In this urgent wake-up call, Philip Coggan shows how democracy today faces threats that we ignore at our own risk. Amid the turmoil of the financial crisis and high debt levels, it is easy to forget that the ultimate victim could be our democracy itself. Tracing democracy's history and development, Coggan revisits the assumptions on which it is founded. What exactly is democracy? Why should we value it? What are its flaws? And could we do any better? Coggan proposes ideas for change and improvement to the system itself so the next vote we cast will not be the last.

Democracy is so much a part of our Westernlives that it is easy to think it takes care of itself.


About the Author
Philip Coggan was a Financial Times journalist for over twenty years, and is now the Buttonwood columnist for the Economist. In 2009 he was named Senior Financial Journalist in the Harold Wincott awards and was voted Best Communicator at the Business Journalist of the Year Awards. He is the author of The Money Machine, and Paper Promises, winner of the Spears Business Book of the Year Award and longlisted for the Financial Times Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

Reviews
Consistently illuminating . . . admirably balanced . . . An exploration of democracy's ills that anyone concerned with the current state of the world will benefit from reading. It is a book that addresses universal questions -- John Gray * New Statesman *
Coggan puts his argument together logically and methodically . . . His conclusions are sensible and moderate . . . It is rather a nice change to read a book which could best be described as a mild rebuke or a gentle warning. In essence, its author is getting a little Joni Mitchell about representative democracy -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780718197278
Author Philip Coggan
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 236g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 18mm