Democracy

Entertaining and insightful... Enjoyable... Interesting and curious... The examples Sheldon has collected for this book are fascinating and make for a provocative read. *** IRISH TECH NEWS *** Democracy is inherently a swamp with too many variables, both specific and contextual. Sheldon leads the reader deep into this swamp, lets them feel lost, and then shows them the many potential ways in which it can be navigated, thus reminding us that there isn't one definite meaning of democracy, nor one way to reach it, nor a standard formula to preserve it... It uses neither a Eurocentric nor a bourgeois lens to evaluate political cultures from across the world. It doesn't imagine the seeds of democracy in ancient Greece, but, instead, finds them across time and throughout the world. Another strength of the book lies in its candor in discussing the health of democracy as it exists, especially in the bastions of European-style polities. While the book narrates events big and small-including protests, movements, technological innovations, betrayals by the police, pushback from the state-that have helped democracy progress, stagnate, and falter, the general message is positive. There is hope for democracy, and there are strategies and tools that people across the world have forged. Finally, this book pushes through the general tendency of thinking about democracy only in spaces exclusively reserved for politics. It emphasizes the need to democratize across the board-at schools, in corporations, in the market, among law enforcement organizations, within armies, in media groups, at places of work, and so on. While the lack of dates in the anecdotes sometimes makes the reader unsure of the context, this is an interesting and immensely readable book. *** DOLLARS & SENSE MAGAZINE *** An incredibly straight forward guide and a book everyone living in a democracy should read... Overall, Democracy: A User's Guide by Joss Sheldon is highly recommended. Easily, 5-Stars! *** READERS' VIEWS ***