Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained: The True Meaning of Democracy - Hardcover

Arthur D. Robbins

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0967612764 ISBN 13: 9780967612768

Publisher: Acropolis Books, 2012

Synopsis

Arthur D. Robbins

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

"These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine in 1776, as thirteen British colonies were becoming thirteen independent states. Were Paine alive today he might be uttering similar thoughts. The design of government no longer suffices to address the needs of the governed. People from around the world are questioning the legitimacy of existing institutions and are searching for ways to create new solutions that will serve the common good.

To find new solutions, we need to educate ourselves on the subject of government. Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained will be our guide. Arthur Robbins has undertaken to track down signs of democracy anywhere he can find them, past and present, in an attempt to bring this important concept back to life. He has delved into the nature of power and reveals the basis for its abuse. He alerts us to the consequences of surrendering the power that is ours to those who are unqualified to exercise it responsibly.

Robbins brings to this book his training as an academic and the critical spirit that animated the writings of the eighteenth-century French philosophes. He shares the same unrelenting determination to expose the sham, to debunk the myth. Americans have come to accept their Constitution as sacrosanct. Yet as Robbins points out, its primary purpose was to enthrone the financial interests that have been in place ever since.

The story begins in Athens with an overview of democracy as practiced in the day-to-day lives of the ancient Athenians, and then turns to Rome and the Italian city-states. There is a section devoted to the effects of war on emergent democracy in the Middle Ages and in France at the time of the Revolution. Democracy in the early years of the United States, before the signing of the Constitution, is explored in detail.

Early Americans have much to teach us. We study some of the essays, letters, and articles written by the Anti-Federalists, those who were opposed to ratification of the Constitution. They were articulate and impassioned on the subject of democracy. They understood the nature of political power and of those who would abuse it.

We revisit one of the most democratic moments in American history. In 1776, the people of Pennsylvania, ordinary folk who felt their government was not fulfilling its social responsibility, wrote their own constitution with no experts to guide their pen. By studying the form of government they created and considering the process that put it in place, we get an inside look at how democracy really works. The book concludes with a review of recent experiments in democracy, especially in India and Latin America.

Over the centuries, the word ÒdemocracyÓ has taken on various meanings. Yet fundamentally, it is a political word. It describes a form of government. Civic democracy is something different. It codifies standards of conduct for the government in dealing with its citizens. Social democracy deals with the distribution of wealth, political democracy with the distribution of power.

We have come to see government as alien and unresponsive, and so we focus our attention elsewhere. We feel we canÕt make a difference. Our needs will be ignored no matter what we do. So why bother?

After reading Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, we will feel enlightened and empowered. New possibilities will open up. A deeper understanding of how government works will help us to understand how it can be made to serve us all. As Paine said, "We have it in our power to begin the world over again."

From the Back Cover:

This eye-opening, earth-shaking book takes us on an engrossing trip through ancient, medieval and modern history. We see how 21st century oligarchs, in their quest for power, have taken an important concept like democracy and emptied it of its true meaning.

Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained by Arthur Robbins is a fresh, torrential shower of revealing insights and vibrant lessons we can use to pursue the blessings and pleasures of a just society through civic efforts that are not as difficult as we have been led to believe.ÓRalph Nader

Arthur Robbins takes us across the centuries, describing the struggle for, and against, democracy. His book is politically literate, historically informed, and richly encyclopedic in scope. You will find him to be engaging and entertaining company.ÓMichael Parenti, author of The Face of Imperialism and The Assassination of Julius Caesar.

There are no issues more important in our times than the threat to our fundamental freedoms and the need to reclaim democracy's deepest and most authentic meaning, which is why every citizen everywhere must read Arthur Robbins' timely and necessary book, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained.Ó Dr. Vandana Shiva, author of Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace

This book will inform and inspire readers who want to understand democracy today and bring about its resurrection. RobbinsÕ prose is clear and his range of knowledge is astonishingÉ. After learning about democratic process, democratic experiments that are now underway, and after considering RobbinsÕ proposals for a more democratic government, readers of Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained will emerge with hope rekindled. This is a great book.Ó Joshua I. Miller, Professor, Department of Government and Law, Lafayette College, author of The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Early America, 1630-1789: The Legacy for Contemporary Politics

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About this edition

• Publisher: Acropolis Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0967612764
• ISBN 13: 9780967612768
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496
• Editor: Lynne Frost
• Illustrator: Erika Fusari