EAN: 9780691177465

DECLINE AND RISE OF DEMOCRACY - DAVID STASAVAGE...

Historical accounts of democracy's rise tend to focus on ancient Greece and pre-Renaissance
Europe. The Decline and Rise of Democracy draws from global evidence to show that the story is
much richer--democratic practices were present in many places  at many other times  from the
Americas before European conquest  to ancient Mesopotamia  to precolonial Africa. Delving into
the prevalence of early democracy throughout the world  David Stasavage makes the case that
understanding how and where these democracies flourished--and when and why they declined--can
provide crucial information not just about the history of governance  but about the ways modern
democracies work and where they could manifest in the future. Drawing from examples spanning
several millennia  Stasavage first considers why states developed either democratic or
autocratic styles of governance and argues that early democracy tended to develop in small
places with a weak state and  counterintuitively  simple technologies. When central state
institutions (such as a tax bureaucracy) were absent--as in medieval Europe--rulers needed
consent from their populace to govern. When central institutions were strong--as in China or
the Middle East--consent was less necessary and autocracy more likely. He then explores the
transition from early to modern democracy  which first took shape in England and then the
United States  illustrating that modern democracy arose as an effort to combine popular control
with a strong state over a large territory. Democracy has been an experiment that has unfolded
over time and across the world--and its transformation is ongoing.

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