"This is not a democracy," Antonio Garcia-Trevijano denounces in the first pages of this book. To confront the great lie that Europe does have democratic regimes, a lie rooted in people's confounding of the liberties they enjoy with the political freedom that they lack, the author builds a realistic theory of democracy to end the false idea that corruption, state crime, and public immorality are democracy's (undesirable) products and not the natural and inevitable fruits of oligarchic regimes. Thanks to a superb review of the events that mark the history of democracy, the author reveals the obstacles that, from the 17th century English revolution, the United States' War of Independence, and the French Revolution, opposed political freedom, deviating old Europe's democratic possibilities toward the current parties' state. There exist important theories of the state and of constitution, but none that can be called a theory of democracy. Antonio Garcia-Trevijano's original theory, a modern synthesis of Rousseau's pure democracy and Montesquieu's political freedom, responds to European need for a theory of democracy as a real alternative to the corrupted parties' regime that was engendered by Western pragmatism during the Cold War.

About the Author
Antonio Garcia-Trevijano (born in Granada, Spain in 1927) is a prominent figure of Spanish politics since the late sixties, and is arguably one of the most important intellectual figures of 20th century both in political and aesthetical theory. Miguel Rodriguez de Penaranda (born in Madrid, Spain in 1974) is a writer and a translator. His main subject areas are philosophy, poetry, religion, and political theory. He currently lives in Vancouver, BC.


Book Information
ISBN 9780761848561
Author Antonio Garcia-Trevijano
Format Paperback
Page Count 202
Imprint University Press of America
Publisher University Press of America
Weight(grams) 299g
Dimensions(mm) 232mm * 154mm * 14mm