This is a brief history of democracy in theory and practice. It argues that democracy has been seen and judged, mistakenly, as primarily a form of government. "Democracy" may have some limited usefulness as a term of description, but it must also be judged by the degree of freedom that it accords to those who consent or are forced to subscribe to it. Seldon goes on to say that an elected official is just as likely to control the lives of citizens as one who thrusts himself (or herself) upon them. He surveys the world's democracies, present and past - from the cantons of Switzerland to the village councils of Vermont, from Sweden to the Soviet Union, and from Great Britain to the United States - and finds them all, in varying degrees, wanting.
- ISBN10 0631189270
- ISBN13 9780631189275
- Publish Date 28 October 1993 (first published 18 June 1992)
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Out of Print 24 September 2004
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Imprint Blackwell Publishers
- Format Paperback
- Pages 256
- Language English