Democratic Theory

Everyday we hear the word "Democracy". But if asked what it means, I fear very few would be able to describe it properly.


For a scholar of political science and international relations, the topic of democracy opens up a host of issues and it is important to understand them all.


Democracy primarily is associated with several topics related to state building such as:

• sovereignty
• representation
• constituency
• citizenship
• democratic political thought
• democratic association
• democratic participation
• modes of representation
• democratic politics
• theories of democracy - elitist, liberal, socialist

Below is a list of books that are helpful in engaging with the topic of democracy.

From Voice to Influence: Understanding Citizenship in a Digital Age

by

Danielle S. Allen and Jennifer S. Light

The People

by

Margaret Canovan

The Human Condition

by

Hannah Arendt

Lineage of Political Society

by

Partha Chatterjee

Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political

by

Seyla Benhabib

Democracy and the Politics of the Extraordinary

by

Max Weber, Carl Schmitt and Hannah Arendt

Democracy in Question: Democratic Openness in a Time of Political Closure

by

Alan Keenan

The Morals of Modernity

by

Charles Larmore

Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics

by

Ernesto laclau and Chantal Mouffe

The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy and Institutional Design

by

Andrew Rehfeld

Democracy in America

by

Alexis de Tocqueville

Secularism and Its Critics: Themes in Politics

by

Rajeev Bhargava

Voice, Trust and memory: Marginalized Groups and The Failings of Liberal Representation

by

Melissa S. Williams

Identities, Affiliation and Allegiances

by

Seyla Benhabib, Ian Shapiro and Danilo Petranovich

Unsettled Legitimacy: Political Community, Power and Authority in a Global Era

by

Steven Bernstien and William D. Coleman

Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought

by

Sheldno S. Wolin and Wendy Brown

Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism

by

Sheldon S. Wolin and Chris Hedges

Revisiting Iris Marion Young on Normalisation, Inclusion and Democracy

by

U. M. Vieten

*Affiliate Links