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Adventures in Democracy

The Turbulent World of People Power

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Brought to you by Penguin.

In a hyper-competitive world obsessed with rankings, super-wealth and greatness, how can we live up to democratic ideals of equality?

Erica Benner has spent a lifetime thinking about these questions from different angles in different countries - from post-war Japan, where democracy was imposed on a defeated country, to post-communist Poland, with sudden gaps of wealth and security, and the US and South Africa with their legacies of slavery and racism.

Adventures in Democracy draws on her experiences and the deep history of democracies - in ancient Rome and Athens, the American and French revolutions and Renaissance Florence - to offer an unflinching portrait of modern democracy. To salvage democratic institutions and ideals, Benner argues, we need to pay more attention to inequalities and struggles for power among citizens. Probing myths of heroic triumph over tyranny and inexorable progress towards equality, she reveals the vulnerabilities of people power, inviting us to consider why democracy is worth fighting for and the role each citizen must play.

©2024 Erica Benner (P)2024 Penguin Audio

 Essais et carnets de voyage Idéologies et doctrines Monde Politique Sciences politiques

Ce que les critiques en disent

A sparkling account of people power through the ages, and how to save it from itself . . . a page-turner full of wit, original insight and unassuming erudition . . . a timely reminder that we can all play our part (Katja Hoyer)
Shows how ancient wisdom might save democracies from anarchy and ruin . . . That she has lived and taught the ideas she writes about gives the book an enjoyable vitality (Emma Duncan)
Highly stimulating . . . wonderfully readable . . . wherever she darts in history, Benner is a terrific guide, always questioning, always teasing out parallels . . . she brings clarity and curiosity to each issue . . . and a deep understanding of the past . . . her analysis of democracy's key strengths and weaknesses is forensic (Sarah Dunant)
A lively, accessible account of democracy, its strengths and weaknesses over the past 2,500 years . . . it comes with a plea to throw out the self-satisfied view that western democracy is a kind of political perfection, and to bring more honesty to our conversations about the ideal versus the reality of modern democracy (Michael Foley)
An enjoyable dive into political philosophy... an unusually accessible gut punch of a book... Erica Benner takes readers on a journey across the ages... to explore what happens when the core ideas of democracy are subverted by demagogues and self-absorbed citizens (Matthew Jones)
An invigorating reflection on the tensions in liberal democracy. Benner weaves together personal reflections on life in Japan and Eastern Europe with a nuanced account of ancient philosophies that are all too often caricatured. Essential reading for anyone tempted to be complacent about the survival of democracy in the twenty-first century (Catherine Fletcher)
Engaging, illuminating, and arrives at an opportune moment. . . An overriding concern is that though democratic norms encourage us to love equality, we tend to want more of it for ourselves than for the rest (Sanjay Sipahimalani)
Erica Ben­ner lends a personal, familiar touch to a difficult, layered subject. The tone of the narrative and how the chapters unfold are riveting — it is almost as if Benner is sitting down to have a meal with you and engaging in a frank, informal discussion about…democracy, its “be­ginnings and myths”, the “constant struggles” it has faced over the years and the “mortal dangers” it suffers today
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