
The Dispersion of Power is an urgent call to rethink centuries of conventional wisdom about what democracy is, why it matters, and how to make it better. Drawing from history, social science, psychology, and critical theory, it explains why elections do not and cannot realize the classic ideal of popular rule, and why prevailing strategies of democratic reform often make things worse. Instead, Bagg argues, we should see democracy as a way of protecting public power from capture-an alternative vision that is at once more realistic and more inspiring.Despite their many shortcomings, real-world elections do prevent the most extreme forms of tyranny, and are therefore indispensable. In dealing with the vast inequalities that remain, however, we cannot rely on standard solutions such as electoral reform, direct democracy, deliberation, and participatory governance. Instead, Bagg shows, protecting and enriching democracy requires addressing underlying inequalities of power directly. In part, this entails substantive policies attacking the advantages of wealthy elites. Even more crucially, deepening democracy requires the organization of oppositional, countervailing power among ordinary people. Neither task is easy, but historical precedents exist in both cases-and if democracy is to survive contemporary crises, leaders and citizens alike must find ways to revive and reinvent these essential democratic practices for the 21st century.
This book investigates why traditional electoral systems fail to achieve the ideal of popular rule and proposes a new framework for democracy centered on the protection of public power from capture. Author Samuel Ely Bagg utilizes a multidisciplinary approach, synthesizing historical analysis, social science, psychology, and critical theory to challenge conventional democratic reform strategies. He argues that standard solutions like deliberation or direct democracy are insufficient, positing instead that democracy must be redefined as a mechanism for checking elite power through the organization of countervailing forces among the citizenry.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and political theorists recognize this work as a rigorous intervention in contemporary democratic theory that moves beyond standard reformist discourse. Readers frequently note the intellectual density of the prose, which demands a high level of engagement with critical realist methodology.
Page Count:
304
Publication Date:
2024-03-11
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192848828
ISBN-13:
9780192848826
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