Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Readable, authoritative and eminently persuasive, August 21, 2007
What surprised me in reading this very well written treatise on democracy was the fact that democracy is now the most common form of government in the world, and that has been a fact for only the last two or three decades. Prior to say the 1970s democratic governments were not only in the minority worldwide, but were seen by many as something of an experiment. After all, until the rise of Great Britain in 18th century, there were no nation-state democracies on the planet. Britain was first and the US was the second. Professor Mandelbaum explains all this and more in a most engaging manner.
The problem has always been that democracy, far from having a "good name," was considered dangerous to liberty and private property. It was believed that if you allowed popular sovereignty, you were on the road to disaster since the majority would take resources from minorities and stifle opinions that the majority found disagreeable. But, as Mandelbaum is careful and anxious to note, if you add liberty to popular sovereignty you have the magic formula that leads to relative wealth and happiness, or at least the opportunity for same. Consequently what Mandelbaum calls democracy is really a hybrid of popular sovereignty and liberty. He shows how they go together like love and marriage.
The book begins with the origins of democracy and ends with the future of democracy. Along the way Mandelbaum makes the case for democracies being more conducive to the creation of wealth and more peaceful than other forms of government; indeed he claims that no democratic state has ever attacked another democratic state. That is eye-opening. He also argues that a prerequisite for democracy is a market economy. He argues further that a market economy, because it is based on economic liberty, tends to lead toward political freedom and democracy. However, as is presently the case in China, a free market economy may exist without political freedom, but for how long?
In the last chapter Mandelbaum looks at prospects for real democracy in Russia, China and the Arab states. He concludes that Russia is the closest to achieving it, but must overcome the habits of 70-some years of communist rule and before that the undemocratic mind set of the czarist state. He sees China as coming along more slowly because the communists are still firmly intrenched and he doesn't see them giving up power any time soon. In the Arab/Muslim Middle East the situation is more difficult. Mandelbaum notes that the autocratic states there will have to overcome not only a disinclination to follow Western ways, but the tenets of Islam itself which argue against democracy. Furthermore, petro states are very far from having either true market economies or the requisite institutions of civil society that foster popular sovereignty and liberty. As for the future of democracy in the democracies themselves, Mandelbaum sees that as rosy. Only a major catastrophe of some sort is likely to change the leading democracies in Europe, the US and Japan into something else.
I found it interesting that Mandelbaum is careful not to directly criticize Bush's misadventure in Iraq while at the same time giving very substantial reasons for the foregone conclusion that attempts to impose democracy there from without would fail. Natan Sharansky, a cabinet member in the Israeli government, has argued that a good way to fight terrorism is to turn tyrannical states into democracies. Mandelbaum agrees but notes how very difficult that is to do. He writes (pp. 171-172) that Sharansky's ideas influenced George W. Bush in his attempt to turn Iraq into the first Arab/Muslim democracy. Mandelbaum also quotes Ronald Reagan, who said "Freedom and democracy are the best guarantors of peace. History has shown that democratic nations do not start wars." (p. 137) I could not help but see this quote, placed conspicuously at the beginning of Chapter 4, as a direct stab at the policies of our current president.
But Mandelbaum is scrupulous in his avoidance of any direct criticism of the Bush administration and careful not to endorse any political platform. Indeed one of the strengths of this book is its nonpartisan tone and the fact that its political agenda does not extend beyond an enthusiastic three cheers for democracy.
For those wanting to know more about what democracy is, how it comes into being, how and why it has become "the world's most popular form of government," and what its prospects are, this book is about as good as anything I can imagine. It is authoritative, readable and masterfully argued. This is a fine piece of work by an outstanding political scientist.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Democracy's Required Reading, October 6, 2007
Dr. Mandelbaum's highly readable and stunningly insightful review of the origins of democracy, how countries become democracies, and the future of democracy is feat of unparalleled analytic skill. This outstanding work should be required reading for all candidates seeking national office in any country, as well as anyone dealing with or interested in international affairs, and all who wish to comprehend or already cherish democratic freedom.
Professor Mandelbaum is masterful in providing the reader with a clear, concise and wholly enjoyable history of democracy while explaining the interrelationship of democracy with free markets, international trade and how democracy determines whether we live in a world at war or we have peace. After reading this fine book one not only feels more optimistic about the future but you are well educated with an understanding of the basis for such optimism. Perhaps of equal importance, this book explains the risks to existing democracies and the factors that will determine whether democracy thrives or withers around the globe. The insights regarding Russia, China and the Arab world help explain the situation in those areas today and the potential outcomes for them in the future.
This is a fact filled book written is a highly entertaining style that ties together a multitude of issues. For anyone interested in the future of our world this is a book you must read at least once (it is so interesting and such a pleasure to read that I am now reading it a second time).
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Democracy, a good or bad boy? , October 15, 2008
Democracy, as a political idea may be a good concept but its practical face is not such. That is why, Churchill said that democracy was the best among the worse form of governments. What Dr. Mandelbaum would have us believe is that democracy has worked well in two of its bastions: Britain and the United States. The history of democracy is not good since dictatorship in any form was prevalent in most of the nations of the rest of the world just a few decades ago. So, it is not time tested and it would be too early to accord it a good certificate. Moreover, democracy has a tendency to degenerate into dictatorship in many countries. That proves the real flaw and hole in that concept. Ironically,the stark reality is that the politics of division and identity, and irredentism thrive well on an atmosphere of democracy. For example, colonial or communist rules, both of which has scant regards for democracy, succeeded mostly in suppressing such violent eruptions.
Dr. mandelbaum knows this well and hence he is more concerned with nurturing and proteting 'democracy' by dwelling on risks. This is not appropriate for so ancient a concept like democracy. Socialists, communists and revolutionaries also based their ideas on democracy and they had their own interpretations of democracy. The communists thought that democracy meant the dictatorship of the majority to repress the minority.
Dr. mandelbaum tries to riggle out of this riddle by blending individual liberty with the rule of majority to protect and nurture democracy. But the irony is that while it works to a limited extent in the upliftment of the creamy layer, the process hardly goes to the root, least of all shaping cultures. A look at the developing economies with robust economic activities suggests that economic development in these countries have created new cultural faultlines.
Moreover, democracy as we find beyond the transatlantic nations is exported and that itself negates the mother concept. How can one thus laud the British democracy when it had so vast overseas colonies and for that matter the United States, who had a few overseas colonies and more importantly a renge of 'base empires' all over the globe. Since perfect competition can't exist in the real world, the idea that market forces make for good conditions of democracies doesn't sound well. Monopolists and oligopolists will always wrest the initiative and exploitation of the poor would go hand in hand with those of the superprofit mongers.Democracy is thus a vehicle and sugar pill and a favorite catch word even in developing countries for the same reason.
It is thus fair to call a spade a spade and is it not bold enough to say that the United States suffers from the same imperial overstretch? That way, it won't have to face the rest of the world with one hand tied. Mandelbaum himself contradicts his analysis when he has doubts on China or the Islamic states for their inherent 'disinclinations' to adopt democracy.
Gautam Maitra
Author of 'Tracing the Eagle's Orbit: Illuminating Insights into Major US Foreign Policies since Independence.'
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