Spectre of Democracy: The Rise of Modern Democracy as Seen by Its Opponents - Hardcover

Levin, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0814750605 ISBN 13: 9780814750605

Publisher: New York University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Levin traces the century and a half between the American and French revolutions and the end of the First World War, a key period for public debate over democratization. Examining the writings and ideology of a variety of anti-democratic thinkers, he illustrates how arguments for franchise extention had to contend with a deeply entrenched antipathy to democratic ideas. Only if we resurrect expressions of this opposition, he argues, and recall the dominant values that democracy challenged, are we able to understand the historical and ideological context from which modern western values and institutions emerged.

About this title

Review:

"Mary Mellor has written a timely and exciting book which leads one to share her optimism about critical social analysis and the politics of new social movements--and the potential for social change." -Diana Leonard, University of London

"A coherent, readable, and critically engaged survey that will be an indispensable resource for anyone thinking about, or teaching, the relations between ecological politics, feminist theory and philosophy, and the new social movements.'"-"The Times Literary Supplement",

Synopsis:

Not everyone thought (nor yet thinks) that democracy was a good idea. Levin (politics, U. of London) recalls arguments against it during the period between American independence and the end of World War I, as a way of understanding the ideological basis of our current system by identifying the value

About this edition

• Publisher: New York University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0814750605
• ISBN 13: 9780814750605
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 250