Abstract
The History of Democracy Project, directed by John Keane, is attempting a critical survey of the history of democratic ideas and institutions - the first such comprehensive history for over a century. Seed-funded by the Ford Foundation, the project uses new concepts and research strategies to examine such disparate phenomena as self-governing assemblies in ancient Mesopotamia; the rise and fall of democracy in the Greek city-states; the birth of parliamentary assemblies in Europe; the long-term impact of the American and French Revolutions; the spread of democratic ideals to Latin America and Asia during the past two centuries; and the recent calls for the democratization of global institutions. The project aims to cast new light on the multiple meanings of democracy. It revisits the history of opposition to the aims and methods of democracy and assesses the chances of the survival of democratic ideals and institutions during the coming decades.
John Keane’s The Life and Death of Democracy will inspire and shock its readers. Presenting the first grand history of democracy for well over a century, it poses along the way some tough and timely question and confronts its readers with an entirely fresh and irreverent look at the past, present and future of democracy
