Robert A. Dahl (1915–2014)

A profoundly depressing book since it makes clear (without apportioning blame) the inherently undemocratic structures of the American Constitution while make a good argument as to why it is unlikely to be amended. The events of the decade that has elapsed since it was first published show little sign of the few developments that Dahl hoped might somehow ameliorate the most undemocratic or inegalitarian aspects of the American system.

This book is a short but very useful introduction to the the justification and effectiveness of political authority, primarily democratic authority but also hierarchical. Two of the author's central points are that nondemocratic forms of authority are needed even in democratic countries and that democracy should not be discussed as a simple, uniform thing. About two thirds of the book is theoretical and the remaining third is a discussion of today's political system in america. Even though show more I've read a fair number of books on politics by now, the perspective this book provided was quite new to me. I especially admire the author's clarity, his sensible scepticism of simple solutions and the fact that he understands both the value and the limitations of political theory. This book should be required reading for students in political theory, political philosophy and political science. show less

This book restored my faith in meaningful political theory. The authors explore the requirements and limits of rational planning and control by means of price systems, hierarchy, polyarchy and bargaining. Instead of praising it at length I will simply say that this book is the most detailed and intuitively correct theoretical analysis of politics that I've read so far. Even though it's 60 years old it easily trumps the modern analyses I know of with comparable scope.

I don't think this book quite matches the author's later works in terms of breadth and insight. In fact I found it a bit hard to really grasp what the argument was until the final chapter when the author finally gathers his separate strands together. The book begins with Madison's brief thesis on the tyranny of the majority and discusses it at some length. In the ensuing chapters the author mostly criticizes the presupposition that the operations of democratic societies can be described in show more terms of the contrasts between majorities and minorities. In this context he refers to "populist democracy" and "polyarchal democracy", but the meaning of these two terms did not quite become clear to me. Polyarchy is given a much more clear treatment in the author's subsequent book with that title.

Nevertheless, this is a good book especially for historically inclined political theorists interested in Madison's writings. Other readers could just as well start their studies from more recent works by the same author. show less