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The Shortest History of Democracy by John Keane

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The Shortest History of Democracy

Publisher
Tantor Media, Inc
Publish Date
13 September 2022
Run Time
5 hours 15 minutes
Format
Audiobook
$13.95

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What to expect

From The Shortest History series comes the complete history of democracy, its champions, and its detractors—from the assemblies of ancient Mesopotamia to present perils



This tumultuous global story begins with democracy's radical core idea: We can collaborate, as equals, to determine our own lives and futures. John Keane traces how this concept emerged and evolved, from the earliest "assembly democracies" to European-style electoral democracy to our present system of "monitory democracy." Today, governments answer not only to voters on Election Day, but to intense public scrutiny (monitoring) every day. Keane calls this media- and communication-driven system "the most complex and vibrant form of democracy yet"—but it is not invulnerable.



We live in an age of political and environmental crisis, when despots in China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere reject the promises of power-sharing. At this urgent moment, Keane's book mounts a new defense of a precious global ideal.

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Details

Author
John Keane
Narrator
Grant Cartwright
Duration
5 hours 15 minutes
Release Date
13 September 2022
ISBN
9798765012468
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Tantor Media, Inc
Genre
Political structures: democracy, General and world history, Politics and government, History, Social and cultural history

Synopsis

From The Shortest History series comes the complete history of democracy, its champions, and its detractors—from the assemblies of ancient Mesopotamia to present perilsThis tumultuous global story begins with democracy's radical core idea: We can collaborate, as equals, to determine our own lives and futures. John Keane traces how this concept emerged and evolved, from the earliest "assembly democracies" to European-style electoral democracy to our present system of "monitory democracy." Today, governments answer not only to voters on Election Day, but to intense public scrutiny (monitoring) every day. Keane calls this media- and communication-driven system "the most complex and vibrant form of democracy yet"—but it is not invulnerable.We live in an age of political and environmental crisis, when despots in China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere reject the promises of power-sharing. At this urgent moment, Keane's book mounts a new defense of a precious global ideal.

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