Strong Democracy

by Barber, Benjamin

• ISBN13: 9780520242333
• ISBN10: 0520242335
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Since its appearance twenty years ago, Benjamin R. Barber'sStrong Democracyhas been one of the primary standards against which political science thinking and writing is measured. Defined as the participation of all of the people in at least some aspects of self-government at least some of the time,Strong Democracyoffers liberal society a new way of thinking about and of practicing democracy. Contrary to the commonly held view that an excess of democracy can undo liberal institutions, Barber argues that an excess of liberalism has undermined our democratic institutions and brought about the set of crises we still find ourselves struggling against: cynicism about voting, alienation, privatization, and the growing paralysis of public institutions. In a new preface Barber looks at the past twenty years and restates his argument, which seems, sadly, more pressing than ever.

Author Biography

Benjamin R. Barber is Kekst Professor of Civil Society at the University of Maryland and Director of the New York office of The Democracy Collaborative.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Twentieth Anniversary Edition	ix
Acknowledgments	xxi
Preface to the 1990 Edition	xxiii
Preface to the 1984 Edition	xxxi
Part I. Thin Democracy: The Argument against Liberalism
1. Thin Democracy: Politics as Zookeeping	3	(23)
2. The Preconceptual Frame: Newtonian Politics	26	(20)
3. The Epistemological Frame: Cartesian Politics	46	(21)
4. The Psychological Frame: Apolitical Man	67	(26)
5. Thin Democracy in the Twentieth Century: The Potential for Pathology	93	(24)
Part II. Strong Democracy: The Argument for Citizenship
6. Strong Democracy: Politics as a Way of Living	117	(22)
7. A Conceptual Frame: Politics in the Participatory Mode	139	(24)
8. Citizenship and Participation: Politics as Epistemology	163	(50)
9. Citizenship and Community: Politics as Social Being	213	(48)
10. The Real Present: Institutionalizing Strong Democracy in the Modern World	261	(52)
Index	313