Sheldon S. Wolin Knihy

Considers the unthinkable : has America unwittingly morphed into a new and strange kind of political hybrid, one where economic and state powers are conjoined and virtually unbridled? Can the nation check its descent into what the author terms "inverted totalitarianism"? Portrays a country where citizens are politically uninterested and submissive--and where elites are eager to keep them that way. At best the nation has become a "managed democracy" where the public is shepherded, not sovereign. At worst it is a place where corporate power no longer answers to state controls. Makes clear that today's America is in no way morally or politically comparable to totalitarian states like Nazi Germany, yet warns that unchecked economic power risks verging on total power and has its own unnerving pathologies. Examines the myths and mythmaking that justify today's politics, the quest for an ever-expanding economy, and the perverse attractions of an endless war on terror. Argues passionately that democracy's best hope lies in citizens themselves learning anew to exercise power at the local level. From publisher description

Focusing on the intersection of political theory and practice, this comprehensive work explores Alexis de Tocqueville's significant influence on American political thought and his active role in French politics. Sheldon Wolin draws from extensive research to reinterpret Tocqueville's major works and their intellectual legacy. Additionally, the book provides insightful commentary on the evolution of Western political life over the last two centuries, highlighting the enduring relevance of Tocqueville's ideas in contemporary discourse.

[Democracy Incorporated provides] a rare, chilling analysis of intellectual critics of democracy. If democracy means more than occasional elections and protection of those rights that are compatible with economic and political elites' interests, Wolin's analysis of our democratic predicament is shocking, solid, and fundamentally correct.--C. P. Waligorski, Choice

Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts sehen wir uns vermehrt neuen, postdemokratischen Regierungstechniken ausgesetzt, die Elemente der liberalen Demokratie mit denen totalitärer politischer Systeme verbinden. Das Streben nach Superpower und das Management von Demokratie haben zu diesem "umgekehrten" Totalitarismus geführt, so Sheldon S. Wolin. Den zentralen Unterschied zum klassischen Totalitarismus sieht er darin, dass diese postmoderne Form totaler Herrschaft auf eine weitreichende Entpolitisierung der Bevölkerung und auf weichere, kaum wahrnehmbare Unterdrückungsmechanismen setzt. Wer die zerstörerischen Auswirkungen dieser neuen Machtstrukturen auf unsere Demokratie erkennen und verstehen will, kommt an diesem Klassiker der politischen Philosophie nicht vorbei!