- The Democracy Reader [top]
Edited by Sondra Myers
First published in 2002 in the United States by IDEA (International Debate Education Association) in paperback, 303pp, ISBN 9780970213037
About this book: In this compendium volume on democracy, bringing together a new album of civic stories with a revised and updated version of the 'Democracy is a Discussion' handbooks, readers will discover democracy's roots in the ordinary. Although we regard democracy as an extraordinary system of government-in Churchill's ironic description, "the worst form of government in the world except for all other forms"-it is in fact a system that depends on the actions of ordinary women and men. It is quite the opposite of a system rooted in heroism. Heroic leaders may be required in an oligarchy or an aristocracy where the quality of leadership will determine political destiny. But democracy means quite literally government without heroes, and its stability and its freedoms depend on the quality not of its leaders but of its citizens.
Dictatorship and monarchies may need heroic tyrants and brave kings; democracies need only engaged citizens and competent voters. Government without heroes means, however, a truly active and engaged citizenry who as ordinary individuals can together achieve amazing and wonderful things. This album compiles examples from throughout the world such as a city near New York finding its own voice in Clement Price's story of Newark; an individual launches a global NGO (non-Government organisation) to combat corruption at Transparency International; a village treads a path to democracy inside theocratic Iran; Sicilians rebel against the long corrupt tyranny of criminal elements on their island; and a nation nearly destroyed by apartheid finds a way to forgive.
Stories from around the world and from deep within America find voice within this volume. They reflect the variety of the global governance tapestry, but share one common theme - that of the need for democracy to begin with individual citizens and their politically mobilised communities. Liberty is the result of civic and political struggle and determination - it's about citizens no less than constitutions. It's about the creation of a robust civil society where the education of citizens is the state's first priority. Such a society is more likely to support healthy democratic structures than the importing of a constitution or the creation of privatized economic markets. What the stories in this volume show is that there is no one way to; and no single model of democracy. The roads to it are many - but they all begin with indigenous cultural and civic activities by ordinary women and men seeking to gain control over their futures
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Benjamin R. Barber
Introduction by Sondra Myers
AN ALBUM OF CIVIC STORIES
Thomas Mann, from "Thinking and Living"
Eleanor Roosevelt, "Where, After All, Do Human Rights Begin?"
Section 1: Democracy on the Ground
The Long Road
The Democratic Legacy of Genghis Khan by Paula L. W. Sabloff
"The Project of Democracy" from The Right To Vote by Alexander Keyssar
"A Blood American" from Jefferson's Pillow by Roger Wilkins
Excerpt from Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Rolihlaula
The Monteiseinos Virus by Adam Michnik
"What Kind of Justice?" by David C. Anderson
"Nomonde Calate"
by Alex Boraine
Make Justice a Reality by Michael F. Thurman
Eleanor Roosevelt's Call to Action by Allida Black
Bold Moves
"What the Protesters in Genoa Want" by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri
Peter Eigen's Crusade Against Corruption by Miklos Marschall
Coming of Age as a Citizen in Tajikistan by Zamira Djabarova
"Who Really Brought Down Milosevic?" by Roger Cohen
Dissent in the University: Azerbaijan, 2000 by Rufat Garagezli
Thinking and Learning
"Richer Than Rockefeller" by Earl Shorris
Parent Education of the Civic Kind by Elaine Zimmerman
"Three Skills That Students Need to Become Citizen-Leaders" by Michael S. McPherson
You Can Create A New School by Alicja Derkowska
Choosing the Future
"Iranian Village Shapes a Model of Democracy" by John Ward Anderson
Sicily Says "Enough!" by Leoluca Orlando
Bogota by Mark Schapiro
Newark Confronts Its Past - and Chooses Its Future by Clement A. Price
Newark Now by Wayne Winborne
Togliatti, A Russian Town on the Move by Svetlana Pushkareva
Section 2: Reflections After The Terror
A Letter of Sympathy by Alexandra Mitrea
"Notes on Prejudice" by Isaiah Berlin
"What Terror Keeps Teaching Us" by Richard Rhodes
"Nowhere Man" by Fouad Ajami
Excerpt from "This is a Religious War" by Andrew Sullivan
"Terror's Aftermath: U.S. Strengths are Terrorist Opportunities" by Benjamin R. Barber
The Globalization of Justice by Wolfgang Ischinger
"My Islam" by Mona Eltahawy
THE HANDBOOK
BASIC ELEMENTS OF DEMOCRACY
1. Democratic Imperatives: Trust, Goodwill, Idealism
Introduction by William M. Sullivan
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "The Faces of Democracy-Looking to the Twenty-First Century" by Erazim Kohak
"Black Africa's Open Societies" by Iba Der Thiam
2. The Role of Citizens: Rights and Responsibilities
