Adventures in Democracy

Erica Benner

'There is no simple way to measure the strength or weakness of a democracy.' Democracy is a living, breathing organism, and Erica Benner has spent her life thinking about the role ordinary citizens play in keeping it alive: from her childhood in postwar Japan, where democracy was imposed on a defeated nation, to working in post-communist Poland, with its surprising gaps in wealth and security. This book draws on her experiences and the rich history of self-governing peoples—from ancient Greece to the French Revolution to Renaissance Florence—to rethink some of the toughest questions we face today.

What do the ideals of democratic equality mean in a world obsessed with competition, wealth, and greatness? How can we hold the powerful to account? Can we find enough common ground to continue sharing democratic power into the future? Challenging age-old myths of heroic triumph over tyranny, Benner exposes the inevitable vulnerabilities of people power and invites us to consider why democracy is worth fighting for and the role each of us must play.