The Shortest History of Democracy: Four Thousand Years of Self-Government—a Retelling for Our Times

Keane (The New Despotism), a professor of politics at the University of Sydney, delivers a concise and informative history of democracy “as an unending process of humbling unconstrained power.” Beginning in 2500 BCE with Syria-Mesopotamia, Keane organizes his history of democracy into three stages. “Assembly Democracy,” in which people gathered to debate public policies, was found in ancient Greece, as well as in the Levant and on the Indian subcontinent. “Electoral Democracy,” where representatives were chosen to make laws, came to prominence in the Atlantic world in the 18th and 19th centuries. “Monitory Democracy” developed after WWII and is characterized “by the rapid growth of many new kinds of extra-parliamentary, power-scrutinizing mechanisms” that monitor elections, review budgets, and otherwise seek to hold government officials accountable. According to Keane, this third stage, the “most complex and vibrant form of democracy yet,” is under threat from contemporary “despots” including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as well as from “massive inequalities of opportunity and wealth” in the U.S. and other Western countries. Though Keane’s history lessons come with a progressive slant, he packs far-flung details into a brisk and accessible narrative. This is a provocative and enlightening survey of democracy’s ever-shifting nature. (Sept.)