Paradise lost, paradise regained : the true meaning of democracy PDF
Preview Paradise lost, paradise regained : the true meaning of democracy
Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained The True Meaning of Democracy Arthur D. Robbins This bound copy consists of corrected page proofs. It is not for sale or other distribution and is to be used for review purposes only. ISBN-13: 978-0-9676127-6-8 ISBN-10: 0-9676127-6-4 Binding: Hard cover, Smythe sewn Press Date: June 1, 2012 Publication Date: August 15, 2012 Trim Size: 6” x 9” Backmatter: Endnotes, Bibliography, and Index Price: $34.95 USA / $39.95 Canada First Printing: 5,000 copies Distribution: Baker and Taylor Paradise Lost, Par adise R egained The True Meaning of Democracy Arthur D. Robbins ACroPolIS BookS New York Copyright 2012 by Arthur D. robbins Acropolis Books P.o. Box 2629 New York, NY 10009 www.acropolis-newyork.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations. Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication robbins, Arthur D. Paradise lost, paradise regained : the true meaning of democracy / by Arthur D. robbins. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. lCCN 2011940038 ISBN-13: 978-0-9676127-6-8 ISBN-10: 0-9676127-6-4 1. Democracy. 2. Political science--Philosophy-- History. I. Title. JC423.r63 2012 321.8 QBI11-600203 Interior design, kate Nichols Jacket design, Erika Fusari Jacket image, Eve by Albrecht Dürer, courtesy of Museo del Prado, Madrid This book is composed in 10.3 Sabon Printed in the United States of America on permanent and durable acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For the children everywhere— May they inherit a world that is free, just, and joyous A lie can go half way around the world, before the truth even gets its boots on. —Mark Twain k Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: The Specter of Government 1 Part I: ParadIse Lost Democracy in Historical Context 1 What Is History and Why Does It Matter? 13 2 False Friends 27 3 Ancient Athens: Wellspring of Democracy 43 4 Government and Character: lessons from Athens 59 5 The roman republic: oligarchy with a Hint of Democracy 75 6 Experiments in Government: The Italian City-States 83 Part II: democracy In amerIca Opportunity Missed 7 Early Voices in America 97 8 Democracy Denied 115 9 America’s Early oligarchy 133 10 Alexander Hamilton and the British Connection 147 viii contents 11 Democracy Affirmed: The People of Pennsylvania Write a Constitution 161 12 The Struggle Continues: Democracy vs. republicanism 173 13 Democracy Defined 181 14 American Government: The Shaping of American Character 195 15 Democracy as Myth 213 Part III: the Quest for unbrIdLed Power Democracy Crushed 16 The Battlefield after the Battle 229 17 Power Concealed 251 18 Power revealed: Napoleon in Myth and reality 265 19 Darkness Visible: Hidden Power Comes to light 281 20 The Pathology of Power 299 21 The Pathology of Political Disengagement 311 Part IV: ParadIse regaIned Democracy in the Modern Age 22 Empowerment and the Process of Change 325 23 The Democratic Process 339 24 Democratizing the oligarchy 357 25 The Executive 373 26 Diversity in the East 387 27 Democracy Come True 405 Conclusion: The Citizen-State 427 Endnotes 437 Bibliography 451 Index 461 k Preface S oME TIME AGo, I read a book by kenneth M. Dolbeare entitled Political Change in the United States: A Framework of Analysis (1974). At the end of the book, Dolbeare suggests to the reader that he design a new form of government. This new government, a gov- ernment that never existed before, would suit the whims and fancies of the reader. Dolbeare imposed no constraints, no guides to work with. This was a most unusual proposition, at once both intimidating and empowering. How could one possibly presume to create a new govern- ment, if only in the imagination? on the other hand, wouldn’t it be a wonderfully liberating experience to engage in such an exercise? New possibilities would open up. one would begin to see the current govern- ment through different eyes. The future would seem brighter, seen in the light of this new government. Well, I took up Dolbeare’s challenge. I did exactly as he suggested. I borrowed from Aristotle his use of the word “virtue” and proceeded to create a new form of government. For Aristotle, “virtue” meant the excellence of a thing. The virtue of a knife is its sharpness; the virtue of a workhorse is its ability to pull heavy loads. If I wanted to create a democracy, what would be its virtue? As I understood the word “democ- racy” then, and still do, the virtue of democracy as a form of government is its inclusion of the maximum number of citizens in the deliberative and legislative processes. This then became my goal—to design a government that had this virtue. It would be a government that included hundreds of thousands or maybe even millions of citizens, not as passive observers but as actual governors. There would be no other considerations. I would not worry whether or not my new government was feasible or even desirable. I would not include any other constraints. I would simply proceed with my new government, heedless and free of any second-guessing. For the past twenty years or so, I have been living with this imagi- x PREFACE nary government in my head. It has cast a warm glow of anticipation and optimism as I have lived out the harsh realities of how government has indeed been behaving in current reality. Though I took no steps to realize the new government I had created, it nonetheless existed for me as an alternate reality to the government that did exist.* I offer Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained: The True Meaning of Democracy in the hope that those who read it will join me in my journey to the land of imagi- nary government, where new possibilities exist as realities. rockport, Massachusetts June 15, 2011 * The reader will learn something about this imagined government in Chapter 27, “Democracy Come True.”
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