A powerful case for democracy and how it can adapt and survive--if we
want it to
Is democracy in trouble, perhaps even dying? Pundits say so, and polls
show that most Americans believe that their country's system of
governance is being "tested" or is "under attack." But is the future of
democracy necessarily so dire? In The Civic Bargain, Brook Manville
and Josiah Ober push back against the prevailing pessimism about the
fate of democracy around the world. Instead of an epitaph for democracy,
they offer a guide for democratic renewal, calling on citizens to
recommit to a "civic bargain" with one another to guarantee civic rights
of freedom, equality, and dignity. That bargain also requires them to
fulfill the duties of democratic citizenship: governing themselves with
no "boss" except one another, embracing compromise, treating each other
as civic friends, and investing in civic education for each rising
generation.
Manville and Ober trace the long progression toward self-government
through four key moments in democracy's history: Classical Athens,
Republican Rome, Great Britain's constitutional monarchy, and America's
founding. Comparing what worked and what failed in each case, they draw
out lessons for how modern democracies can survive and thrive. Manville
and Ober show that democracy isn't about getting everything we want;
it's about agreeing on a shared framework for pursuing our often
conflicting aims. Crucially, citizens need to be able to compromise, and
must not treat one another as political enemies. And we must accept
imperfection; democracy is never finished but evolves and renews itself
continually. As long as the civic bargain is maintained--through
deliberation, bargaining, and compromise--democracy will live.
