The principles of representative government
Bernard Manin's challenging book defines the key features of modern democratic institutions. For us representative government has come to seem inseparable from democracy. But its modern history begins, as Professor Manin shows, as a consciously chosen alternative to popular self-rule. In the debates which led up to the new constitution of the United States, for the first time, a new form of republic was imagined and elaborated, in deliberate contrast to the experiences of ancient republics from Athens to Renaissance Italy
Book
ix, 243 pages ; 24 cm
9780521452588, 9780521458917, 0521452589, 0521458919
34669372
Introduction; 1. Direct democracy and representation: selection of officials in Athens; 2. The triumph of election; 3. The principle of distinction; 4. A democratic aristocracy; 5. The verdict of the people; 6. Metamorphoses of representative government; Conclusion; Index.
English translation from the French of: Principes du gouvernement représentatif