DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS
The course will consist of ten classes in each of which a particular topic will be discussed. You will see from the list below that discussion of a topic will be linked to a particular text or texts, and it is, of course, essential that the appropriate texts should be read. Copies (originals and/or photocopies) of these texts can normally be found in the Departmental Library.
Each student will be required to write two essays of about 3,000 words each. The first essay MUST be handed in by the last day of the Spring term, the second essay by the last day of the Summer term. One of the essays must be on one of the class topics and the other on one of the additional essay topics listed in Section D.
The following are perhaps the most important or useful books; the book shop has been asked to stock them and you should buy as many as possible (***= essential purchase; **= strongly recommended; *= recommended)
*** D Held Models of Democracy, 2nd edn.
** R A Dahl Democracy and Its Critics
* M Saward The Terms of Democracy
* A Carter & Liberal Democracy and its critics
G Stokes (eds)
* D Held (ed) Prospects for Democracy
* A Arblaster Democracy
* J L Hyland Democratic Theory
* A Weale Democracy
B CLASS PROGRAMME
The texts upon which the class discussion will be based are given first and indicated in bold type. These are followed by other key references, copies of which are also normally to be found in the Departmental Library. A supplementary reading list - and some of the works here are of considerable importance - is provided in Section C.
1 'Defining democracy is easy: it is defining the people that is difficult.' Discuss.
J D May 'Defining Democracy: A Bid for Coherence and
Consensus in Political Studies, March 1978.
R A Dahl Democracy and Its Critics, Intro, Chaps 9 & 14
A Arblaster Democracy, Chapter 1
D Beetham (ed) Defining and Measuring Democracy, Chapter 1
K Graham The Battle of Democracy, Chapter 1.
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy,
Chapter 1, Section 1
M Saward The Terms of Democracy, Introduction, pp 7-10, 49-53, Chapter 7.
Spitz 'Defining Democracy: A Nonecumenical Reply to
May' Political Studies, March 1979
F G Whelan 'Prologue: Democratic Theory and the Boundary
Problem' in J R Pennock and J W Chapman (eds)
Liberal Democracy (Nomos Vol XXX)
2 Today it is usually assumed that a democracy is necessarily a liberal democracy,
but is there a valid non-liberal theory of democracy?
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, pp 83-88, 153-
161, 213-14 (75-91 in 1st edn)
C B Macpherson The Real World of Democracy, Chapters 1, 2 and 3
P Nursey-Bray 'Consensus and Community: The Theory of African
One-Party Democracy' in G Duncan (ed) Democratic
Theory and Practice
G H Sabine 'The Two Democratic Traditions' (copy in the
Departmental Library)
G Sartori The Theory of Democracy Revisited, Chapters 11, 13 & 15
J L Talmon The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, Introduction
D Held Models of Democracy, Chapter 1
I Budge The New Challenge of Direct Democracy, esp. Introduction, Chs. 2
and 7
J Fishkin Democracy and Deliberation, esp. Introduction and Ch.8
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, pp.54-7 (46-9 in 1st edn)
G Mulgan & ‘Back to Greece’ Demos, 1994
A Adonis
M Saward ‘Direct Democracy Revisited’ in Politics, October 1993 (in
Departmental Library)
M Saward The Terms of Democracy: pp.83-5
4 ‘The opposition between modern “elitist” and “traditional” democratic theories is simply a re-statement of the opposition, between conventional and radical theories of representation.’ Discuss.
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, Chapter 2,
G Duncan & 'The New Democracy' in Political Studies 1963
S Lukes (reprinted in H S Kariel (ed), Frontiers of Democratic
Theory as 'Democracy Restated').
J R Pennock Democratic Political Theory, Chapter 8
H F Pitkin The Concept of Representation, Introduction,
Chapters 7, 9 and 10
R A Dahl Democracy and Its Critics, Chapters 2, 15 and 16
K Graham The Battle of Democracy, Chapter 7
D Held Models of Democracy, Chapter 5.
B Holden The Nature of Democracy, Chapters 5 and 6
G Sartori The Theory of Democracy Revisited, Chapters 5 & 6
S Benhabib (ed) Democracy and Difference, Chs. 4, 5 & 6
R Blang ‘Deliberative Democracy’ in Politics Vol.16, No.2, May 1996
M Leet ‘Jurgen Habermas and Deliberative Democracy’ in A Carter and
G Stokes (eds) Liberal Democracy and its Critics
J Burnheim Is Democracy Possible? Esp. Introduction, Chs. 1, 2 & 5
J Fishkin Democracy and Deliberation esp. Introduction, Chs. 4 & 8
R A Dahl Democracy and its Critics pp.338-41
P Hirst Review of Is Democracy Possible? In Sociological Review, Vol.34,
No.3, 1986
B Holden ‘New Directions in Democratic Theory’ in Political Studies Vol.36,
No.2, June 1988
A Coote & Citizens’ Juries: Theory into Practice
J Lenaghan
7 Do economic inequalities undermine democracy? Is industrial democracy a possible remedy?
R A Dahl Democracy and Its Critics, Chapter 23
C Gould Rethinking Democracy, pp. 80-90, Chapters 4 & 9
R A Dahl A Preface to Economic Democracy
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, Chapter 4
sections 1 and 2
'Does Democracy Need Foundations?', Part Four of S Benhabib (ed.)
Democracy and Difference.
