demos（人民）が政府に対し発言権を持つことを意味する民主主義は、政治の理想的な形態であり、現実でもあります。しかし、近年では災害や政治に関する無関心が大きな課題となっていて、民主的世界秩序はさらなる将来の目標です。歴史を振り返ってみると、さまざまな民主主義的価値観のもとで、多くの人々が排除されてきました。ナオミ・ザックによって新たに書き下ろされた本書は、古代アテネやローマ以降、今日に至る民主主義思想の歴史、代表的な人物、その主な概念について新鮮な考察を展開します。
 

• Provides a fresh, modern treatment of the concept of democracy and its varying conceptions in societies from antiquity to the present
• Analyzes key ideas about democracy from leading social and political thinkers, from Plato to Rawls
• Explains different forms of democratic government, and the impacts of social movements

   
Democracy refers to both ideal and real forms of government. The concept of democracy means that those governed — the demos — have a say in government. But different conceptions of democracy have left many out. Naomi Zack provides here a fresh treatment of the history of this idea and its key conceptions. In the ancient world, direct and representative democracy in Athens and Rome privileged elites, as did democratic deliberative bodies in Africa, India, the Middle East, and China. Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero were sceptical of mob-rule dangers of democracy. The medieval and renaissance periods saw legislative checks on monarchy, notably the Magna Carta. The social contract theories of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau matched political expectations that national government be based on consent, for the benefit of those governed. The American Revolution established a new sovereignty, based on British government tradition. By contrast, the French Revolution heralded universal humanitarian ideals.
   
In the nineteenth century, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and Karl Marx focused on the democratization of society. Mary Wollstonecraft had championed women's education and rights and Mill advocated further for that cause. Movements for the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and labour unionization were organized. World War II brought a reset in the twentieth century, with new democratic governments for many countries, including India and South Africa, and new ideals. Karl Popper, Hannah Arendt, and John Rawls emphasized orderly government transition, inclusion, and fairness. Equalitarian goals have concerned racial and ethnic minorities, as well as women. The twenty-first century has brought fresh challenges, including disasters and uninformed electorates. Democracy among nations is a future goal.