Re-imagining Democracy in the Age of Revolutions

Re-imagining Democracy in the Age of Revolutions charts a transformation in the way people thought about democracy in the North Atlantic region in the years between the American Revolution and the revolutions of 1848. In the mid-eighteenth century, 'democracy' was a word known only to the literate. It was associated primarily with the ancient world and had negative connotations: democracies were conceived to be unstable, warlike, and prone to mutate into despotisms. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the word had passed into general use, although it was still not necessarily an approving term. In fact, there was much debate about whether democracy could achieve robust institutional form in advanced societies. In this volume, an international cast of contributors shows how common trends developed throughout the United States, France, Britain, and Ireland, particularly focussing on the era of the American, French, and subsequent European revolutions. Re-imagining Democracy in the Age of Revolutions argues that 'modern democracy' was not invented in one place and then diffused elsewhere, but instead was the subject of parallel re-imaginings, as ancient ideas and examples were selectively invoked and reworked for modern use. The contributions significantly enhance our understanding of the diversity and complexity of our democratic inheritance.INTRODUCTION ; AMERICA ; 1. Languages of Democracy in America from the Revolution to the Election of 1800 ; 2. 'The Fortunate Banner': Languages of Democracy in the United States, c. 1848 ; 3. The Contradictions of Democracy in American Institutions and Practices ; FRANCE ; 4. Varieties of Democracy in the French Revolution ; 5. Nineteenth-Century French Political Thought and the Problem of the General Will ; 6. Elections and Democracy in France, 1789-1848 ; BRITAIN ; 7. Talking about Democracy: Britain in the 1790s ; 8. The Rise of Democratic Discourse in the Reform Era: Britain in the 1830s and 40s ; 9. People and Power in British Politics to 1850 ; IRELAND ; 10. Constructing Democratic Thought in Ireland, 1775 - 1800 ; 11. 'Democracy' and the Irish People 1830-48 ; 12. The Limits of Democracy: Ireland 1778-1848 ; SYNERGIES