Democracy is sold to us on its ability to deliver equal opportunity, and to give every citizen an equal voice. Yet time and again we see that this is not the case: power and spoils alike flow to the few, while the many are left with no recourse. What is wrong with democracy?
Nothing, says Roslyn Fuller: what we have simply isn't democracy-it's a perversion of it, created by poorly designed electoral systems, weak campaign laws, and broad limitations on participation and representation at nearly every level. Backing her argument with copious empirical data analyzing a wide variety of voting methods across twenty nations, Fuller makes her conclusion irrefutable: if we want true democracy, we have to return to the philosophical insights that originally underpinned it, and thoroughly reexamine the goals and methods of democracy and democratic participation. A radical, damning, yet at the same time fiercely hopeful work,Beasts and Gods aims to reconfigure the very foundations of modern society.
About the Author
Roslyn Fuller is a research associate at Waterford Institute of Technology and legal correspondent for Russia Today.
Industry Reviews
A visionary thought experiment...guaranteed to make you think differently about the trillion dollar bureaucracies we call democracy today. * Forbes *
There is no doubting the timeliness of Fuller's contribution to the ongoing debates over the future of democratic government. * The European Legacy *
Beasts and Gods is a timely and provocative look behind the cliches of Western politics. It recognises that government of the people, by the people, is not what our current democracies feel like to most of their citizens. Fuller returns to the roots of democracy in classical republican practice and rediscovers the sources of the renewal that is urgently required. Her optimism makes this not just a challenging book but a heartening one. * Fintan O'Toole, deputy editor, Irish Times *
Fuller's is a timely book, laying out the myriad problems with modern democracy in plain English. Anyone concerned with the lack of participation in our modern democracies must read this. * Jillian York, director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation *
Beasts and Gods provides a fascinating contrast between democracy in theory and democracy in practice. It deconstructs the assumptions underlying representative democracy, and debunks the fiction that modern elections are "free and fair". This provocative book draws on lessons from ancient Greece, while advocating direct democracy by decoupling economics from politics. * Marjorie Cohn, professor of law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law *
Everyone interested in rethinking democracy in the digital age should read this book. The old ways of governing are dying, and Beasts and Gods offers timely and provocative ideas on how to finally make people power a reality. * Micah Sifry, author of Wikileaks and the Age of Transparency *
Fuller takes the much needed leap from pointing out what's wrong with our democracies to proposing a parallel system based on democracy's original foundations. It's a strong reminder that democracy is and must always be a work in progress, or it won't be a democracy at all. * Pia Mancini, democracy activist and co-founder of DemocracyOS *
Every now and then Modern society throws up someone who questions its most cherished myths. The how and why of it deserves a book in its own right. Roslyn Fuller is one such, and, in this work, she takes on a holy cow, Democracy, that the West loves to believe it invented (like all good things). She is a young scholar, but gifted with the right intuition, attitude, and talent to take it on, full frontal, from A to Z. As such the book is a refreshing, and highly timely, tour de force, putting both conventional apologetics and hoary critiques to shame. It dares us to rethink the myth, and perhaps even to, finally, infuse some real content to it - before we are all entrapped in irreversible Oligarchy. * Rajani Kanth, Harvard University *
