Liberal Democracy and its Critics examines the contributionof eleven contemporary political social theorists to understandingdemocracy today. The theorists are prominent in political andphilosophical debates in the 1990s, for example betweenneo-liberalism (Hayek) and social liberalism (Rawls), and betweenliberalism and republicanism (Arendt), communitarianism (Taylor andWalzer), 'anti-political politics' (Havel) and feminism (Patemanand Young). The book also explores how the philosophical defence ofuniversalism (Habermas) or critiques of it (Foucault and Rorty)impinge on assessments of liberal democracy. The eleven theorists reflect varying approaches to key issues indemocratic thought since 1945: liberal constitutionalism or popularsovereignty, elitism or participation and parliamentary or councildemocracy. Many also engage with more recent themes such as civilsociety, the politics of difference, deliberative democracy, andthe nature of cosmopolitan democracy. Some focus on thejustification of democracy, others make specific institutionalproposals. The chapters set the thinkers within their intellectual andpolitical contexts and explore the relationship between theirphilosophical positions and explicit or implicit views ondemocracy. They will be of interest both to students ofcontemporary social thought and of democracy. Contributors to the book include Margaret Canovan, April Carter,Don Fletcher, John Horton, Mark Kingwell, Chandran Kukathas, MartinLeet, Lois McNay, Barbara Sullivan, Katherine Welton and JonathanWolff.