The book first takes a historical approach looking at principles and institutions we might wish to call democratic from the Greeks and Romans, then skipping down to the 17th century and through the American and French Revolutions. In the 19th and 20th century he looks at the differences between popularist and liberal democracy. Since it was published in 2002, the book doesn't have much to say about the 21st century.

The book was interesting overall, but there were definitely places where the author's syntax got so convoluted that I had to read sentences several times to follow what he was saying. ( )

Bernard Crick's book is an excellent introduction to an extraordinarily complex topic. There is no word so misunderstood, so abused, and manipulated as "democracy".
At the end of the book, I am still not clear about what democracy is. there does not seem to be a universal understanding of the word, yet there are some standards Bernard Crick has laid out.
this, in itself, is helpful
He started with the historical discussions on the subject and compared the democracy movements in Europe and the USA. This is critical because it helps to understand the context in which both regions understand the word (however loosely)
Bear in mind, that this is only an introduction, It is a worthy platform from which anyone interested in the subject can dive deeper. ( )

Bernard Crick's book is an excellent introduction to an extraordinarily complex topic. There is no word so misunderstood, so abused, and manipulated as "democracy".
At the end of the book, I am still not clear about what democracy is. there does not seem to be a universal understanding of the word, yet there are some standards Bernard Crick has laid out.
this, in itself, is helpful
He started with the historical discussions on the subject and compared the democracy movements in Europe and the USA. This is critical because it helps to understand the context in which both regions understand the word (however loosely)
Bear in mind, that this is only an introduction, It is a worthy platform from which anyone interested in the subject can dive deeper. ( )

Part of the 'Very Short Introduction' series by Oxford University Press. This volume is by professor Bernard Crick (I still have his biography of Orwell in my tbr pile). Its fairly interesting and poses some interesting questions. However I did find that Mr. Crick would insert himself a little too often into the narrative and it seems somewhat skewed towards a British audience. It could have done with a little less editorializing, though it is true that it would have then been as dry as dust to read. ( )