A Carter &
G Stokes (eds) Liberal Democracy and its Critics, Introduction,
Chapters 4,5 & 6
R A Dahl Democracy and Its Critics, Chapters 4, 5, 6 & 7
G C Field Political Theory, Chapters 6, 7 and 8
J L Hyland Democratic Theory, Chapters 1 and 7
M Saward The Terms of Democracy, Part I
9 Is liberal democracy the best form of government for all countries?
D Held Models of Democracy, 2nd edn., Chapter 8
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, 2nd edn.,
Chapter 4, Section 3
S P Huntington 'Democracy for the Long Haul' in Journal of
Democracy, Vol 7, No 2, April 1996
F Zakaria ‘The Rise of Illiberal Democracy’ in Foreign Affairs,
November/December 1997
R A Dahl Democracy and Its Critics, Chapter 17, 18 & 22
F Fukuyama The End of History and the Last Man, esp. Introduction
F Fukuyama 'Reflections on the End of History, Five Years Later' in
T Burns (ed) After History? Francis Fukuyama and His Critics
A Hadenius (ed) Democracy's Victory and Crisis, Chapters 1 & 17
D Held (ed) Prospects for Democracy, Chapter 7
S P Huntington The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth
Century, Chapter 6
L Diamond 'Is the Third Wave Over?' in Journal of Democracy,
Vol 7, No 3, July 1996
C B Macpherson The Real World of Democracy Chapter 3
B K Nehru & Western Democracy and the Third World
W H Morris-Jones (copies in Departmental Library)
10 Does the changing nature of the international order mean that the concept of democracy must now be rethought? Discuss.
D Held Models of Democracy, 2nd edn., Chapter 10
B Holden (ed) Global Democracy: Key Debates, esp. Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2, and Part II
D Archbugi and Cosmopolitan Democracy
D Held (eds)
A McGrew (ed) The Transformation of Democracy? esp. Chapter 2
I Shapiro & Democracy’s Edges, esp. Ch.1
C Hacker-Cordon (eds)
C ADDITIONAL READING
Given below is a list of some of the more important or more helpful texts. This is not an exhaustive list and you may also wish to look elsewhere. Texts that might be considered especially helpful, relevant or important are marked*.
Section I consists of some general texts on democracy (some of the most frequently cited texts in the Class Programme are omitted here). Section II contains further references for the class topic of the same number.
A Arblaster Democracy. Argues that the struggle to create
democracy has only just begun.
B A Ackerman Social Justice and the Liberal State,
Chapter 9, 'Liberal Democracy'.
B Barber Strong Democracy. Argues that an excess of liberalism
has undone our democratic institutions.
B Barber & The Struggle for Democracy Interesting and lively
P Watson book of the television series
D Beetham (ed) Defining and Measuring Democracy. Wide-ranging recent analysis
D Beetham & Introducing Democracy: 80 Questions and Answers
K Boyle Recent text that systematically assembles 80 of the
most pressing questions about democracy in six sections
* P Birnbaum, Democracy, Consensus and Social Contract. Important
J Lively & collection of articles containing assessments of some modern
G Parry (eds) theorists and modern analyses of some traditional issues
S I Benn 'Democracy' in The Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
S I Benn & Social Principles and the Democratic State
R S Peters Chapter 15
Two good short introductions
N Bobbio The Future of Democracy. Forceful and original
argument about the nature of democracy and
possibility of a form of democratic socialism.
N Bobbio Democracy and Dictatorship
T Christiano The Rule of the Many
* C Cohen Democracy. General analysis, fairly philosophical.
D Cupp, The Idea of Democracy. Recent collection of essays
J Roerner & addressing a variety of fundamental questions.
J Hampton
F Cunningham Democratic Theory and Socialism. Excellent,
comprehensive discussion
* R A Dahl A Preface to Democratic Theory. Published in the
50's but still a classic of modern rigorous analysis.
* R A Dahl Democracy and its Critics. 'Presents a synthesis of over
thirty years' work by America's leading post-war democratic theorist'.
J Dryzek Discursive Democracy. Advocates a form of 'communicatively
rational democracy'; somewhat hard going, but worth it - very interesting.
* G Duncan (ed) Democratic Theory and Practice. Very useful
collection of articles; an excellent book.
* J Dunn (ed) Democracy: The Unfinished Journey 508 BC to AD 1993.
Recent collection of useful and stimulating articles.
J Elster & Constitutionalism and Democracy
R Slagstad (eds)
*C Gould Rethinking Democracy. Sophisticated rethink of
freedom, equality and democracy
K Graham The Battle of Democracy. Useful systematic treatment
of democratic theories and their relation to the real world
* P Green Retrieving Democracy ' What Schumpeter did for liberal
democracy Green has done for radical democracy'
R L Hanson 'Democracy' in T Ball, J Farr and R L Hanson (eds),
Political Innovation and Conceptual Change
P Hirst & Reinventing Democracy
S Kilnani
* D Held (ed) The Prospects for Democracy, North, South, East, West.
Another very useful recent collection of articles. Many
of the articles are also to be found in a special issue of
Political Studies in 1992 (edited by D. Held), 'Prospects
for Democracy'
* D Held & New Forms of Democracy. Explores the idea
C Pollitt (eds) of extending democracy to new domains
* B Holden The Nature of Democracy More detailed in some
respects than the later Understanding Liberal Democracy, but has a somewhat narrower focus
G Kateb (ed) Modern Democracy
S Lakoff Democracy: History, Theory, Practice
A D Lindsay The Essentials of Democracy {Classic 'Neo-
{Idealist' analyses
The Modern Democratic State {of democracy
W Lippmann The Public Philosophy. Influential critique of
aspects of traditional democratic theory
J Lively Democracy. Useful analysis focusing mainly on
aspects of modern theorizing about democracy
Jane J Mansbridge Beyond Adversary Democracy. Empirical study of a
New England town meeting which seeks to
demonstrate the centrality of consensus rather
than conflict in democracy
H B Mayo An Introduction to Democratic Theory. Useful
and fairly comprehensive rather than inspiring.
