The civic bargain How democracy survives

In contrast to the burgeoning library of books on the decline of democracy, Manville (consultant) and Ober (Stanford Univ.) start by asking how and why democracies endure. Following standard short histories of ancient Athens and Rome and contemporary Great Britain and the US, the book makes its core argument in its final chapters on patterns of survival and "keeping the deal." Locating democracy's essence in compromise and the ability of citizens to "treat one another as civic friends, engaged in a common enterprise, rather than as enemies to be destroyed" (p. 204), the authors remain optimistic in the ability of democratic societies to learn and adapt even to existential threats. The growing barriers to this goal in the US--including, especially, the inability of Congress to pass bills, a new media environment, rising tribalism, a consequent disengagement from political life, and the citizenry's "lack of understanding about how to tackle the problems at hand" (p. 226)--are, the authors concede, formidable. Their emphasis on civic education, through both informal communal practices and formal curricula, is nicely presented and worthy of attention but seems hardly up to the task without deeper reforms. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates and general readers. --Edward V. Schneier, emeritus, City College of the City University of New York

Political historians Manville and Ober (coauthors, A Company of Citizens) have written much about the politics of ancient Greece. In this book, they apply some of that scholarship to the struggles of present-day democracies by scrutinizing four major Western historical democratic experiments: classical Athens; Republican Rome; Great Britain's monarchy; and the founding of the United States. The authors argue that democracy's future can be secured if citizens consider a "civil bargain, which depends on the practice of "good-faith compromise" and "civic friendship," instead of a mindset to crush a nation's enemies. The book's analysis centers on the meaning of democracy, and it identifies traits that have promoted stability throughout history. The authors note seven conditions necessary for self-governance and highlight examples of bargaining and compromise in four case studies. They also point out the periodic failures and civil strife that forced some nations to adapt and prevail. Manville and Ober warn against the dangers of "hyperpolarized partisanship," which often results in widespread disengagement from civil life. A need for better civic education is stressed as a solution. VERDICT A guarded but optimistic vision for saving democracy. Best for readers who are concerned about the future of the U.S.--Thomas Karel