The Rise and Decline of Modern Democracy

Damien Kingsbury

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English

Taylor & Francis Ltd
07 April 2023

Philosophy; Social & political philosophy; Elections & referenda; Political structures: democracy; Political parties

Series: Routledge Studies in Global and Transnational Politics

The Rise and Decline of Modern Democracy assesses the rise of, subsequent political challenges to, and decline of, contemporary liberal democratic processes, in particular since the ‘third wave’ of democratization from the 1990s.

Democracy is in global decline. Fewer countries are democratic and fewer people, globally, live in substantive democracies. Autocracy is now the dominant political form and the future looks, at best, challenging for the retention of such democracies that remain. As they did a century ago, nationalism and populism have again reared their ugly heads, and more people are claiming that democracy no longer addresses their most compelling needs or interests. This book examines what democracy is and the circumstances that allowed – even encouraged – it to arise. Democracy has been a product of a need to find a political model that mediates between competing interests, building on conducive conditions. However, there have since been fundamental changes to those conditions, imbalances within democratic countries and between countries, that have diminished the strength of the democratic proposition. The question now arises as to whether democracy can continue as a matter of political will. Challengers to democracy, from the radical Right in developed countries to populist autocracy and state-centred authoritarianism in developing countries, have increasingly shown this may not be the case. Democracy may survive, as this book concludes, but is likely to do so only with more substantial and conscious commitment to the democratic project, with recognition of the need to replenish the fertility of the political soil in which democracy grows.

This wide-ranging and empirically and theoretically rich book will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers of political science, international relations, history and democracy.

By: Damien Kingsbury
Imprint: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 480g
ISBN: 9781032218168
ISBN 10: 1032218169
Series: Routledge Studies in Global and Transnational Politics
Pages: 246
Publication Date: 07 April 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

1 Introduction 2 Drivers of Political Change 3 Ebb and Flow 4 Challengers 5 Compromise 6 Decline 7 The Radical Right 8 The Future is Not Written 9 Conclusion: With a Bang?

Damien Kingsbury is Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. He has written or edited more than two dozen books and several dozen journal articles and book chapters on political and security issues in developing countries.