Political Science

The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives

A powerful case for democracy and how it can adapt and survive鈥攊f we want it to

Hardcover

Price:
$29.95/拢25.00
ISBN:
Published (US):
Sep 19, 2023
Published (UK):
Nov 14, 2023
Pages:
312
Size:
6.13 x 9.25 in.
Main_subject:
Political Science
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Is democracy in trouble, perhaps even dying? Pundits say so, and polls show that most Americans believe that their country鈥檚 system of governance is being 鈥渢ested鈥 or is 鈥渦nder attack.鈥 But is the future of democracy necessarily so dire? In The Civic Bargain, Brook Manville and Josiah Ober push back against the prevailing pessimism about the fate of democracy around the world. Instead of an epitaph for democracy, they offer a guide for democratic renewal, calling on citizens to recommit to a 鈥渃ivic bargain鈥 with one another to guarantee civic rights of freedom, equality, and dignity. That bargain also requires them to fulfill the duties of democratic citizenship: governing themselves with no 鈥渂oss鈥 except one another, embracing compromise, treating each other as civic friends, and investing in civic education for each rising generation.

Manville and Ober trace the long progression toward self-government through four key moments in democracy鈥檚 history: Classical Athens, Republican Rome, Great Britain鈥檚 constitutional monarchy, and America鈥檚 founding. Comparing what worked and what failed in each case, they draw out lessons for how modern democracies can survive and thrive. Manville and Ober show that democracy isn鈥檛 about getting everything we want; it鈥檚 about agreeing on a shared framework for pursuing our often conflicting aims. Crucially, citizens need to be able to compromise, and must not treat one another as political enemies. And we must accept imperfection; democracy is never finished but evolves and renews itself continually. As long as the civic bargain is maintained鈥攖hrough deliberation, bargaining, and compromise鈥攄emocracy will live.

Democracy鈥檚 real deal

Renewing the civic bargain


Awards and Recognition

  • A New Yorker Best Book We've Read This Year
  • Longlisted for the Runciman Award, Anglo-Hellenic League