Liberty and Democracy. The two go hand in hand in popular thinking. We believe that the answer to our problems is always more democracy. More democracy means more freedom. But does it? At a time when democracy is the one political system whose legitimacy is unquestioned, this deeply significant book points out the tension between democracy and freedom. It ranges widely through the past and the present to remind us that we can have too much of a good thing.
American democracy, to many, is the model for the rest of the world. Fareed Zakaria points out that the American form of democracy is one of the least democratic in use today?it is more democratic that ever before but also more dysfunctional. As he examines the world?s other great democracies such as those in India and Britain, he comes up with equally arresting insights. For example, he argues that in many parts of the world, the spread of democracy has not produced a corresponding growth in liberty. From Russia to Venezuela to the Palestinian Authority, we see instead a strange creature?the elected autocrat. Societies, particularly in the Arab world, are trapped between repressive dictatorships and fanatical masses. Is there a way out?
Calling for a restoration of the balance between liberty and democracy, Zakaria argues that by restricting our democracy we enhance our freedom. Liberal democracy has to be made effective and relevant for our times and this timely book challenges us to take a fresh look at democracy in the twenty-first century
About The Author Fareed Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International and writes a regular column for the magazine?s American and international editions, which appears occasionally in The Washington Post. He is a member of the roundtable of ABC News?s This Week with George Stephanapoulos as well as a political analyst for ABC News. He is also the host of a new weekly PBS show, Foreign Exchange, which focuses on international affairs He received a BA in history from Yale and a PhD in political science from Harvard. In 1992 he was appointed managing editor of Foreign Affairs, a position he held for eight years. He is the author of From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America?s World Role (Princeton University Press), and co-editor of The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World? (Basic Books). Zakaria has written for the New York Times,the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker,the New Republic, and the webzine Slate, among others, and has won several awards for his columns and other writings.
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