DEMOCRACY AND ITS CRITICS

IN THIS BOOK, ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT POLITICAL THEORISTS OF OUR ERA MAKES A STATEMENT ABOUT WHAT DEMOCRACY IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT. ROBERT DAHL EXAMINES THE MOST BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF DEMOCRATIC THEORY, TESTS THEM AGAINST THE QUESTIONS RAISED BY ITS CRITICS, AND RECASTS THE THEORY OF DEMOCRACY IN A NEW AND COHERENT WHOLE. HE CONCLUDES BY DISCUSSING THE DIRECTIONS IN WHICH DEMOCRACY MUST MOVE IF ADVANCED DEMOCRATIC STATES ARE TO EXIST IN THE FUTURE.