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135   $aur|||||||nn|n
181   $ctxt
182   $cc
183   $acr
200 10$aWhat's wrong with democracy?$b[electronic resource] $efrom Athenian practice to American worship /$fLoren J. Samons II
210   $aBerkeley $cUniversity of California Press$dc2004
215   $a1 online resource (329 p.)
300   $aDescription based upon print version of record.
311   $a0-520-25168-7 
311   $a0-520-23660-2 
320   $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
327   $aIntroduction -- Athenian society and government -- Democracy and demagogues : election, voting, and qualifications for citizenship -- Public finance : democracy and the people's purse -- Foreign policy I : democracy imperial -- Foreign policy II : the Peloponnesian War -- National defense : democracy defeated -- Democracy and religion -- Conclusion : Socrates, Pericles, and the citizen.
330   $aFifth-century Athens is praised as the cradle of democracy and sometimes treated as a potential model for modern political theory or practice. In this daring reassessment of classical Athenian democracy and its significance for the United States today, Loren J. Samons provides ample justification for our founding fathers' distrust of democracy, a form of government they scorned precisely because of their familiarity with classical Athens. How Americans have come to embrace "democracy" in its modern form-and what the positive and negative effects have been-is an important story for all contemporary citizens. Confronting head-on many of the beliefs we hold dear but seldom question, Samons examines Athens's history in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. in order to test the popular idea that majority rule leads to good government. Challenging many basic assumptions about the character and success of Athenian democracy, What's Wrong with Democracy? offers fascinating and accessible discussions of topics including the dangers of the popular vote, Athens's acquisitive foreign policy, the tendency of the state to overspend, the place of religion in Athenian society, and more. Sure to generate controversy, Samons's bold and iconoclastic book finds that democracy has begun to function like an unacknowledged religion in our culture, immune from criticism and dissent, and he asks that we remember the Athenian example and begin to question our uncritical worship of democratic values such as freedom, choice, and diversity.
606   $aDemocracy$xHistory
606   $aDirect democracy$zGreece$zAthens
606   $aRepresentative government and representation$zUnited States
606   $aPolitical culture$zUnited States$xHistory
606   $aRepublicanism$zUnited States$xHistory
607   $aUnited States$xCivilization$xGreek influences
610   $aamerican government.
610   $aancient greece.
610   $aathenian democracy.
610   $aathenian government.
610   $aathenian society.
610   $achoice.
610   $aclassical athenian democracy.
610   $ademocracy.
610   $ademocratic governments.
610   $adissent.
610   $adiversity.
610   $aelections.
610   $aforeign policy.
610   $afreedom.
610   $agovernment and governing.
610   $agovernment and religion.
610   $agovernment.
610   $ahistorical.
610   $ahistory.
610   $anational defense.
610   $apeloponnesian war.
610   $apolitical systems.
610   $apolitical theory.
610   $apolitics.
610   $apopular vote.
610   $apublic finance.
610   $aqualifications for citizenship.
610   $areligion.
610   $aunited states of america.
610   $avoting.
615  0$aDemocracy$xHistory.
615  0$aDirect democracy
615  0$aRepresentative government and representation
615  0$aPolitical culture$xHistory.
615  0$aRepublicanism$xHistory.
676   $a321.8
700   $aSamons$b Loren J$0265962
801  0$bMiAaPQ
801  1$bMiAaPQ
801  2$bMiAaPQ
906   $aBOOK
912   $a9910783388803321
996   $aWhat's wrong with democracy$91074377
997   $aUNINA