Democracy in Crisis: Lessons from Ancient Athens
Jeff Miller
Dec 2021 · Sortition and Public Policy Book 7 · Andrews UK Limited
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205
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About this ebook
The storming of the US Capitol building in January 2021 focused attention on the multiple threats facing contemporary liberal democracies. Beyond the immediate problem of Covid-19, the past two decades saw political polarization, a dramatic rise in inequality, global warming and other environmental threats, as well as the growth of dangerous cultural and political divisions. Western liberal democracies find themselves in the midst of what political theorists call a legitimation crisis: major portions of the population lack confidence in the ability of governments to address our most pressing problems. This distrust in government and traditional political parties opened the door to populist leaders and a rising tide of authoritarianism. Liberal democracies face major structural and normative challenges in the near future that require us to look beyond the traditional set of solutions available. Democracy in Crisis points back to the world's first democratic government, Ancient Athens, to see what made that political arrangement durable and resistant to both internal and external threats. The argument focuses on several distinctive Athenian institutions and practices, and considers how we might reimagine them in the modern world. The book addresses questions of civic ideology and institutions, with extended treatment of two distinctive Athenian institutions, ostracism and sortition.
About the author
Jeff Miller is a professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He writes and publishes mostly on Ancient Greek political thought, with a particular recent emphasis on democratic theory and Athenian comedy. His articles have been published in leading journals including Political Theory, The Journal of Politics and History of Political Thought.
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