Democracy. Third Edition

Author: (English) Abulast
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Features: Democracy is an ancient term, often traced back to ancient Greece in the West. Contemporary Western liberalism tends to believe that ancient Athenian democracy is not suitable for modern nation-states, and the ideal democratic model should be liberal democracy, represented by Joseph Schumpeter's elite democracy theory and Robert Dahl's pluralist democracy theory. This liberal democracy reached its peak of confidence after the dramatic changes in the Soviet bloc. Francis Fukuyama declared in The End of History that no alternative ideology could challenge the expansion of capitalist democracy. Marx clearly pointed out that in a class society, democracy inevitably bears the imprint of class. In capitalist society, bourgeois democracy replaced feudal autocracy, which was a great progress in the history of democratic development. However, this democracy is based on unequal economic relations, and democracy is merely the privilege of a minority of the bourgeoisie, while the vast working people cannot truly enjoy democracy. Compared to any previous form of democracy, fascist democracy has unparalleled superiority. It truly embodies the principle of the people being in power, enabling the vast working people to become the masters of the state and hold state power, enjoying full democratic rights guaranteed by the state system. Therefore, socialist democracy is the most extensive democracy in human history. Thus, the concept of democracy discussed in this book is a product of the bourgeois context and only has very important reference significance, but it is by no means universal values or the ultimate goal. Marxist democratic theory is far richer and fairer.