City of Perth Library, UWA Extension, UWA Oceans Institute and Boffins Books are pleased to present A.C. Grayling. His new book, Democracy and its Crisis, investigates why the institutions of representative democracy seem unable to sustain themselves against forces they were designed to manage, and why it matters.
Can't make it? We'll happily have a copy of A. C. Grayling's Democracy and its Crisis signed for you. Simply Boffins Books us via phone, email, online or visit us in-store, and we'll take care of the rest.
Prompted by events in recent years in the UK and the USA, in Latin America, Russia and the Middle East, A. C. Grayling investigates why the institutions of representative democracy seem unable to sustain themselves against forces they were designed to manage, and why it matters.
In each of five short chapters, he considers a moment in history in which the challenges we face today were first encountered, how they were overcome - or not - and with what consequences. With the advent of authoritarian leaders and the simultaneous rise of populism, representative democracy appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place, yet it is this space that it must occupy, argues Grayling, if a civilized society, that looks after all its people, is to flourish.
‘No constitutional system should allow a partisan group to hijack the interests of the whole: this is happening in the UK and the US as these words are being written...It is therefore a matter of urgency to return our advanced polities to their democratic roots.’
A. C. Grayling is a Professor of Philosophy and Master of the New College of the Humanities in London. He believes that philosophy should take an active, useful role in society and is a prolific author, whose books include philosophy, ethics, biography, history, drama and essays. He has been a regular contributor to The Times, The Observer, The Economist, Literary Review and New Statesman, and is a frequent and popular contributor to radio and television programmes. He has published numerous books on philosophy including: The Age of Genius, War, The Challenge of Things, The Meaning of Things, The Good Book and The God Argument.
