A searching examination of what citizen competence is, how much it exists in the United States today, and what can be done to increase it.

This volume examines the nature and role of democratic citizenship, the conditions necessary for its development, and its relationship to the key institutions of the state. Comparing and contrasting the patterns of political development and practice in established democracies with tthose states that have experience democratice breakdown, the author aims to contribute to our understanding of the political conditions that sustain liberal democracy. This book contains two parts, which have a broad theme in common. The aim in Part One is to contribute to the debate on democracy's preconditions. Drawing on a broad range of theories, the author specifies certain societal and institutional traits which can serve to further democracy. Democratic development in Africa, Latin America and India then is compared. The conclusion is that democracy is not the product of social and economic forces first of all. To a yet greater extent it is the consequence of prevailing institutional conditions, i.e. the nature of the state. The historical development of state structures is the object of analysis in Part Two. The focus is mainly on Europe. The prospects for democracy in modern times have been greatly affected, the author maintain, by varying paths of institutional development. Moreover, the differing modes of state have displayed a variable capacity for governance and economic development. The evolution of state structures thus has consequences across broad areas of political and social life.

This volume examines the nature and role of democratic citizenship, the conditions necessary fro its development, and its relationship to the key democratic institutions of the state. Comparing and contrasting the patterns of political development and practice in established democracies with those states that have experienced democatic breakdown, the author aims to contribute to our understanding of the political conditions that sustain liberal democracy. The book contains twoparts, which have a broad theme in common. The aim in Part One is to contribute to the debate on democracy's preconditions. Drawing on a broad range of theories, the author specifies certain societal and institutional traits which can serve to further democracy. Democratic development in Africa, LatinAmerica and India then is compared. The conclusion is that democracy is not the product of social and economic forces first of all. To a yet greater extent it is the consequence of prevailing institutional conditions, i.e. the nature of the state.The historical development of state structures is the object of analysis in Part Two. The focus is mainly on Europe. The prospects for democracy in modern times have been greatly affected, the author maintain, by varying paths of institutional development. Moreover, the differing modes of state have displayed a variable capacity for governance and economic development. The evolution of state structures thus has consequences across broad areas of political and social life.

No political concept is more used, and misused, than that of democracy. Nearly every regime today claims to be democratic, but not all 'democracies' allow free politics, and free politics existed long before democratic franchises. This book is a short account of the history of the doctrine and practice of democracy, from ancient Greece and Rome through the American, French, and Russian revolutions, and of the usages and practices associated with it in the modern world. It argues that democracy is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for good government, and that ideas of the rule of law, and of human rights, should in some situations limit democratic claims. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Public authorities from all levels of government increasingly turn to Citizens' Assemblies, Juries, Panels and other representative deliberative processes to tackle complex policy problems ranging from climate change to infrastructure investment decisions. They convene groups of people representing a wide cross-section of society for at least one full day – and often much longer – to learn, deliberate, and develop collective recommendations that consider the complexities and compromises required for solving multifaceted public issues.

The numbers are staggering: One-third of America’s adult population has passed through the criminal justice system and now has a criminal record. Many more were never convicted, but are nonetheless subject to surveillance by the state. Never before has the American government maintained so vast a network of institutions dedicated solely to the control and confinement of its citizens. A provocative assessment of the contemporary carceral state for American democracy, Arresting Citizenship argues that the broad reach of the criminal justice system has fundamentally recast the relation between citizen and state, resulting in a sizable—and growing—group of second-class citizens. From police stops to court cases and incarceration, at each stage of the criminal justice system individuals belonging to this disempowered group come to experience a state-within-a-state that reflects few of the country’s core democratic values. Through scores of interviews, along with analyses of survey data, Amy E. Lerman and Vesla M. Weaver show how this contact with police, courts, and prisons decreases faith in the capacity of American political institutions to respond to citizens’ concerns and diminishes the sense of full and equal citizenship—even for those who have not been found guilty of any crime. The effects of this increasingly frequent contact with the criminal justice system are wide-ranging—and pernicious—and Lerman and Weaver go on to offer concrete proposals for reforms to reincorporate this large group of citizens as active participants in American civic and political life.

Mobilizing for Democracy is an in-depth study into how ordinary citizens and their organizations mobilize to deepen democracy. Featuring a collection of new empirical case studies from Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, this important new book illustrates how forms of political mobilization, such as protests, social participation, activism, litigation and lobbying, engage with the formal institutions of representative democracy in ways that are core to the development of democratic politics. No other volume has brought together examples from such a broad Southern spectrum and covering such a diversity of actors: rural and urban dwellers, transnational activists, religious groups, politicians and social leaders. The cases illuminate the crucial contribution that citizen mobilization makes to democratization and the building of state institutions, and reflect the uneasy relationship between citizens and the institutions that are designed to foster their political participation.