| Review of: | Setting the People Free: The Story of Democracy by John Dunn |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Stephen Winter |
| Reviewed in: | Political Studies Review |
| Date accepted online: | 14/01/2008 |
| Published in print: | Volume 05, Issue 03, Pages 395-474 |
Book Reviews: Political Theory
It is perhaps a useful introduction to this entertaining and informative book that I read it in a single day. The book is well written, accessible and erudite without pedantry; simply a joy to read. It will not stand for all time either as an exhaustive history of democracy or as a theoretical investigation of that concept, but this is not its intent. What this book does, to chase the concept of democracy through its challenging and often chequered history so as to gain a better understanding of its unrivalled current normative dominance, it does very well.
The history of the concept Dunn offers contains few surprises, and yet much of interest. He begins with democracy as it was in Athens and then, focusing on the American and French revolutions, brings it into modernity. Throughout, as one would expect, Dunn emphasizes particular conceptions of democracy within specific political contexts, showing how authors have used applied conceptions of democracy to describe, condemn, laud, etc. This is not to say that democracy is whatever it is currently being used for. Dunn argues for a persistent core understanding, that the reason we use the word 'democracy' to describe modern systems of representation is that we share with the Athenians a commitment to derive the legitimacy of state action, 'from the entire citizen body over whom it must apply' (p. 164).
The latter part of the book develops a conceptual struggle between Schumpeterian and Rousseauian understandings of democracy, what Dunn calls democracies of 'egoists' and of 'equals'. The egoists are the current victors. Supposedly, we equate democracy with the modern, representative and capitalistic state, but only because egoists have usurped the language of (and won the political battles against) the equals. Those who equate democracy with deliberative arrangements might disagree, but Dunn does not discuss developments in this area. In conclusion, Dunn argues that the current hegemony of democracy as a political system rests on a series of almost wilful contradictions; contradictions upon which it depends for its continued vitality.
One general criticism is that this book tries to do too much too quickly. This broadens its appeal, from the friendly curiosity of an academic political theorist to the interested layperson (at whom, from the publishing format, this edition is clearly aimed). However, its compressed argument results in a large number of loose ends which may frustrate and tantalise those with a professional interest in the subject. There are other books both behind and within this current offering.