Description: Financial crisis and the strengthening of neoliberal policies present stark challenges to traditional conceptions of representative democracy. At the same time, new opportunities are emerging that propose alternative visions for the future of democracy. In this book, a leading political sociologist examines current movements for democracy.
Review Quotes:
"She has certainly conducted the greatest number of inquiries and case studies on the issue, but manages not to lose sight of the theoretical and normative dimensions involved."
Survival
"Very few authors can rival Donatella della Porta's ability to present - in so few pages - such a broad but accurate sweep of developments in contemporary political ideas about democracy. She moves remarkably easily between exposition of classical debates in political thought and empirical research on current new forms of protest."
Colin Crouch, University of Warwick
"The search for a viable conception of democracy has for decades centered on procedural criteria. Rejecting this monism, and drawing on theorists like Habermas, Held, and Pateman, as well as on her own empirical work on social movements, della Porta masterfully proposes and illustrates a fourfold typology of democratic theory - and of democracies - that challenges the canon and opens a debate to compare representational, participatory, and deliberative models of democracy."
Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University, author of Power in Movement
"Given the current ailments of capitalist democracies, we all might be inclined to exclaim: "That is a good question!" As an answer, the author provides readers with both a nearly comprehensive inventory of causes for concern as well as her spirited and informative analysis of protest politics, the role of new media, and the potential of new democratic ambitions that are both participatory and deliberative. An overall optimistic message from one of the leading social science experts on movement politics."
Claus Offe, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
"A timely in-depth investigation into the challenges and opportunities that shape the way we think about democracy. Answering the question of if and how democracy can be saved requires a diligent analysis of the ever-changing meaning of democracy and the distinct democratic qualities of different democratic models. Della Porta's book does just that, providing a solid foundation for beginning to tackle some of the more far-reaching questions regarding democracy."
The International Spectator