* R C McKeon (ed) Democracy in a World of Tensions. Impressive
array of articles by experts in response to an
UNESCO questionnaire on democracy
D Miller 'Democracy and social Justice' in British Journal
of Political Science, January 1978
G Parry & Democracy and Democratization. Deals with the
M Moran (eds) question of what democratization means and how it
affects our understanding of democracy
J H Partridge Consent and Consensus. Lucid and helpful analysis
of these important ideas
* J R Pennock Democratic Political Theory. Thorough analysis
J R Pennock & Liberal Democracy (Nomos, Vol XXV)
J W Chapman (eds) Collection of articles
D Pickles Democracy. Rather uninspiring, but quite useful, and
fairly comprehensive
R D Putnam Making Democracy Work. Specifically about Italy but
has general relevance; has been called a great work, worthy
to rank alongside de Tocqueville, Pareto and Weber
M Sandel Democracy's Discontent
* G Sartori The Theory of Democracy Revisited, 2 volumes.
Thorough, if idiosyncratic, coverage of most major
issues. A major updating of his Democratic Theory.
R N Stromberg Democracy: A Short Analytical History
W J Stankiewicz Approaches to Democracy. Discussion of democracy
organised around the theme of relativism and democratic theory.
R N Stromberg Democracy: A Short Analytical History
J M Tarrant Democracy and Education. Includes an 'entirely novel
analysis' which analyses liberal democracy into 'moral
democracy' and 'market democracy'
A Ware The Logic of Party Democracy. Modern analysis
using 'rational choice theory'. Also includes general
analysis of democratic theory, participation, etc.
* A Weale Democracy
N Wintrop (ed) Liberal Democratic Theory and its Critics.
Useful, detailed survey.
R Wollheim 'Democracy' in The Journal of the History of
Ideas, Vol XIX, reprinted in A de Crespigny &
J Cronin (eds) Ideologies of Politics
R Wollheim 'On the Theory of Democracy' in B Williams and
A Montefiore (eds) British Analytical Philosophy
Both are good general discussions of democracy,
the first being more 'basic' than the second.
*D Zolo Democracy and Complexity. Important book which
argues that the increasing complexity of modern societies
represents a fundamental challenge to the basic assumptions
of the western democratic tradition.
Topic 1
F Bealey 'Footslogging through Democracy: Reflections of an
Empiricist' in Scandanavian Political Studies, Vol 13,
No 4, 1990
J A Christopherson The Meaning of 'Democracy'
C Cohen Democracy, Part One
* W E Connolly The Terms of Political Discourse, Chapter 1
* R A Dahl Polyarchy, Chapter 1
J Hoffman State, Power and Democracy 'The most contested
concept in political theory, democracy, is freed from
liberal mystification'.
* B Holden The Nature of Democracy, Chapter 1
J J Linz & 'Toward Consolidated Democracy', Journal of
A Stephen Democracy, April 1996.
J Lively Democracy, Chapter 2
H B Mayo An Introduction to
Democratic Theory, Chapter 2
R Kimber 'On Democracy' in Scandanavian Political Studies,
Vol.12, No. 3, 1989
* R C McKeon (ed) Democracy in a World of Tensions
A Naess et al Democracy, Ideology and Objectivity
F E Oppenheim 'Democracy - Characteristics Included and
Excluded', The Monist 155 (1971) 29-50
J R Pennock Democratic Political Theory, Chapter 1
D Pickles Democracy
M Rejai Democracy, Part One
G Sartori The Theory of Democracy Revisited, Chapters 1 & 2
P C Shmitter & 'What Democracy Is ... and Is Not' in Journal of
T L Karl Democracy, Vol 2, Summer 1991
Topic 2
E Cassirer The Question of J J Rousseau
J W Chapman Rousseau - Totalitarian or Liberal?
A Cobban Rousseau and the Modern State
Contributions by Cropsey, Gilbert and Miller to E F Paul, et al (eds)
Marxism and Liberalism
* G H Dodge (ed) Jean Jacques Rousseau - Totalitarian or Liberal?
* K Graham The Battle of Democracy Chapters 8 and 9
* N Harding 'The Marxist-Leninist Detour' in J Dunn (ed)
Democracy: The Unfinished Journey
* B Holden The Nature of Democracy, Chapter 2
F J Kase People's Democracy
Lenin What is to be Done
M Levin 'Marxism and Democratic Theory' in G Duncan (ed)
Democratic Theory and Practice
M Levin Marx, Engels and Liberal Democracy
M Margolis Viable Democracy, Chapter 2 Sections 1 and 2
* R McKeon (ed) Democracy in a World of Tensions, see 'Western
versus Eastern Democracy' in the 'Index of Topics ...'
* B Parekh 'The Cultural Particularity of Liberal Democracy' in D
Held (ed), The Prospects for Democracy, North, South,
East, West (also in Political Studies special issue
'Prospects for Democracy').
J R Pennock Democratic Political Theory, Chapter III
R A Rosa 'The Soviet Theory of "People's Democracy"' in World
Politics, July 1949
* R Sakwa 'Commune Democracy and Gorbachev's Reforms' in
Political Studies, June 1989
* J L Talmon The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, especially Part I
Chapter III, Part III Chapter IV, Conclusions (as well as
the Introduction)
* J L Talmon Political Messianism Introduction, Chapter IV Section II,
Epilogue, Conclusions
P Wanyande 'Democracy and the One-party State: The African
Experience' in W O Oyugi, et al (eds), Democratic Theory
and Practice in Africa
F Arterton Teledemocracy
B Barber The Death of Communal Liberty
B Barber Strong Democracy, Chapter 10
T Cronin Direct Democracy
R A Dahl After the Revolution
R A Dahl Democracy and Its Critics,Ch 16 and pp 338-341
J K Davies Democracy in Classical Greece
J S Dryzek Discursive Democracy, Chapter 2
C Farrer The Origins of Democratic Thinking
* G C Field Political Theory, Appendix
* M I Finley Democracy Ancient and Modern
M H Hansen The Athenian Assembly
* M H Hansen The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes
R Harrison Democracy, Chapter 2
B Holden The Nature of Democracy, Chapter 2
* S Hornblower 'Creation and Development of Democratic Institutions
in Ancient Greece' in J Dunn (ed), Democracy: The
Unfinished Journey
A H M Jones Athenian Democracy
P Laslett 'The Face to Face Society' in P Laslett (ed), Philosophy,
Politics and Society, 1st series.
