Beasts and gods

"Democracy has failed to deliver. Equal opportunity and the individual's ability to influence decision-making are a mirage, while both new and established democracies suffer a growing sense of malaise. Analysing a variety of voting methods across twenty countries, Roslyn Fuller shows that modern democracies are not really democracies at all. The side with better funding invariably wins elections and referenda, and the party that forms the government rarely receives the majority of the popular vote. This lack of representation then compounds at the international level, as delegated power is delegated yet again. Arguing for a return to the ancient Athenian idea of democracy based on citizen participation, Beasts and Gods is an extraordinary work, set to reconfigure the foundations of modern society."--Page 4 of cover.