Democracy has reshaped politics, economics,
and culture around the world. This provocative book asks, can
you have too much of a good thing?
Today we judge the value of every idea, institution, and
individual by one test: is it popular? Or, more practically, do
the majority of those polled like it? This transformation has
affected not just politics but also business, law, culture, and
even religion.
Every institution and profession in society must democratize
or die. Democracy has gone from being a form of government to a
way of life.
Like any broad transformation, however, the trends that
democracy unleashes are not uniformly benign. Democracy has its
dark sides, yet to question it has been to provoke instant
criticism that you are "out of sync" with the times.
No more.
With an easy command of history, philosophy, and current
affairs, Zakaria reinterprets our past and outlines our future.
Woodrow Wilson said the challenge of the twentieth century was
to make the world safe for democracy. This penetrating book
challenges us to make democracy safe for the world.