J Mansbridge Beyond Adversary Democracy
H B Mayo An Introduction to Democratic Theory
R C McKeon (ed) Democracy in a World of Tensions, relevant sections
A Naess et al Democracy, Ideology and Objectivity, relevant sections
J Ober Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens
J Ober The Athenian Revolution
* J Ober and Demokratia: a conversation on democracies, ancient
C Hedrick (eds) and modern
* M Ostwald From Popular Sovereignty to the Sovereignty of Law:
Law Society and Politics in Fifth Century Athens
C Pateman The Problem of Political Obligation, p 184 2nd edn.
* G Rodewald (ed) Democracy: Ideas and Realities
R Sealey The Athenian Republic: Democracy or the Rule of Law?
* R K Sinclair Democracy and Participation in Athens
S Stavely Greek and Roman Voting and Elections
B S Strauss Athens after the Peloponnesian War: Class, Faction
and Policy 403-386 BC
P Watson & The Struggle for Democracy, Chapters 1 and 10
B Barber
E M Wood Peasant, Citizen and Slave: The Foundations of
Athenian Democracy. Argues that Athenian democracy
did not depend on slaves (but see the review in
American Political Science Review September 1989)
J Wycliffe Election by Lot at Athens
Theories of representation
A H Birch Representation. Concise and useful survey
* A H Birch Representative and Responsible Government
N Bobbio The Future of Democracy, Chapter 2
V Bogdanor (ed) Representatives of the People?
C Cohen Democracy
* B Holden The Nature of Democracy. Chapter 2
J S Mill Considerations on Representative Government.
Chapters 3 - 12
* N L Schwartz The Blue Guitar Subsumes conventional delegate and
trustee concepts under a single transmission belt
theory. 'A very fine book'
Elitist democratic theory
Broadly speaking references in the first group below favour 'elitist' or 'empirical democratic theory' - or explore arguments for and against - whereas those in the second group are critical of it.
(i)
D Beetham Max Weber and the Theory of Modern Politics,
Chapter 6
* W N Chambers &Democracy Today: Problems and Prospects
R H Salisbury Excellent collection of articles on modern
(eds) nature and status of democratic theory.
* R D Coe &
C K Wilbur (eds) Capitalism and Democracy: Schumpeter Revisited
E Etzioni-Halevy The Elite Connection
* I Hampsher-Monk 'Classical and Empirical Theories of Democracy:
The Missing Historical Dimension?' in the British
Journal of Political Science April 1980
* H S Kariel Frontiers of Democratic Theory. Invaluable collection
of articles on the modern nature and status of
democratic theory.
J Lively Democracy, especially pp.76-88
F Marini 'John Locke and the Revision of Classical Democratic
Theory' in the Western Political Quarterly, March 1969.
Challenges the view that there is a crucial difference
between 'modern' and 'classical' democratic theory
*D Miller 'The Competitive Model of Democracy', in G Duncan
(ed.), Democratic Theory and Practice
G Parry Political Elites Excellent analysis of elite theories
and their relationship to democratic theory
* C Pateman 'Criticising Empirical Theorists of Democracy: A
Comment on Skinner', in Political Theory, May 1974
* J Plamenatz Democracy and Illusion. Lucid discussion - and
critique - of 'modern democratic theory'
* D Ricci Community Power and Democratic Theory. Extremely
useful survey and analysis of elitism, pluralism, etc,
and relationship to democratic theory
E E Schattschneider The Semisovereign People
* J A Schumpeter Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Contains
classic statement of elitist democratic theory.
Chapters 21 and 22.
* Q Skinner 'The Empirical Theorists of Democracy and their
Critics: A Plague on Both Their Houses', in
Political Theory, August 1973
D F Thompson John Stuart Mill and Representative Government
pp.192-201 'Mill and Modern Democratic Theory'.
D Zolo Democracy and Complexity, Chapter 4
(ii)
* P Bachrach The Theory of Democratic Elitism. Outline and
critique of elitist democratic theory
J V Femia 'Elites, Participation and the Democratic Creed' in
Political Studies, March 1979. Attacks the well known
public opinion surveys that support elitist democratic
theory
M I Finley Democracy Ancient and Modern. Interesting historical
argument challenging modern elitist democratic theory
* C B Macpherson The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy. Chapter 4
* M Margolis Viable Democracy
C Pateman Participation and Democratic Theory. (Many
participatory theorists explicitly attack elitist democratic
theory - see references under participatory democracy
in essay topic (a) in Section D below.)
* J L Walker 'A Critique of the elitist Theory of Democracy'. This
article, together with an attack on it by Dahl and a rejoinder by Walker, is in the American Political
Science Review, Vol.5, No 2, June 1966. (The articles
by Walker are reprinted in N R Luttbeg (ed) Public
Opinion and Public Policy).
J Bohman Public Deliberation: Pluralism, Complexity and Democracy
J Bohman & Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics
W Rehg (eds)
J Cohen ‘Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy’ in A Hamlin and
P Pettit (eds) The Good Polity: Normative Analysis of the State
J Dryzek Discursive Democracy
J Fishkin Democracy and Deliberation, esp. Introduction, Chs. 4 & 8
A Gutmann & Democracy and Disagreement
D Thompson
C S Nino The Constitution of Deliberative Democracy
Topic 7
F Cunningham Democratic Theory and Socialism, pp 128-31
D Held Prospects for Democracy, Chapter 8
P Hirst & Reinventing Democracy, contribution by R Archer
S Kilnani (eds)
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, pp 164-6 (153-5)
M Kiloh 'Industrial Democracy' in D Held and C Pollitt (eds),
New Forms of Democracy
G Duncan (ed) Democracy and the Capitalist State, Chapter 14
* C Pierson 'Democracy, Markets and Capital: Are There
Necessary Economic Limits to Democracy' in D Held (ed),
The Prospects for Democracy, North, South, East, West
(also in Political Studies, special issue 'Prospects for Democracy')
D Zwerdling Workplace Democracy
Topic 8
* C Cohen Democracy
C Cohen (ed) Communism, Fascism and Democracy, Part Three.
