The History of Democracy: A Marxist Interpretation

Description

The concept of democracy has become tarnished in recent years, as governments become disconnected from voters and pursue unpopular policies. And yet the ideal of democracy continues to inspire movements around the world, such as the Arab Spring. Brian Roper refreshes our understanding of democracy using a Marxist theoretical framework. He traces the history of democracy from ancient Athens to the emergence of liberal representative and socialist participatory democracy in Europe and North America, through to the global spread of democracy during the past century. Roper argues that democracy cannot be understood separately from underlying processes of exploitation and class struggle. He offers an engaging Marxist critique of representative democracy, and raises the possibility of alternative democratic forms. The History of Democracy will be of interest to students and scholars of history and politics and all those concerned about the past, present and future of democracy. "In this stunning and panoramic survey, Brian Roper sheds enormous light on the theory and practice of democracy across the ages. Focusing on issues of freedom, oppression and class domination, Roper makes a compelling case for the enduring importance of socialist models of participatory democracy. This is an important and timely book, which will be of great interest to scholars and activists alike." – David McNally, Professor of Political Science, York University, author of Another World is Possible and Global Slump "Democracy is the product of intense class struggles rather than the incremental decisions of enlightened lawmakers. Brian Roper's insightful and coherent survey convincingly makes this argument through a series of accessible studies that range from ancient Athens through the English Civil War to the workers' revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries." – Rick Kuhn, Deutscher Prize winner, Reader in Politics at the Australian National University and long-time activist. Brian S. Roper lectures in Politics at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has been involved in the socialist left and political activism in New Zealand since the early 1980s. He is the author of Prosperity for All? Economic, Social and Political Change in New Zealand since 1935 (2005). Cover Contents Preface and acknowledgements Introduction GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 1. Origins: democracy in the ancient Greek world INTRODUCTION THE HISTORICAL EMERGENCE OF ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY CLASS STRUGGLE IN THE ANCIENT GREEK POLIS CLEISTHENES’S REFORMS: ESTABLISHING DEMOKRATIA PEASANT CITIZENS, CLASS STRUGGLE AND DEMOCRACY THE SUPPRESSION OF DEMOCRACY FROM 322–1 BC CONCLUSION GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 2. Democracy suppressed: the Roman republic and empire INTRODUCTION THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC FROM 509 TO 27 BC Roman territorial expansion The economic and social structure of Roman society The political institutions of the Roman republic and the ‘conflict of orders’ THE ‘MIXED CONSTITUTION’ OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC – DEMOCRACY OR OLIGARCHY? FROM THE PRINCIPATE TO THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 27 BC TO 476 AD CONCLUSION GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 3. The early Middle Ages and the transition from feudalism to capitalism INTRODUCTION THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES AND THE EMERGENCE OF FEUDALISM IN EUROPE Historical retrogression during the early Middle Ages The origins of feudalism in Western Europe The central features of feudalism The growth of feudalism THE CRISIS OF FEUDALISM AND THE EMERGENCE OF ABSOLUTISM IN FRANCE AND CAPITALISM IN ENGLAND The crisis of feudalism French absolutism Explaining the emergence of capitalism in England CONCLUSION GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 4. The English Revolution and parliamentary democracy INTRODUCTION THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR, 1640–59 English society in the mid-seventeenth century:population, class, gender and religion The historical origins of the English Parliament Background and context, 1603–40 Parliamentary rebellion, civil war and the Levellers, 1640–49 The republic and protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, 1650–59 FROM THE RESTORATION OF 1660 TO THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION OF 1688–89 CONCLUSION GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 5. The American Revolution and constitutional redefinition of democracy INTRODUCTION THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1775–87 Background and context Narrative of events THE CONSTITUTIONAL REDEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY, 1787–91 The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 Ratification of the Constitution: federalists versus anti-federalists The historical novelty of representative democracy COMPLETING THE REVOLUTION: CIVIL WAR 1861–65 CONCLUSION GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 6. The revolutionary revival of democracy in France INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT Classes, clergy, monarchy Enlightenment philosophy Long and short-term causes of the revolution NARRATIVE OF EVENTS The revolt of the nobility The bourgeois revolution of 1789 The revolutionary Jacobin government and the popular movement, 1792–95 The Jacobin Constitution of 1793 CONCLUSION GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 7. The revolutions of 1848-49 INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND AND CAUSES A WAVE OF REVOLUTION SWEEPS EUROPE THE JUNE INSURRECTION THE CONSERVATIVE COUNTER-REVOLUTION SPRINGTIME OF THE PEOPLES CONCLUSION: THE HISTORICAL LEGACY OF THE 1848 REVOLUTIONS GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 8. Capitalist expansion, globalisation and democratisation INTRODUCTION CAPITALIST EXPANSION ON A GLOBAL SCALE THE KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY THE DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY IN THE ADVANCED CAPITALIST SOCIETIES AND THE GROWING GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION ON REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY CONCLUSION GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 9. The Marxist critique of capitalism and representative democracy INTRODUCTION THE MARXIST CRITIQUE OF CAPITALISM Exploitation and inequality Environment Competition, imperialism and war Crisis Oppression Alienation THE DEMOCRATIC SWINDLE The social and economic context of representative democracy The institutional mechanisms of representative democracy CONCLUSION: EXPLOITATION, ALIENATION AND DEMOCRACY GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 10. Precursors of socialist participatory democracy: the Paris Commune of 1871 and Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917 INTRODUCTION THE PARIS COMMUNE 1871 Classical Marxist interpretations of the Commune THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1905 AND 1917: WORKERS’ POWER Historical context The 1905 Revolution War, crisis and revolution The February Revolution and dual power The Bolsheviks and the October Revolution Was the Russian Revolution a ‘Bolshevik coup’? The new workers’ state: constructing socialism? THE STALINIST DEGENERATION OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION CONCLUSION: SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRACY BEYOND CAPITALISM GUIDE TO FURTHER READING Bibliography Index