts at Australian Catholic University. He is also the author of Greek Tragedy and Contemporary Politics (Bloomsbury: 2012).