Democracy Realized: The Progressive Alternative (Hardcover)

by Roberto Mangabeira Unger (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Unger skillfully summarizes the staid orthodoxy stifling most political and economic thought and articulates unquestioned assumptions that block innovation... His politically astute program recommends policies for both the near and far term. -- A. B. Cochran, Choice, October 1999

Product Description
A radical program of reform from a commanding political theorist. Roberto Unger is widely recognized as one of the most innovative and intellectually audacious political and legal theorists alive today. Placing himself in the tradition of "revolutionary reforms," Unger has charted a course between social democracy and neoliberalism, seeking to combine the best element of both nonstatist and liberal aspirations. In this new work, Unger brings to bear his unique understanding of the replaceable nature of social and political institutions on the present global situation. The world economy is being reorganized as a network of economic vanguards, of privileged insiders, separated from the economic rearguard, the largely disenfranchised outsiders. Traditional devices for containing this division, whether through a redistributive welfare state or the support of small business, have proved inadequate. Democracy Realized challenges the ideological dominance of neoliberalism, which insists that all countries must converge in their acceptance of the dictates of market "flexibility." Instead, Unger has developed practical alternatives that can narrow the divide between insiders and outsiders. In particular, he argues that in rich and poor countries alike, a more decentralized and inclusive relationship can be built between business and government, and that levels of civic engagement and group organization can be heightened and strengthened. In an age when leftist and progressive circles are marked by timidity and defensiveness, Unger's Democracy Realized restores intellectual courage and programmatic zeal to political thought.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 309 pages
• Publisher: Verso (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859849830
• ISBN-13: 978-1859849835
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,135,435 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Recommended book with one flaw, July 13, 2000

By	K S Sastry (Holmdel, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Unger is a proactive progressive who does not want to sit idle when the world is being taken over by currency speculators, multinational investors, and global mutual fund managers, what Thomas Friedman calls the 'electronic herd'. Unger's substantive plea needs to be heeded by every right-thinking denizen of this planet.

Unger is in serious error, howewer, in one important aspects of his action program. His program of taxation, saving and investment flows from the same faulty premises of establishment economists. His sugestion to replace the progressive income tax by a flat consumption tax is outrageous. Several studies have shown that this would exacerbate income inequalities and, in particular, enrich the top income group at the expense of the bottom income group.

I agree with him so far as the desirability of flat tax is concerned so that, among other advantages, this eliminates the scope for discretionary decision-making by the powers that be. But, the way to make sure the change does not adversely affect the lower income groups is to adopt the 'basic income/flat tax' approach advocated by by A.B. Atkinson and others.

2.0 out of 5 stars Difficult reading., October 25, 2008

By	Norman Strojny "retired tech-person" (western desert of Utah) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Democracy Realized: The Progressive Alternative (Paperback)

"Democracy Realized: the progressive alternative" by Roberto Mangabeira Unger is a very difficult book to read. K S Sastry, the only other purchaser/reviewer to date, summarizes the book fairly, but I wish Verso, the book's publisher, had hired a very good writer of English text to work with the author to make this book much more readable. Throughout the book the author consistently uses very complex sentences and complex vocabulary with the result that this book is one of the most difficult to read of any books that I have tried to read.

I believe that Unger has very worthwhile ideas and I wish I understood what he is saying to a greater extent than I can manage with the current text. I am sure the text is worth much more effort by the publisher to make it more readable. At present, I think the text is too difficult for most undergraduate college level readers or casual readers of economics or politics.

Be sure to try to read the book before purchasing it.