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Forms of Government: Democracy

A topic guide with resources on the major forms of government and political thought.

Democracy

Democracy is defined as "a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting", "a country ruled by democracy", or "an organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights" (Merriam-Webster). 

The United States of America constitutional republic. Our American Government states that "The United States, under its Constitution, is a federal, representative, democratic republic, an indivisible union of 50 sovereign States."

Research & Reference

The Best And Worst Countries For Democracy

Infographic: The Best And Worst Countries For Democracy | Statista You will find more infographics at Statista

Pillars of Democracy: The U.S. Congress

 

The Library's John W. Kluge Center, with the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute, hosts the Pillars of Democracy series to explore how institutions should work in functioning society, and grapple with the question of how their decline can be counteracted. These panel discussions will draw on the expertise of historians, political scientists, authors, and others from across the ideological spectrum, to show the full extent of the challenges facing American institutions, and their potential promise.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGupI2lswMc

What Is Democracy?

Coming at a moment of profound political and social crisis, WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? reflects on a word we too often take for granted.

Source: Kanopy

Perspectives

Democracy: a Very Short Introduction

No political concept is more used, and misused, than that of democracy. Nearly every regime today claims to be democratic, but not all 'democracies' allow free politics, and free politics existed long before democratic franchises.This book is a short account of the history of the doctrine and practice of democracy, from ancient Greece and Rome through the American, French, and Russian revolutions, and of the usages and practices associated with it in the modern world. It argues that democracy is a necessary but not asufficient condition for good government, and that ideas of the rule of law, and of human rights, should in some situations limit democratic claims.

The Rise of American Democracy

In this magisterial work, Sean Wilentz traces a historical arc from the earliest days of the republic to the opening shots of the Civil War. One of our finest writers of history, Wilentz brings to life the era after the American Revolution, when the idea of democracy remained contentious, and Jeffersonians and Federalists clashed over the role of ordinary citizens in government of, by, and for the people. The triumph of Andrew Jackson soon defined this role on the national level, while city democrats, Anti-Masons, fugitive slaves, and a host of others hewed their own local definitions. In these definitions Wilentz recovers the beginnings of a discontenttwo starkly opposed democracies, one in the North and another in the Southand the wary balance that lasted until the election of Abraham Lincoln sparked its bloody resolution. 75 illustrations.

Democracy Matters

In his major bestseller, Race Matters, philosopher Cornel West burst onto the national scene with his searing analysis of the scars of racism in American democracy. Race Matters has become a contemporary classic, still in print after ten years, having sold more than four hundred thousand copies. A mesmerizing speaker with a host of fervidly devoted fans, West gives as many as one hundred public lectures a year and appears regularly on radio and television. Praised by The New York Times for his "ferocious moral vision" and hailed by Newsweek as "an elegant prophet with attitude," he bridges the gap between black and white opinion about the country's problems. 

The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy

Judge Posner continues to react to the current economic crisis and reflect upon the impact on our views and reliance on capitalism. Posner helps non-technical readers understand business-cycle and financial economics, and financial and governmental institutions, practices, and transactions, while maintaining a neutrality impossible for persons professionally committed to one theory or another.

Torchbearers of Democracy

For the 380,000 African American soldiers who fought in World War I, Woodrow Wilson's charge to make the world "safe for democracy" carried life-or-death meaning. Chad L. Williams reveals the central role of African American soldiers in the global conflict and how they, along with race activists and ordinary citizens, committed to fighting for democracy at home and beyond. Using a diverse range of sources, Torchbearers of Democracy reclaims the legacy of African American soldiers and veterans and connects their history to issues such as the obligations of citizenship, combat and labor, diaspora and internationalism, homecoming and racial violence, "New Negro" militancy, and African American memories of the war.

Securing Democracy

Introduction / Mitch McConnell -- The origins and meaning of the electoral college / Gary L. Gregg II -- The development and democratization of the electoral college / Andrew E. Busch -- Federalism, the states and the electoral college / James R. Stoner Jr. -- Moderating the political impulse / Paul A. Rahe -- The electoral college and the future of the American political parties / Michael Barone -- The electoral college and the uniqueness of America / Daniel Patrick Moynihan -- Creating constitutional majorities : the electoral college after 2000 / Michael M. Uhlmann -- Outputs : the electoral college produces presidents / Walter Berns.

