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Was democracy invented by the Greeks to replace the anarchy and imperial rule characteristic of earlier Near Eastern societies? Although what was explicitly borrowed from antiquity by modern political thinkers looks Athenian, there was democracy before the polis. Egyptian and Mesopotamian politics relied on public debate and detailed voting procedures; countless assemblies convened at the thresholds of public buildings or city gates; disputed trials were submitted to superior courts; countervailing powers reminded leaders that justice was their responsibility. This was not full democracy, but the Greek version was not perfect either. In this article, "archeopolitics" is used to contrast this efficient form of pluralistic regime ("hypodemocracy") with truly egalitarian ones ("hyperdemocracies") and group interests' polyarchies.

The current populist challenges in western liberal democracies should not be seen as evidence of their decline, but as a constituent part. The history of democracy shows us that such challenges enable democracy's growth and evolution. As these modern conflicts and crises see populists seek to capitalise on the discontent of the people, it is evident that much of the conflict comes from tensions between the rule of law and majority rule. Elites seeking to preserve the liberal democratic system need to make their arguments in defence of the rule of law and democratic values, rather than assuming them to be self-evident. We should only become concerned over the fate of liberal democracy when the conflict moves from dialogue into physical violence, or as in Hungary, where the executive has dismantled counter-majoritarian checks. It is only then that the departure from democracy truly begins.

Cover -- Table of Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- Chapter 1 Elitist Democracy, Civic Disengagement, and Citizen Politics in the United States -- Chapter 2 Elitist Democracy, Civic Disengagement, and Citizen Politics in Brazil -- Chapter 3 Participatory Democracy in Theory -- Chapter 4 Participatory Democracy in Practice-Brazil's Workers' Party and the Participatory Budget -- Chapter 5 The Orçamento Participativo in Betim, Minas Gerais -- Chapter 6 Examining the Claims of Proponents of the Participatory Budget -- Chapter 7 Examining the Claims of Critics of the Participatory Budget -- Chapter 8 Administering the Participatory Budget-Ideology and Dedication -- Conclusion: Participatory Democracy versus Elitist Democracy-Lessons from Brazil -- Notes -- Annex 1 Questionnaire for Delegates and Councilors of the Participatory Budget, 1998 -- Annex 2 Characteristics of 1998 OP Delegates (Respondents) in Betim and Belo Horizonte -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- G -- H -- I -- J -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Democracy and Government -- 1. Spain and South Korea Have Significant Challenges in Their Transitions to Full Democracies -- 2. Colombia's Democratization Process Is Hindered by Anti-Narcotics Efforts -- 3. Democracy in Thailand Is Increasingly Under Strain by Internal Forces -- 4. Democratization in the Middle East Is Hindered by Conflict -- 5. Malaysia's Democracy Suffers from Abuses of Power -- 6. Ghana's Elections Provide Lessons for Democratization -- Periodical Bibliography -- Chapter 2: Democracy and Equality -- 1. Only International Pressure Will Prompt Burma to Democratize -- 2. South Africa Must Overcome Institutional Obstacles to Democratic Equality -- 3. Eastern European Equality Advocates Are Decreasing in Numbers and Efficacy -- 4. Israel Struggles to Provide Equality for Minority Groups -- 5. North Korea Ignores Human Rights and Democracy -- Periodical Bibliography -- Chapter 3: Democracy and Economics -- 1. Sri Lanka Faces Economic Implications While Demilitarizing and Expanding Democracy -- 2. India's Political Struggles Undermine Its Middle Class -- 3. Zimbabwe Cannot Fully Democratize Until There Is Equal Distribution of Land and Resources -- 4. Governments Must Maintain Capitalism to Preserve Democracy -- 5. The Persian Gulf States Enjoy Free Market Capitalism Without Democracy -- 6. Malaysia's Citizens Demand Democracy with Development -- Periodical Bibliography -- Chapter 4: Democracy and International Relations -- 1. The United States Should Lead by Example to Promote Democracy Around the World -- 2. Afghanistan Needs Security Before It Can Have Democracy -- 3. Pakistan's Democratic Transition Affects Its Relationship with the West -- 4. Nepal's Democracy Needs Support from the International Community

Cover -- Contents -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- 1 The Theoretical Challenges of Democracy -- Democratic principles and normative methods -- The circumstances of politics -- The definition of democracy -- 2 Forms of Democratic Government -- Institutions, behaviour, social structure -- An institutional typology -- Evaluating forms of government -- 3 The Justification of Democracy -- The protective case for democracy -- From adjudication to democracy -- Democracy and political equality -- Fallibilism -- Common interests and political ideals -- Democracy and consent -- 4 Deliberation, Consensus and Political Equality -- Consensus and deliberation -- Deliberation and fairness -- Institutional dimensions -- 5 Participation as Democracy, Participation in Democracy -- Participation as democracy: autonomy -- Participation as democracy: moral development -- Participation in democracy -- Why not populism? -- 6 From Conceptions of Representation to Systems of Representation -- The concept of representation -- The lottery alternative -- Responsiveness and representation -- Back to social characteristics? -- A system of representation? -- 7 Aggregation, Unanimity and Majority Rule -- The principle of unanimity -- Majority rule: the axiomatic defence -- The spatial defence -- Two dimensions with no Condorcet-winner -- Empirical aspects -- 8 Democracy, Rights and Constitutionalism -- The constitutional basis for popular government -- Rights-based constitutionalism? -- Political rights -- Democracy and civil rights -- Democracy and property rights -- Courts or legislatures? -- 9 The Boundaries of Inclusion -- The problem of qualification -- The problem of partitioning -- Extension beyond persons? -- 10 International Relations and Democratic Ideals -- Dropping one of the claims? -- Democratic values and international concerns.

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"The following paper presents the basic concept for the Democracy Ranking of the Quality of Democracy and positions this approach in context of academic discourses about democracy and the quality of democracy. Key dimensions of democracy are freedom, equality and control. Quality-of-democracy models commonly emphasize a democracy understanding that is broader than earlier concepts of primarily electoral democracies. Different global democracy and democratization measurement initiatives (Freedom
House, Polity IV, Vanhanen's Index of Democracy, and the Economist Intelligence Unit's Index of Democracy) are reviewed and compared. The Democracy Ranking underscores a conceptualization of the Quality of Democracy = Quality of Politics + Quality of Society. The conceptual formula for the Democracy Ranking (see Figure 5 in Chapter 5), therefore, may be summarized as: quality of democracy = (freedom + other characteristics of the political system) + (performance of the nonpolitical dimensions). This formula offers an opportunity for creating regularly conducted indicator-based rankings of countries, based on the quality of their democracy." (author's abstract)

Originating with the ancient Greeks, democracy has taken many forms through the centuries. The beginning of modern democracies is traced to the Magna Carta in 1215, and afterward the increasing rights of individuals in their governments. The Constitution of the United States embraced the idea of democracy, becoming the great experiment that inspired democratic forms of governments through the years and across the world. This insightful volume includes relevant sources, images, and a timeline to trace the history and permutations of democracy as it has been practiced by different countries.