Liberal Democracy and its Critics

Liberal Democracy and its Critics examines the contribution
of eleven contemporary political social theorists to understanding
democracy today. The theorists are prominent in political and
philosophical debates in the 1990s, for example between
neo-liberalism (Hayek) and social liberalism (Rawls), and between
liberalism and republicanism (Arendt), communitarianism (Taylor and
Walzer), 'anti-political politics' (Havel) and feminism (Pateman
and Young). The book also explores how the philosophical defence of
universalism (Habermas) or critiques of it (Foucault and Rorty)
impinge on assessments of liberal democracy.

The eleven theorists reflect varying approaches to key issues in
democratic thought since 1945: liberal constitutionalism or popular
sovereignty, elitism or participation and parliamentary or council
democracy. Many also engage with more recent themes such as civil
society, the politics of difference, deliberative democracy, and
the nature of cosmopolitan democracy. Some focus on the
justification of democracy, others make specific institutional
proposals.

The chapters set the thinkers within their intellectual and
political contexts and explore the relationship between their
philosophical positions and explicit or implicit views on
democracy. They will be of interest both to students of
contemporary social thought and of democracy.

Contributors to the book include Margaret Canovan, April Carter,
Don Fletcher, John Horton, Mark Kingwell, Chandran Kukathas, Martin
Leet, Lois McNay, Barbara Sullivan, Katherine Welton and Jonathan
Wolff.