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The Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracy
Author(s): John Higley (Author), Michael Burton (Author)
- Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (UK)
- Publication Date: 27 July 2006
- Language: English
- Print length: 238 pages
- ISBN-10: 0742553604
- ISBN-13: 9780742553606
Book Description
The book considers an impressive body of cases, examining how consensually united elites have fostered forty-five liberal democracies and how disunited or ideologically united elites have thus far prevented liberal democracy in more than one hundred other countries. The authors argue that obstacles to the emergence of elites propitious for liberal democracy are more formidable than democratization enthusiasts recognize. They assess prospects for the transformation of disunited and ideologically united elites where they now exist, ask whether current challenges to Western liberal democracies will undermine their consensually united elites, and explore what the rise of the distinctive elite clustered around George W. Bush may portend for America’s liberal democracy. The authors’ powerful and important argument reframes our thinking about liberal democracy and questions optimistic assumptions about the prospects for its spread in the twenty-first century.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Higley and Burton . . . have written a stimulating, well argued, empirically grounded book . . . an historically based study that provides an excellent and comprehensive overview of the qualities within political elites that lead to the establishment of stable democratic rule.
To understand the primary features of . . . neo-elitism, one must read the important work by John Higley and Michael Burton.
This important study represents the culmination of Higley and Burton’s work―the first book-length exposition of the mature version of their elite theory buttressed by the close examination of an astonishing number and variety of historical cases. Well argued, clearly written, and astute, this book is easily accessible for undergraduates, general readers, and all those interested in elites or democratic transitions. — Thomas A. Baylis, University of Texas at San Antonio
Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracy marks a major contribution to the literature on the role of elites in regime changes. John Higley and Michael Burton present a superb treatment, which combines broad historical and comparative overview and in-depth theoretical analysis. The book is required reading for anyone interested in studies of democracy and democratization. — Vladimir Gelman, European University at St. Petersburg
Higley and Burton provide a comprehensive and rigorous framework through which scholars can make sense of the varieties of elite rule. Their hard-headed analysis of the forces that lie behind liberal democracy is all the more necessary given that U.S. foreign policy is now dedicated to the spread of such institutions around the world. — Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University
