Ancient and Modern Democracy
Ancient and Modern Democracy
£109.00
GBPAncient and Modern Democracy is a comprehensive account of Athenian democracy as a subject of criticism, admiration and scholarly debate for 2,500 years, covering the features of Athenian democracy, its importance for the English, American and French revolutions and for the debates on democracy and political liberty from the nineteenth century to the present. Discussions were always in the context of contemporary constitutional problems. Time and again they made a connection with a long-established tradition, involving both dialogue with ancient sources and with earlier phases of the reception of Antiquity. They refer either to a common cultural legacy or to specific national traditions; they often involve a mixture of political and scholarly arguments. This book elucidates the complexity of considering and constructing systems of popular self-rule.
- Offers an analysis of the continuity and changes in a debate that has stretched over 2,500 years
- Shows an interconnection between political theory and historical scholarship in the subject of Athenian democracy
- By establishing political ideas in their contemporary institutional context, the book connects with a modern audience
Product details
January 2016Hardback
9781107020726
398 pages
236 × 160 × 30 mm
0.74kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. The history and structure of Athenian democracy
- 2. The reception of ancient constitutional theory
- 3. Ancient democracy and social backwardness
- 4. The American founding fathers and their emancipation from the ancient model
- 5. The French Revolution and antiquity
- 6. Terror and the 'cult of antiquity' in post-revolutionary discourse
- 7. 'Ancient and modern liberty' - from Benjamin Constant to Max Weber
- 8. German nineteenth-century ambivalence regarding Athenian democracy
- 9. The 'rehabilitation' of Athenian democracy
- 10. Models of democracy and constitutional policy in the nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries
- 11. Democracy, fuhrer and Volksgemeinschaft
- 12. Between totalitarianism and the constitutional state
- 13. Conclusion: is Athens still a standard?
