Paradoxes of Democracy

"S. N. Eisenstadt opens with observations on divergent theories of democracy and closes with a discussion of mechanisms by which democratic regimes incorporate into their own structures the movements of protest that seem to challenge their existence. In between he finds the roots of democratic theory in modern culture, the contradictions and tensions prompted by those roots, and some of the historical manifestations of contradiction.

Eisenstadt focuses on the most important conditions - especially on different patterns of collective identity - which influence the extent to which democratic regimes are able to incorporate themes of protest and social movements and thus assure their common survival."--BOOK JACKET.