R A Dahl Polyarchy, Chapter 2
M Festensen 'Putnam, Pragmatism and Democratic Theory' in
The Review of Politics, Vol 57, No 4, Fall 1995
M Fisk 'Justifying Democracy': Canadian Journal of
Philosophy, Vol 122, 1992
'Foundations of Democracy' in Ethics, Vol LXXI, 1955
* C Gould Rethinking Democracy, Chapter 3
J H Hallowell The Moral Foundations of Democracy
* R Harrison Democracy, Chapters 8-11
* B Holden The Nature of Democracy, Chapter 8
H B Mayo An Introduction to Democratic Theory. Chapters 9 & 10
H B Mayo How can we justify Democracy?' in the
American Political Science Review, September 1962
* P Neal 'Justice as Fairness: Political or Metaphysical?' in
Political Theory February 1990. Assessment of Rawls'
retreat from universality in grounding his theory of
justice (on which his justification of liberal democracy
is based)
* C Nino The Constitution of Deliberative Democracy. Critically
examines answers given to the question 'What
justifies democracy?'. Argues that democracy
resembles a moral conversation and is valued because
of its capacity to generate an impartial perspective
* T L Pangle The Ennobling of Democracy: the Challenge of the
Postmodern Age. Seeks to reopen the case for a
rational grounding of liberal democracy in the face of
the postmodern challenge
J R Pennock Democratic Political Theory, Chapter 4
* E A Purcell Jr The Crisis of Democratic Theory. Read at least
Chapters 1, 11 and 13, but do try and read some more
of this difficult but superb book. See also review by
Neal Riemer in Political Theory, August 1974
* J Rawls A Theory of Justice. Chapter IX
R Rorty 'The Priority of Democracy to Philosophy' in
R Rorty, Objectivism, Relativism and Truth
I Schapiro & Democracy’s Value
C Hacker-Cordon (eds)
G Sartori The Theory of Democracy Revisited, Chapter 8
* M Saward Postmodernists, Pragmatists and the Justification of
Democracy' in Economy and Society, Vol 23, No 2, 1994
J S Schell 'The Best Form of Government',
The Review of Politics, January 1970
* T A Spragens The Dilemma of Contemporary Political Theory
pp.95-99. Very good short discussion of 'relativism'
and the justification of democracy
* T A Spragens Reason and Democracy. Very important book
offering a justification of democracy and containing an
excellent survey and analysis of the issues involved
W J Stankiewicz Approaches to Democracy. General discussion
of the justification of democracy, organized around
the theme of relativism
T L Thorson The Logic of Democracy
D F B Tucker Marxism and Individualism. Chapter 8, section on
'Rawls and Democratic Theory'
* K Welton ‘Richard Rorty: Postmodernism and a Pragmatic Defence
of Democracy’ in A Carter and G Stokes, Liberal Democracy
and its Critics
F Fukuyama 'The End of History?' in The National Interest, Vol 16,
Summer 1989 (photocopy in Departmental Library)
D Held 'Liberalism, Marxism and Democracy' in Theory and
Society, Vol 22, 1989
A Callincos The Revenge of History: Marxism and the East
European Revolutions
A Callincos 'Liberalism, Marxism and Democracy: A Response to
David Held' in Theory and Society, Vol 22, 1993
D Held 'Anything but a Dog's Life?: Further Comments on
Fukuyuma, Callincos and Giddens' in Theory and
Society, Vol 22, 1993
K Jowitt 'The New World Disorder' in Journal of Democracy,
Vol 2, Winter 1991
I Adams 'Can History be Finished? in Politics Vol 11, No 2
(October 1991)
G Elliott 'The Cards of Confusion: Reflections on Historical
Communism and the "End of History"' in Radical
Philosophy, No 64 Summer 1993
T Burns After History? Francis Fukuyuma and His Critics
Also, various reviews of, and articles about, Fukuyuma's ideas in
file in Departmental Library
C Ake Democracy and Development in Africa
P Cammack Capitalism and Democracy in the Third World:
A Critique of the Doctrine of Development
I Clark & The Moral Collapse of Communism
A Wildavsky
* L Diamond & The Global Resurgence of Democracy
M F Plattner (eds)
R Fatton, Jnr 'Liberal Democracy in Africa' in Political Science
Quarterly Fall 1990
M Frankland The Patriots' Revolution
F Fukuyama 'Confucianism and Democracy', Journal of
Democracy, April 1995
T Garton-Ash We the People: The Revolution of 89
M Glenny The Rebirth of History: Eastern Europe in the Age of
Democracy
M Goldman 'Tiananman and Beyond: China's Great Leap
Backward' in Journal of Democracy, Winter 1990
* J D Green 'USAID's Democratic Pluralism Initiative: Pragmatism
or Altruism' in Ethics and International Affairs, Vol 5,
1991, pp 215-31. Assessment of whether liberal
democracy is triumphing in the world
* Journal of Democracy, January 1995. Series of articles on 'Democracy's
Future'
Journal of Democracy, April 1997. Articles on Hong Kong, Singapore and Asian
values
K Jowitt New World Disorder: The Leninist Extinction
A J Nathan 'Is China Ready for Democracy? in Journal of
Democracy, Spring 1990
G di Palma 'After Leninism: Why Democracy can Work in Eastern
Europe' in Journal of Democracy, Winter 1991.