Enlightened Democracy

Pick up a newspaper and read about the Electoral College. It is a sure recipe for losing respect for the institution. Media commentators are swift to dismiss the institution as outdated and elitist, an anachronism that should be replaced by a direct popular vote. In recent years, this discontent has found a voice as a well-funded, California-based effort seeks to bypass the constitutional amendment process and effectively eliminate the Electoral College through a series of state laws. Such efforts to eliminate the Electoral College are misguided, and this book shows why. Written in straightforward language, Enlightened Democracy traces the history of the Electoral College from the Constitutional Convention to the present. This second edition of the book is revised and expanded to include a new section about the National Popular Vote legislative effort. The Electoral College protects our republic and promotes our liberty. Americans should defend their unique presidential election system at all costs.

The Value of Nothing

"A deeply though-provoking book about the dramatic changes we must make to save the planet from financial madness."--Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine Opening with Oscar Wilde's observation that "nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing," Patel shows how our faith in prices as a way of valuing the world is misplaced. He reveals the hidden ecological and social costs of a hamburger (as much as $200), and asks how we came to have markets in the first place. Both the corporate capture of government and our current financial crisis, Patel argues, are a result of our democratically bankrupt political system. If part one asks how we can rebalance society and limit markets, part two answers by showing how social organizations, in America and around the globe, are finding new ways to describe the world's worth. If we don't want the market to price every aspect of our lives, we need to learn how such organizations have discovered democratic ways in which people, and not simply governments, can play a crucial role in deciding how we might share our world and its resources in common. This short, timely and inspiring book reveals that our current crisis is not simply the result of too much of the wrong kind of economics. While we need to rethink our economic model, Patel argues that the larger failure beneath the food, climate and economic crises is a political one. If economics is about choices, Patel writes, it isn't often said who gets to make them. The Value of Nothing offers a fresh and accessible way to think about economics and the choices we will all need to make in order to create a sustainable economy and society.

Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism?

One of our leading social critics recounts capitalism's finest hour, and shows us how we might achieve it once again. In the past few decades, the wages of most workers have stagnated, even as productivity increased. Social supports have been cut, while corporations have achieved record profits. Downward mobility has produced political backlash. What is going on? Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? argues that neither trade nor immigration nor technological change is responsible for the harm to workers' prospects. According to Robert Kuttner, global capitalism is to blame. By limiting workers' rights, liberating bankers, allowing corporations to evade taxation, and preventing nations from assuring economic security, raw capitalism strikes at the very foundation of a healthy democracy. The resurgence of predatory capitalism was not inevitable. After the Great Depression, the U.S. government harnessed capitalism to democracy. Under Roosevelt's New Deal, labor unions were legalized, and capital regulated. Well into the 1950s and '60s, the Western world combined a thriving economy with a secure and growing middle class. Beginning in the 1970s, as deregulated capitalism regained the upper hand, elites began to dominate politics once again; policy reversals followed. The inequality and instability that ensued would eventually, in 2016, cause disillusioned voters to support far-right faux populism. Is today's poisonous alliance of reckless finance and ultranationalism inevitable? Or can we find the political will to make capitalism serve democracy, and not the other way around? Charting a plan for bold action based on political precedent, Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? is essential reading for anyone eager to reverse the decline of democracy in the West.

Australia's Democracy

The full story of Australia's democracy from one of our leading historians.

Democracy in Chains

In Democracy in Chains, award-winning historian Nancy MacLean reveals a troubling prospect. Since its inception, the Radical Right has worked to change not simply who rules, but to fundamentally alter the rules of democratic governance themselves. She names the Right's true founder - the Nobel Prize-winning political economist James McGill Buchanan - and dissects the operation he and his colleagues designed to alter government at both the federal and state levels, the judiciary, and the law.

Introduction to Democracy and its Broad Variations

Democracy can be viewed as "rule by the people", but what general forms does it take? Here we describe participatory democracies, pluralist democracies, and elite democracies and think about some of their potential benefits and negatives.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbzvIrRdVY4

30 most democratic countries worldwide according to the Democracy Index in 2020

Website (in.gr). (February 1, 2021). 30 most democratic countries worldwide according to the Democracy Index in 2020 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 07, 2021, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/679796/democracy-index-most-democratic-countries/