StartseiteGruppenForumMehrZeitgeist
Web-Site durchsuchen
Diese Seite verwendet Cookies für unsere Dienste, zur Verbesserung unserer Leistungen, für Analytik und (falls Sie nicht eingeloggt sind) für Werbung. Indem Sie LibraryThing nutzen, erklären Sie dass Sie unsere Nutzungsbedingungen und Datenschutzrichtlinie gelesen und verstanden haben. Die Nutzung unserer Webseite und Dienste unterliegt diesen Richtlinien und Geschäftsbedingungen.

Ergebnisse von Google Books

Auf ein Miniaturbild klicken, um zu Google Books zu gelangen.

First Democracy: The Challenge of an Ancient…
Lädt ...

First Democracy: The Challenge of an Ancient Idea (2006. Auflage)

von Paul Woodruff

MitgliederRezensionenBeliebtheitDurchschnittliche BewertungDiskussionen
1022264,642 (3.6)1
Americans have an unwavering faith in democracy and are ever eager to import it to nations around the world. But how democratic is our own ""democracy""? If you can vote, if the majority rules, if you have elected representatives--does this automatically mean that you have a democracy? In thiseye-opening look at an ideal that we all take for granted, classical scholar Paul Woodruff offers some surprising answers to these questions. Drawing on classical literature, philosophy, and history--with many intriguing passages from Sophocles, Aesop, and Plato, among others--Woodruff immerses us in… (mehr)
Mitglied:pixxiefish
Titel:First Democracy: The Challenge of an Ancient Idea
Autoren:Paul Woodruff
Info:Oxford University Press, USA (2006), Paperback, 304 pages
Sammlungen:Deine Bibliothek
Bewertung:
Tags:ancient history, athens, democracy, government, greece, history, non-fiction, own, political studies, read

Werk-Informationen

First Democracy: The Challenge of an Ancient Idea von Paul Woodruff

Keine
Lädt ...

Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest.

Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch.

» Siehe auch 1 Erwähnung

http://pixxiefishbooks.blogspot.com/2008/06/first-democracy-challenge-of-ancient...

Jury's still out on this one. It was ... fine. But I didn't think it was very well-written (still trying to figure out why, however), and it frightened me how often I disagreed with or disputed some of his claims, leading me to wonder if I really believe in democracy at all!

Highlights (?) include:

* The tale of the frog and the snake, one of Aesop's fables, used to illustrate how our laws are often absurd, yet somehow necessary in order to protect from tyranny (p. 211 et seq.). I found this argument unfounded, illogical, and, frankly, ridiculous. I also think the fable was a poor illustration of the point being made.

* The fallacies in the arguments of those who would oppose democracy: mainly, that citizen wisdom will always fail since the ordinary person has neither the time, the education nor the will to make decisions, so best to defer to those with the expertise to do it for them (see p. 159 et seq.). I agree with Woodruff to a point; yet, again, his arguments (remember he is disagreeing with these claims) are not carried out as fully as they should have been.

* In a discussion of whether the United States and other similar so-called 'democracies' are ready for actual democracy (rule actually for and by the people), Woodruff has a throwaway paragraph about Canada in which he points to the actions of a citizen activist group in British Columbia as proof that Canada is, in fact, ready for actual democratic reform such as proportional representation (see 213 et seq.). Not likely, Mr. Woodruff. First of all, while proportional representation is a popular idea generally, the chances of it becoming the norm in Canada as a whole is highly unlikely, given the structure of our government. Second of all, a citizen group in B.C. is unfortunately not going to have the leverage to get this idea successfully promoted cross-Canada ... even if they could get the B.C. legislative assembly to agree. Their activism cannot be taken as representative of Canada's prevailing political will.

On the plus side, Woodruff knows a lot about the workings of Greek democracy, and that was fairly interesting. However, there are better books on the origins of democracy, and while this is a short read at just over 200 pages, I'm not sure it's worth the time.
  pixxiefish | Apr 26, 2010 |
I think this is an important book. The Author describes the 200 year Athenian struggle for democracy. He identifies 7 traits of Democracy and examines each with respect to events in ancient Athens. He believes that the United States have been on a path toward democracy but that recently we may be retreating from rather than advancing toward it. A very thought-provoking and informative book. ( )
  bibliostuff | Jan 27, 2009 |
keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Du musst dich einloggen, um "Wissenswertes" zu bearbeiten.
Weitere Hilfe gibt es auf der "Wissenswertes"-Hilfe-Seite.
Gebräuchlichster Titel
Originaltitel
Alternative Titel
Ursprüngliches Erscheinungsdatum
Figuren/Charaktere
Wichtige Schauplätze
Wichtige Ereignisse
Zugehörige Filme
Epigraph (Motto/Zitat)
Widmung
Erste Worte
Zitate
Letzte Worte
Hinweis zur Identitätsklärung
Verlagslektoren
Werbezitate von
Originalsprache
Anerkannter DDC/MDS
Anerkannter LCC

Literaturhinweise zu diesem Werk aus externen Quellen.

Wikipedia auf Englisch

Keine

Americans have an unwavering faith in democracy and are ever eager to import it to nations around the world. But how democratic is our own ""democracy""? If you can vote, if the majority rules, if you have elected representatives--does this automatically mean that you have a democracy? In thiseye-opening look at an ideal that we all take for granted, classical scholar Paul Woodruff offers some surprising answers to these questions. Drawing on classical literature, philosophy, and history--with many intriguing passages from Sophocles, Aesop, and Plato, among others--Woodruff immerses us in

Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden.

Buchbeschreibung
Zusammenfassung in Haiku-Form

Aktuelle Diskussionen

Keine

Beliebte Umschlagbilder

Gespeicherte Links

Bewertung

Durchschnitt: (3.6)
0.5
1
1.5
2 1
2.5
3 1
3.5
4 2
4.5
5 1

Bist das du?

Werde ein LibraryThing-Autor.

 

Über uns | Kontakt/Impressum | LibraryThing.com | Datenschutz/Nutzungsbedingungen | Hilfe/FAQs | Blog | LT-Shop | APIs | TinyCat | Nachlassbibliotheken | Vorab-Rezensenten | Wissenswertes | 203,191,420 Bücher! | Menüleiste: Immer sichtbar