* M Plattner 'The Democratic Moment' in Journal of Democracy,
Fall 1991
* M Plattner 'Exploring the End of History' in Journal of Democracy,
April 1992
J Simpson The Darkness Crumbles
C Ake 'Rethinking African Democracy' in Journal of
Democracy, Winter 1991
C Ake Democracy and Development in Africa
K A Busia Africa in Search of Democracy
R A Dahl Polyarchy
L Diamond, J Linz
& S M Lipset Democracy in Developing Countries (4 volumes)
L Diamond, J Linz
& S M Lipset Politics in Developing Countries: Comparing Experiences
with Democracy
R Fatton 'Liberal Democracy in Africa' in Political Science
Quarterly Fall 1990
D Held Models of Democracy, Chapters 1 & 4 1st edn,
1, 2 & 4, 2nd edn
D Held (ed) Prospects for Democracy, Chapter 6
R Joseph 'Africa: The Rebirth of Political Freedom' in Journal of
Democracy, Fall 1991
A Leftwich (ed) Democracy and Development
M Margolis Viable Democracy, Chapter 7
I McClean 'Mechanisms for Democracy' in D Held and C Pollitt
(eds) New Forms of Democracy
R E Neibuhr & The Democratic Experience. Analysis of the
P E Sigmund conditions and prospects for democracy in the
West and in the Third World. Dated but still worth
looking at
J Nettl Political Mobilization. Contains, inter alia,
sophisticated defence of the idea that 'liberal
democracy' is not suitable for developing countries
P Nursey-Bray 'Consensus and Community: The Theory of African
One-Party Democracy' in G Duncan (ed), Democratic
Theory and Practice
M Olson 'Dictatorship, Democracy and Development' in
American Political Science Review September 1993
W Oyugi, et al (eds) Democratic Theory and Practice in Africa
* B Parekh The Cultural Particularity of Liberal Democracy' in
D Held The Prospects for Democracy
* R Pinkney Democracy in the Third World
S Riley 'Africa's New Wind of Change' in The World Today, July
1992
D A Rustow 'Democracy: A Global Revolution? in Foreign Affairs,
Vol 69., Fall 1990
G Sartori The Theory of Democracy Revisited, Chapter 10
P J Schraeder 'Understanding the "Third Wave" of Democratization
in Africa' in The Journal of Politics, Vol 57, No 4,
November 1995
A H Somjee Democratic Process in a Developing Society.
Discusses the Indian challenge to Western
democratic theory
F M Frohock & 'Liberty, Economics and Evidence' in Political
D J Sylvan Studies, December 1983. (But see M M Goldsmith
'Liberty and Economics: A Reconsideration' in Political
Studies, December 1984)
* R Thakur 'Liberalism, Democracy, and Development:
Philosophical Dilemmas in Third World Politics',
in Political Studies, September 1982
* C Young 'Africa: An Interim Balance Sheet' in Journal of
Democracy, Vol 7, No 3, July 1996
Topic 10
D Archibugi Re-imagining Political Community
D Held &
M Kohler
R Axtmann Liberal Democracy into the Twenty-first century
J Burnheim 'Democracy, Nation States and the World System' in
D Held and C Pollit (eds) New Forms of Democracy
G Delanty Citizenship in a Global Age, esp. Introduction, Chs. 4, 6, 9 & 10
R Falk On Humane Governance: Toward a New Global Politics
A Hadenius Democracy's Victory and Crisis, Part 5
D Held 'From City States to a Cosmopolitan Order?' in D Held
(ed) Prospects for Democracy
D Held Democracy and the New International Order
* D Held Democracy and the Global Order
B Holden ‘Democratic Theory and the Problem of Global Warming’
in B Holden, The Ethical Dimensions of Global Change
P Hirst and Globalisation in Question, Chapter 8
G Thompson
M Saward The Terms of Democracy: Chapter 7
Remember that your best Democracy essay counts as 25% of the total mark you receive for the democracy unit - the other 75% consists of the marks for your examination. If you are unhappy with your essay mark you may re-submit it to the course convenor for marking by another member of the department. Bear in mind that the mark could go down as well as up. The decision of the second marker is final.
Penalties
(i) Plagiarism
An essay which has been plagiarised - that is, substantially copied from other books, articles or another person's essays, will receive a zero mark. Plagiarism also includes failing to make clear that an idea is someone else's. Plagiarism is treated as academic misconduct and proven cases will be referred to the Dean, who may refer the matter further to the Deputy Vice Chancellor as a disciplinary matter. This may lead to failing the unit or even expulsion from the University.
You also must not use work that you have submitted for other units or courses, either at Reading or elsewhere.
(ii) Late Submission
Essays must be submitted by the deadlines indicated on the first page. Late essays will be marked 0, which can have serious consequences for your Final degree classification. Extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, such as serious illness or the death of a close relative. In such cases you should apply to your tutor, supplying where possible evidence to back up your request - such as a doctor's letter.
PLEASE NOTE:
You should make a copy of all your essays before submitting them for marking in case of loss. If you are a borderline candidate, you may also be required to re-submit your essays for re-marking by the external examiner when considering your Final degree classification in the summer of your third year. It is your responsibility to be able to make these essays available for this purpose.
(1) Is 'protective' democracy inferior to 'developmental' and 'participatory'
democracy?
K Graham The Battle of Democracy, Chapter 8
D Held Models of Democracy, Chapters 2, 3 and 8
W A Kelso American Democratic Theory, Chapter 8
C B Macpherson The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy,
Chapters 2, 3 and 4.
'Protective' Democracy
J Lively and Utilitarian Logic and Politics. Read at least the
J Rees (eds) Introduction, especially section 3
There is also available in the Library (2 copies) an edition of James Mill's
Essay on Government edited by Currin V Shield - this also has a useful Introduction.
