The Last Vote
The Threats to Western Democracy
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:1st Jan '15
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Democracy is so much a part of our Westernlives that it is easy to think it takes care of itself.
Shows how democracy today faces threats that we ignore at our own risk. Tracing democracy's history and development, this title revisits the assumptions on which it is founded. What exactly is democracy? Why should we value it? What are its flaws? And could we do any better?In this urgent wake-up call, Philip Coggan shows how democracy today faces threats that we ignore at our own risk. Amid the turmoil of the financial crisis and high debt levels, it is easy to forget that the ultimate victim could be our democracy itself. Tracing democracy's history and development, Coggan revisits the assumptions on which it is founded. What exactly is democracy? Why should we value it? What are its flaws? And could we do any better?Coggan proposes ideas for change and improvement to the system itself so the next vote we cast will not be the last.
Consistently illuminating . . . admirably balanced . . . An exploration of democracy's ills that anyone concerned with the current state of the world will benefit from reading. It is a book that addresses universal questions -- John Gray * New Statesman *
Coggan puts his argument together logically and methodically . . . His conclusions are sensible and moderate . . . It is rather a nice change to read a book which could best be described as a mild rebuke or a gentle warning. In essence, its author is getting a little Joni Mitchell about representative democracy -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *
ISBN: 9780718197278
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 18mm
Weight: 236g
320 pages