A Book Review - The Decline and Rise of Democracy: A Global History from Antiquity to Today by David Stasavage

After our month long break, we are back with fresh new exciting books. Tune In and share. The Princeton Economic History of the Western World, Published Feb 2020 REVIEWS  A bracing stringency is one of the virtues of The Decline and Rise of Democracy.  It sweeps across the globe in command of recent scholarship. . . . It  shows how complex democracy’s patterns are and, on the evidence, how  simpler accounts of its past and prospects stumble."—The Economist "Democracy is a naturally occurring condition in humanity  societies. This single idea sets Stasavage apart from so many theorists  who look to the past."—Justin Kempf, Democracy Paradox "I opened The Decline and Rise of Democracy: A Global History from Antiquity to Today,  by David Stasavage (Princeton, 2020), hoping to find insights on the  prospects for democracy in Russia, and China. And so I did. I closed the  book with a better understanding of American democracy as well."—David Warsh, Economic Principals "A rich and coherent account of democracy’s evolution over  millennia and across diverse geographical and environmental settings, "a  deep history". . . . This volume helps us look into the future, and one  might be unsettled by what can be seen."—Varghese K. George, The Hindu Overview Historical accounts of democracy’s rise tend to focus on ancient Greece and pre-Renaissance Europe. The Decline and Rise of Democracy draws from global evidence to show that the story is much  richer—democratic practices were present in many places, at many other  times, from the Americas before European conquest, to ancient  Mesopotamia, to precolonial Africa. Delving into the prevalence of early  democracy throughout the world, David Stasavage makes the case that  understanding how and where these democracies flourished—and when and  why they declined—can provide crucial information not just about the  history of governance, but also about the ways modern democracies work  and where they could manifest in the future. Drawing from  examples spanning several millennia, Stasavage first considers why  states developed either democratic or autocratic styles of governance  and argues that early democracy tended to develop in small places with a  weak state and, counterintuitively, simple technologies. When central  state institutions (such as a tax bureaucracy) were absent—as in  medieval Europe—rulers needed consent from their populace to govern.  When central institutions were strong—as in China or the Middle  East—consent was less necessary and autocracy more likely. He then  explores the transition from early to modern democracy, which first took  shape in England and then the United States, illustrating that modern  democracy arose as an effort to combine popular control with a strong  state over a large territory. Democracy has been an experiment that has  unfolded over time and across the world—and its transformation is  ongoing. Amidst rising democratic anxieties, The Decline and Rise of Democracy widens the historical lens on the growth of political institutions and  offers surprising lessons for all who care about governance.