J H Burns 'Utilitarianism and Democracy' in the
Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 9
E Halevy The Growth of Philosophical Radicalism
B Holden The Nature of Democracy, Chapter 3
M James 'Public Interest and Majority Rule in Bentham's
Democratic Theory' in Political Theory, February 1981
(also note the Errata p.325 Political Theory
August 1981)
B Parekh Bentham's Political Thought
J Plamenatz The English Utilitarians
* J Plamenatz Democracy and Illusion, Chapter I
F Rosen 'Jeremy Bentham: Recent Interpretations' in
Political Studies, December 1982
F Rosen Jeremy Bentham and Representative Democracy
J Steintrager Bentham
'Protective' and 'Developmental' Democracy Contrasted
* A Ryan 'Two Views of Democracy: James and John Stuart
Mill'. Copy in Departmental Library
R Harrison Democracy, Chapter 6
'Developmental' Democracy
John Stuart Mill Considerations on Representative Government
D F Thomson John Stuart Mill and Representative Government
'Developmental' and 'Participatory' Democracy
* B Barber Strong Democracy
S H Barnes et al Political Action: Mass Participation in Five
Western Democracies
T E Cook & Participatory Democracy
P M Morgan (eds) Comprehensive collection of readings
* R A Dahl After the Revolution. Superb, concise analysis of
problems that have helped to provoke new radical
democratic theory
G Duncan 'Comments on some Radical Critiques of Liberal-
Democratic Theory' in P Birnbaum et al
Democracy, Consensus and Social Contract
M Gittell Limits to Citizen Participation
* C Gould Rethinking Democracy, esp. Chapter 9
J Grimmond, Articles on 'Community politics' in
G Parry & Government and Opposition, Vol 7, No 2,
A Barker (Spring 1972)
* B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, Chapter 3, Sections
1 and 2
B Holden The Nature of Democracy, Chapter 9
J Hoffman State, Power and Democracy
A S Kaufman 'Human Nature and Participatory Democracy' in
W G Connolly (ed) The Bias of Pluralism
D C Kramer Participatory Democracy
J G Merquiar Rousseau and Weber: Two Studies in the Theory of
Legitimacy. Contends, inter alia,that The Social
Contract is best read as arguing that legitimacy can
only be secured in modern society by participatory
democracy
K A Megill The New Democratic Theory. Somewhat doctrinaire
statement of 'new radical' democratic theory
* J R Lucas Democracy and Participation (Pelican)
N H Nie & 'Political Participation' in F Greenstein & N Polsby
S Verba (eds) Handbook of Political Science, Volume 4
Carole Pateman Participation and Democratic Theory
* Carole Pateman The Problem of Political Obligation. Profound and
very important book. See the review of Pateman by
Dagger in Political Theory August 1980. (N.B. the
second edition of Pateman's book was published 1985)
* G Parry Participation in Politics
* J R Pennock & Participation in Politics
J W Chapman
Both the above are very useful collections of articles
R J Pranger The Eclipse of Citizenship: Power and
Participation in Contemporary Politics
D Ricci Community Power and Democratic Theory,
especially Chapters 9 - 12
S Verba & N H Nie Participation in America
J D Wolfe 'A Defense of Participatory Democracy' in
The Review of Politics, July 1985
R P Wolf In Defense of Anarchism {contain articulate
{radical defences of
R P Wolf The Poverty of Liberalism {participatory
{democracy
(2) The marginalisation of women and minority groups within liberal democracies requires us to rethink the concept of representation. Discuss.
Feminism
J Brenner & 'Rethinking Women's Oppression', New Left Review,
M Ramas No. 144, 1984 - a critical review of Barrett
T Brennan & 'Mere Auxiliaries to the Commonwealth: Women and
C Pateman the Origins of Liberalism', Political Studies 1979, also
in C Pateman The Disorder of Women
A Carter & Liberal Democracy and its Critics, Chapters 9 & 10
G Strokes (eds)
A Carter The Politics of Women's Rights
H Elsenstein Contemporary Feminist Thought
D Held Models of Democracy, pp 79-85
S Mendus 'Losing the Faith', in J. Dunn, Democracy
J S Mill The Subjection of Women
C Pateman Disorder of Women
C Pateman 'Feminism and Democracy', in G Duncan, Democratic
Theory and Practice, also in C Pateman, Disorder of
Women
C Pateman 'Women, Nature and the Suffrage', Ethics, 1980.
C Pateman 'Women and Consent', Political Theory, 1980
A Phillips 'Must Feminists give up on Liberal Democracy?'
(Special issue of Political Studies: Prospects for
Democracy, 1992, pp. 68-82)
A Phillips 'Dealing with Difference: A Politicis of Ideas or a
Politics of Presence?' in S. Benhabib (ed), Democracy
and Difference, Ch. 7
A Phillips Democracy and Difference, Chapters 4 & 6
A Phillips Engendering Democray
A Phillips The Politics of Presence, Chapter 1
V Randall Women and Politics
S Rowbotham Women, Resistance and Revolution
S Rowbotham 'Feminism and Democracy', in Held and Pollitt,
New Forms of Democracy
M Wollstonecraft Vindication of the Rights of Woman
M Zalewski 'Feminism, Women and Democracy', Talking Politics,
1989
(3) Does associationalism offer a genuinely pluralist model of democracy? Is it a viable third way between state socialism and market liberalism?
P Hirst 'Associative Democracy', Dissent (1994), pp 241-7
J Cohen & 'Associations and Democracy', Social Philosophy
J Rogersand Policy, 10, 2 (1993), pp. 282-312
J Cohen & Associations and Democracy, esp. Chs. 2, 4, 11 & 13
J Rogers (eds)
P Hirst Associative Democracy
P Hirst ‘Associational Democracy’ in D Held (ed) Prospects for
Democracy
S Benhabib (ed) Democracy and Difference, Chs. 5 and 9
S Benhabib Democracy and Difference, Ch. 5
J Cohen & 'Secondary Associations and Democratic Governance'
J Rogers in Politics and Society, Vol 20, No 4, 1992
J Cohen & Associations and Democracy
J Rogers
R A Dahl A Preface to Democratic Theory, Chapters 2, 3 and 4
P Hirst Representative Democracy and its Limits
P Hirst From Statism to Pluralism
P Hirst 'Associational Democracy' in D Held (ed) Prospects for
Democracy
P Hirst Associative Democracy, Chs. 2,3,6 & 7.
J Matthews The Age of Democracy
(4) Are democracy and capitalism compatible?
