Sign up to save your library
With an OverDrive account, you can save your favorite libraries for at-a-glance information about availability. Find out more about OverDrive accounts.
Find this title in Libby, the library reading app by OverDrive.
Search for a digital library with this title
Title found at these libraries:
Loading... |
This volume begins with a series of essays by Michael P. Auerbach. In the first two, Auerbach analyzes authoritarian
governments (or regimes that seek to control the lives of each constituent) and religious governments (or leaderships
where religion plays an active role in national administration). After detailing these two systems, Auerbach points out
the “stark differences between national governments who fly the flag of democracy” and discusses two democratic
perspectives: the pluralist perspective and the elitist perspective. In his analysis of the pluralist perspective, Auerbach
illustrates how this particular viewpoint applies most appropriately to the United States government, which truly represents
the will of the people. With regard to the elitist perspective, Auerbach draws on the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter
by suggesting that modern democracies serve only the interests of the elite. The next essay focuses on the importance
of citizenship rights and how “the core of a democratic government’s effectiveness (and longevity) is its ability to protect
the rights of the multitude of diverse social groups under its charge.” Building off of Auerbach’s essays, Sinclair
Nicholas offers some observations on the current crossroads of government and the United States in particular, as it
struggles to maintain welfare policies and programs.