Robert A. Dahl's philosophy of democracy, exhibited in his essays

Dahl's collected essays give more weight to his achievements as a philosopher of democracy than to his empirical investigations. Nevertheless, they clearly reflect his habit of working close to empirical facts, in particular the problems created for democratic practices by the size of modern po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of political science 2003-01, Vol.6, p.99-118
Main Authors: Bailey, Michael, Braybrooke, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capitalism
Citizen participation
Dahl, Robert A
Democracy
Democratic theory
Pluralism
Political elites
Political philosophy
Political science
Political Science Theories
Polyarchy
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Summary:Dahl's collected essays give more weight to his achievements as a philosopher of democracy than to his empirical investigations. Nevertheless, they clearly reflect his habit of working close to empirical facts, in particular the problems created for democratic practices by the size of modern political societies, their pluralism, and their intricate involvement with capitalism. His trenchant account, under the head of 'polyarchy,' of basic democracy, of the further criteria for full democracy, and of the conditions for achieving democracy at both these levels has established the current standard for discussing democratic theory. Moreover, he clears the way for continuing hope for democracy by demolishing (by arguments supported by observations) the ruling-elite model and advances the prospects of democracy by championing a variety of jurisdictional arrangements for citizens' participation. Reprinted by permission of Annual Reviews
ISSN:1094-2939
DOI:10.1146/annurev.polisci.6.121901.085839