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ISSN number: 1746-4757

 

What's So Special About Democracy?

Ricardo Blaug

[EDITOR'S NOTE]. In order to justify the critical stance we take on the current state of modern "democracies", it is necessary to discuss that ubiquitous term in certain ways. Few terms are so abused, having been put to the service of almost all political ideologies at some point in history. Simultaneously, no political idea is so powerful when boiled down to its essential point: self-rule (the literal translation of the Greek autonomia, or autonomy). In this essay, Ricardo Blaug asks why the term "democracy" has such power.

RICARDO: think that original essay would still be better here although would understand if you are no longer satisfied with it: if this goes ahead it would be entirely up to you and I would welcome any suggestions for alternatives...