Customer Reviews

The Life and Death of Democracy

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This book is an interesting, illuminating and entertaining look at democracy. It's also a sizeable read: at just under 1000 pages. John Keane's purpose in writing this book was to examine and appraise democracy, to look at its origins, its history, its purpose and practice.

John Keane traces the roots of democracy to the Myceneans of the Bronze Age, about a thousand years before it appeared in 5th century BCE Athens. He argues that it first arose in the East (Iran, Iraq and Syria) but it was in Athens that a recognisably democratic polis was shaped. In this form of assembly democracy, the communal gathering place (the agora) was critical. It was where, over two centuries, self-government was practised until ended by repeated Macedonian invasions.

After assembly democracy, a form of representative democracy began to emerge in Europe during the tenth century CE.
`The first parliament was born of despair. In March 1188 - Alfonso IX convened the first cortes in Léon.'

By the 16th century, many people were still indifferent to the idea of democracy, and even by the 18th century, support for the notion of representative democracy was not widespread. Early European parliaments were often exploited by monarchs, or (in cities like Florence and Venice) dominated by oligarchs and plutocrats. The execution of Charles I in England in the early 17th century changed the political horizon immeasurably. Keane notes that the American revolutionaries warned against an `excess of democracy' and it was James Madison's talk of `refining the popular appointments by successive filtrations' that pushed the Founding Fathers to accept a lower house based on popular election.

There's discussion of what Keane calls the `American Century', including some interesting insights into the forging of the Constitution as a defence `against the perceived vices of democracy'. There is discussion as well of various democratic experiments in South America, as well as of the Indian democratic experience. Keane calls the India `democracy's most compound, turbulent and interesting prototype.'

Keane argues that a new form of democracy is developing. He calls this `monitory democracy'.
`Monitory democracy is a new historical form of democracy, a variety of `post-parliamentary' politics defined by the rapid growth of many different kinds of extra- parliamentary, power-scrutinising mechanisms.' These differently sized monitory bodies include all sorts of associations, tribunals and non-government organisations (NGOs).

The book concludes with John Keane as an `imaginary historian writing 50 years from now', offering a perspective on what democracy then might look like, and an evaluation of some of current trends in democracy.

There's a wealth of fact in this book, well as some interesting speculation about the future of democracy. I can easily believe that it took John Keane over a decade to research and write. It's a great history, and I know I'll be referring to it again in future.

`Democracy is never more alive than when it senses its incompleteness. It thrives on imperfection.'

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Is our democracy robust or dying? What conditions have caused democracy to develop,to thrive,to die or be killed? Few books have dealt wth these questions recently.The author seems to be performing this critical task in an extended and well researched work. This is a must read book for those who care deeply about how our country is governed.