First Democracy: The Challenge of an Ancient Idea.(book)(Book Review)

First Democracy The Challenge of an Ancient Idea Paul Woodruff

Oxford University Press 284 + xvi pp. 14.99 [pounds sterling] ISBN 0195177185

Reinhold Niebuhr claimed that 'Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.' Neibuhr's pronouncement is better than most. It acknowledges that the kinds of governments we call democracies, throughout history, come into being when forms of government that operate to the advantage of smaller power groups (kings, dictators, juntas, aristocracies, oligarchies) become ...

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