F Bealey 'Capitalism and Democracy' in European Journal of
Political Research, 23, 1993.
E Berg 'The Proof of Capitalism: Usher's Celebration of the
Status Quo' in Political Studies, March 1986
R Benjamin &
S L Elkin The Democratic State, especially Chapters 1, 2 and 5
R D Coe & Capitalism and Democracy: Schumpeter Revisited,
C K Wilbur (eds) Introduction
R A Dahl A Preface to Economic Democracy, especially
Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5
* J Dryzek Democracy in Capitalist Times
* J Femia Marxism and Democracy, Chapter 1
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, Chapter 3, Section 4
* Journal of Democracy July 1992 includes a special symposium on
capitalism, socialism and democracy
M Levin 'Marxism and Democratic Theory and Practice' in G
Duncan (ed) Democratic Theory and Practice
M Levin Marx, Engels and Liberal Democracy
M Lessnoff 'Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy' in Political
Studies December, 1979
C Pierson 'Democracy Markets and Capital: Are there Necessary
Economic Limits to Democracy' in D Held (ed), The
Prospects for Democracy North, South, East, West, (also
in Political Studies, special issue 'Prospects for
Democracy')
D Smith Capitalist Democracy on Trial
Ellen Meiksins Democracy Against Capitalism
Wood
Additional references
* R Alford &
R Friedland Powers of Theory: Capitalism, the State and Democracy
S Bowles &
H Gintis Democracy and Capitalism
A Cawson 'Capitalism and Liberal Democracy' in a Cawson,
Corporatism and Welfare
C Crouch 'The State, Capital and Liberal Democracy' in
D Held, et al (eds) States and Societies
* F Cunningham Democratic Theory and Socialism esp. pp. 156 ff
L Diamond & Economic Reform and Democracy
M Plattner (eds)
* G Duncan (ed) Democracy and the Capitalist State
* M Duverger Modern Democracies: Economic Power versus
Political Power
* M Friedman Capitalism and Freedom
A Gamble, 'The Limits of Democracy' in Reinventing Democracy
P Hirst &
S Khilnani
R L Heilbroner The Nature and Logic of Capitalism
H Herman Corporate Control, Corporate Power
A Hunt (ed) Marxism and Democracy
B Jessop The Capitalist State
B Jessop Studies in State Theory
M Lessnoff 'Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy', in Political
Studies, December 1979. Comment and reply in
Political Studies, December 1980
C E Lindblom 'Democracy and Economic Structure' in W N Chambers
& R H Salisbury (eds) Democracy Today
G Littlejohn
et al (eds) Power and the State
C B Macpherson The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy
* R Miliband The State in Capitalist Society
R Miliband Capitalist Democracy in Britain
* M Novak The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism
A Patience (ed) Democracy and the Capitalist State
* Reviews of The State in Capitalist Society, eg in the American Political
Science Review 1970 and the Political Quarterly October-December 1969
N Poulantzas Political Power and Social Classes
J Redwood Popular Capitalism
A Seldon Capitalism
G Therborn 'The Rule of Capital and the Rise of Democracy', in
New Left Review, May/June 1977
B S Turner Citizenship and Capitalism
J Urry 'Capitalism and Representative Democracy' in
J Urry The Anatomy of Capitalism
D Usher The Economic Prerequisites of Democracy
A Wolfe The Seamy Side of Democracy
A Wolfe The Limits of Legitimacy: Political Contradictions
of Contemporary Capitalism
(5) Do bills of rights and written constitutions promote or illegitimately constrain democracy?
R Dworkin A Bill of Rights for Britain
J Waldron 'A Right-based Critique of Constitutional Rights' in
Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol 13, 1993,
pp 18-51
C Adjei 'Human Rights Theory and the Bill of Rights Debate' in
The Modern Law Review, Vol 58, 1995, pp 17-36
R Bellamy 'The Constitution of Europe: Rights on Democracy?'
in R Bellamy et al (eds), Democracy and Constitutional
Culture in the Union of Europe
R Bellamy (ed) Constitutionalism, Democracy and Sovereignty,
Section 2, esp. contribution by J Arthur
R Bellamy and 'Constitutionalism and Democracy', British Journal of
D CastiglionePolitical Science, 27 (1997), pp. 595-618.
A Lester Democracy and Individual Rights, Fabian Tract No 390,
1968
Additional References
R Bellamy & Constitutionalism in Transformation (special issue of
D Castiglione (eds) Political Studies, Vol 44, No 3, 1996) articles by
R Bellamy and T Prosser
R Bellamy ' "Dethroning Politics"; Liberalism, Constitutionalism
and Democracy in the Thought of F A Hayek' in British
Journal of Political Science, Vol 24, 1990
N Bobbio Liberalism and Democracy
N Bobbio The Future of Democracy, pp. 25-26, Chapter 5
S Brittan The Role and Limits of Government, Chapter 3
S Brittan The Economic Consequences of Democracy, Chapter 23
B Crick 'A Defence of Politics against Democracy' in B Crick,
In Defence of Politics
R A Dahl Democracy and Its Critics, Chapters 12 & 13
* J Elster & Constitutionalism and Democracy, Chapter 7
R Slagstad (eds)
A P d'Entreves The Notion of the State, part III, Chapters 6 & 7
J Gray Hayek on Liberty esp. Chapter 3
F A Hayek The Political Order of a Free People (Vol 3 of Law,
Legislation and Liberty), esp. Chapters 16-18.
F A Hayek The Political Order of a Free People (Vol 3 of Law,
Legislation and Liberty), Chapters 16-18
D Held Models of Democracy, Chapter 8, 1st edn.; Chapter 7,
2nd edn.
B Holden The Nature of Democracy, Appendix to Chapter 2
B Holden Understanding Liberal Democracy, Chapter 1
J Hyland Democratic Theory, Chapter 5
J S Mill On Liberty, Introductory
G Sartori The Theory of Democracy Revisited, Chapters 12 & 13
POL6/DEM2001(BBH)