Democracy in Europe
by Larry Siedentop
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Taking inspiration from the heated discussions that preceded the birth of federal government in the United States, Larry Siedentop investigates what we can reasonably expect and what we have to fear from a united Europe. Despite the profound hostility between skeptics and proponents of a united Europe, the outlines of serious public debate have barely been sketched. While skeptics talk of national sovereignty and invoke the spirit of wartime resistance, Europhiles embrace the idealism of show more eurozones and sound economic management. Larry Siedentop examines whether representative government is feasible across the vast physical scale and human diversity of Europe. He explores the threat to local autonomy and individual freedom, and he anatomizes the widely different political cultures of Britain, France, and Germany. He balances throughout an understanding of the great theorists of supranational government, especially Montesquieu and De Tocqueville, with a deep, though critical, appreciation of contemporary Europe. Siedentop argues that it is only on a publicly discussed and commonly agreed upon constitution that one can hope to build a democratic Europe equal to the pressures it will have to withstand. show lessTags
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Effectively discusses the debate, or lack of debate, in the on going European Union project. He sheds light on the development of its constitution relative to the US Constitution.
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Author Information
5+ Works 562 Members
Larry Siedentop is Faculty Lecturer in Political Thought in the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Keble College.
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Common Knowledge
- Important places
- European Union
Classifications
- Genres
- Politics and Government, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History, Philosophy
- DDC/MDS
- 320.94 — Society, Government, and Culture Political science Types of Government Political situation and conditions Europe
- LCC
- JN30 — Political Science Political institutions and public administration (Europe) Political institutions and public administration (Europe) General
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 99
- Popularity
- 324,847
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.85)
- Languages
- English, German, Italian, Slovenian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 7