Introduction by William A. Galston
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from Democracy on Trial by Jean Bethke Elshtain
Excerpt from "The Infrastructure of Democracy: From Civil Society to Civic Community" by William M. Sullivan
Excerpt from "Welfare Rights at Home and Abroad: A Learning Process" by Mary Ann Glendon
3. The Free Flow of Ideas: An Independent Press and the Public Sphere
Introduction by Jay Rosen
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "Opinion: the New Authority" by Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Excerpt from "Breaking Censorship-Making Peace" by Gabor Demszky
4. The Democratic Rule of Law
Introduction by Jean Bethke Elshtain
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "The Literary Impact of the American and French Revolutions" by Adam Michnik
Excerpt from The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism by Tina Rosenberg
Excerpt from The Morality of Consent by Alexander Mordecai Bickel
5. Understanding a Civil Society
Introduction by David Mathews
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "On Civic Society" by Vaclav Havel
Excerpt from Jihad vs. McWorld by Benjamin R. Barber
Excerpt from "In Pursuit of Global Civic Virtues" by Claire L. Gaudiani
CHALLENGES
6. Resolving Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Conflicts
Introduction by Trudy Rubin
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "Ethnic Conflict and War" by Fareed Zakaria
Excerpt from India: From Midnight to the Millennium by Shashi Tharoor
Excerpt from On Toleration by Michael Walzer
7. Shaping the Political Structures for Democracy
Introduction by Stanley N. Katz
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "The Rise of Illiberal Democracy" by Fareed Zakaria
Excerpt from "Beyond the Liberal Paradigm" by Martin Palous
8. Democracy and the Free Market
Introduction by William M. Sullivan
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "The Crash of Western Civilization: The Limits of the Market and Democracy" by Jacques Attali
Excerpt from Habits of the Heart by Robert N. Bellah, et al.
9. Adapting to the Culture of Democracy
Introduction by Benjamin R. Barber
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "Gray is Beautiful: Thoughts on Democracy in Central Europe" by Adam Michnik
Excerpt from "The State of the Republic" by Vaclav Havel
Excerpt from "Is Culture Destiny? The Myth of Asia's Anti Democratic Values" by Kim Dae-Jung
PROMISE
10. Rapid Growth of the Civil Sector
Introduction by Miklos Marschall
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "Power Shift" by Jessica T. Matthews
Excerpt from "Capitalism Without Work" by Ulrich Bech
11. A New Vision for Education
Introduction by Sondra Myers
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "Tossed into a New Frame: Learning Before Teaching" by Claire L. Gaudiani
Excerpt from "Textbook Citizens: Education for Democracy and Political Culture in El Salvador"
12. The Moral Factor in the Democratic Equation
Introduction by Juan Somavia
Discussion Questions
Readings:
"The Challenge Facing South Africa" by Mamphela Ramphele
Excerpt from Freedon's Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution by Ronald Dworkin
Excerpt from "Beyond the Marshall Plan: Wanted: Somebody to Take Responsibility for the Civil Before the War" by Padraig O'Malley
Excerpt from the keynote speech at the conference "Reconciliation and Community: The Future of Peace in Northern Ireland" by Oscar Arias
GLOBALIZATION: ITS DIMENSIONS AND DYNAMIC
Introduction by Sondra Myers
13. The Globalization of the Market is Not Enough
Discussion Questions
Readings:
On Globalization by Benjamin R. Barber
On the Compatibility of Political and Economic Rights by Morton Halperin
Excerpt from "Why do They Hate Us?: The Politics of Rage" by Fareed Zakaria
"Strategies for Emerging Democracies" by Franklin Sonn
14. Creating the Political Context for Civic Globalism
Discussion Questions
Readings:
Excerpt from "An Emerging Global Civil Society" by Miguel Darcy De Oliveira and Rajesh Tandon
"On Global Democratization" by Michael W. Doyle
"Toward a Global Open Society" by George Soros
"Today's News Quiz" by Thomas L. Friedman
Islam and Democracy: The Hopeful Sign of Indonesia by Patrice Brodeur
15. Signs of an Emerging Global Consciousness
Discussion Questions
Readings:
"Globalization Recognizes a Common Humanity" by Bhikhu Parekh
Faith-Based Initiatives by Ray Takeyh
On Globalization and Human Rights by Martin Palous
On Interdependence by
Benjamin R. Barber
Excerpt from "the 2001 Nobel Lecture" by Kofi Annan
DOCUMENTS
Declaration of Independence
The Preamble to the United States Constitution, and Bill of Rights
Gettysburg Address
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Charter 77 declaration
Preamble to the Constitution of Mongolia
The Ten Commitments: Compenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, World Summit for Social Development, 1995
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa - Founding Provisions
The La Pietra Recommendations
A Joint Civil Society Statement on the Tragedy in the United States
Bibliography; Websites |
