Seven Myths about Democracy

This timely book challenges seven widespread misconceptions about democracy that continue to shape public and academic debates about its past, present, and future. Drawing on historical evidence, comparative research, and case illustrations, it demonstrates that commonly repeated claims—such as that...

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Autors principals: Møller, Jørgen, Skaaning, Svend-Erik
Format: Online
Idioma:anglès
Publicat: Taylor & Francis 2026
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Accés en línia:ONIX_20260529T115621_9781040877067_12
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author Møller, Jørgen
Skaaning, Svend-Erik
author_browse Møller, Jørgen
Skaaning, Svend-Erik
author_facet Møller, Jørgen
Skaaning, Svend-Erik
author_sort Møller, Jørgen
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This timely book challenges seven widespread misconceptions about democracy that continue to shape public and academic debates about its past, present, and future. Drawing on historical evidence, comparative research, and case illustrations, it demonstrates that commonly repeated claims—such as that democracy cannot be defined, that it was born in ancient Athens, that it is only for Western countries, that it is ineffective, or that it is in terminal decline—rest on shaky foundations. In a clear, accessible, and research-based style, the authors show how these myths distort our understanding of democracy and exaggerate its vulnerabilities – challenging doomsday accounts of democracy to offer a more balanced, historically informed perspective. While not ignoring real challenges such as populism, polarisation, and authoritarian pushback, the book emphasises that the core promise of democracy—the peaceful transfer of power through elections—remains unmatched as a tool to secure peace, freedom, and progress. It is thus both a myth-buster and a treatise in defence of democracy. This book is of key interest to scholars and students of democracy, and more broadly, to readers interested in international relations, comparative politics, and history. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com , has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non- Commercial- No Derivatives (CC- BY- NC- ND) 4.0 international licence.
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language eng
publishDate 2026
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1770422026-06-04T06:28:33Z Seven Myths about Democracy Møller, Jørgen Skaaning, Svend-Erik Comparative political systems Regime legitimacy Electoral processes Populism and polarisation Authoritarian resurgence Political history analysis Myths about representative government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHV Political structures: democracy thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy This timely book challenges seven widespread misconceptions about democracy that continue to shape public and academic debates about its past, present, and future. Drawing on historical evidence, comparative research, and case illustrations, it demonstrates that commonly repeated claims—such as that democracy cannot be defined, that it was born in ancient Athens, that it is only for Western countries, that it is ineffective, or that it is in terminal decline—rest on shaky foundations. In a clear, accessible, and research-based style, the authors show how these myths distort our understanding of democracy and exaggerate its vulnerabilities – challenging doomsday accounts of democracy to offer a more balanced, historically informed perspective. While not ignoring real challenges such as populism, polarisation, and authoritarian pushback, the book emphasises that the core promise of democracy—the peaceful transfer of power through elections—remains unmatched as a tool to secure peace, freedom, and progress. It is thus both a myth-buster and a treatise in defence of democracy. This book is of key interest to scholars and students of democracy, and more broadly, to readers interested in international relations, comparative politics, and history. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com , has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non- Commercial- No Derivatives (CC- BY- NC- ND) 4.0 international licence. 2026-05-30T05:18:16Z 2026-05-30T05:18:16Z 2026-05-29T11:31:11Z 2026 book ONIX_20260529T115621_9781040877067_12 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/113842 9781040877067 9781003746195 9781040877128 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/177042 eng Democratization and Autocratization Studies open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/113842/1/9781040877067.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/113842/1/9781040877067.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781003746195 10.4324/9781003746195 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 Aarhus Universitet 0db552d3-59a2-444f-bc63-c56e92032055 9781040877067 9781003746195 9781040877128 Routledge 160 Oxford [...] open access
spellingShingle Comparative political systems
Regime legitimacy
Electoral processes
Populism and polarisation
Authoritarian resurgence
Political history analysis
Myths about representative government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHV Political structures: democracy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
Møller, Jørgen
Skaaning, Svend-Erik
Seven Myths about Democracy
title Seven Myths about Democracy
title_full Seven Myths about Democracy
title_fullStr Seven Myths about Democracy
title_full_unstemmed Seven Myths about Democracy
title_short Seven Myths about Democracy
title_sort seven myths about democracy
topic Comparative political systems
Regime legitimacy
Electoral processes
Populism and polarisation
Authoritarian resurgence
Political history analysis
Myths about representative government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHV Political structures: democracy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
topic_facet Comparative political systems
Regime legitimacy
Electoral processes
Populism and polarisation
Authoritarian resurgence
Political history analysis
Myths about representative government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHV Political structures: democracy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
url ONIX_20260529T115621_9781040877067_12
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