Democratic Statecraft - J S Maloy

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Résumé :
Maloy explores whether and how statecraft and democratic ways of thinking can be reconciled and combined.

Sommaire:
1. Introduction: realism and democracy; 2. Reason of state and two dimensions of realism; 3. From the Sophists to Aristotle: institutions lie; 4. From Aristotle to Machiavelli: democracy bites; 5. From Machiavelli to the Puritans: fire fights fire; 6. From the Puritans to the Populists: money never sleeps; 7. Conclusion: power and paradoxes.

'As democracy has risen to prominence, it has acquired an aura of idealism that has strengthened it, but also stripped it of some of its most powerful traits. In Democratic Statecraft, Jason Maloy poses a bold challenge to the uncritical idealism that characterizes much of contemporary democratic theory. The democratic reason of state that emerges in the process will remind those who have forgotten where democracy has been, and compel those concerned about its future to think hard about where it might go.' Yannis Evrigenis, Tufts University 'Democratic Statecraft is a unique, timely, and well-argued book. Maloy turns to an intellectual tradition, the realpolitik tradition of 'statecraft,' which is usually associated with un- or antidemocratic principles and practice, as a resource in efforts to think beyond the overly idealistic horizons of contemporary democratic theory. Maloy successfully teases out the democratic implications of realism, skepticism, and pragmatism, and, as a result, articulates a civic realism that addresses both power and justice in ways that are appropriate for healthy democratic practice today. The book definitively sheds original light on theorists we think that we already know well and speaks directly to the heart of debates in contemporary democratic theory. There is really nothing out there like Democratic Statecraft in the literatures of political theory and intellectual history.' John P. McCormick, University of Chicago