Introduction

democracy and political philosophy

pp. 1-12

in: Howard P. Kainz, Democracy East and West, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1984

Abstract

The purpose of this book is to re-examine some of the pivotal concepts considered essential to, or frequently associated with, democracy, and the way in which these concepts are applied in contemporary political systems. However, when we consider the various contenders in the worldwide pursuit of democratic orthodoxy, it becomes immediately obvious that the term, "democracy", is being used to describe almost every species of political system now prevalent except for an out-and-out non-socialist dictatorship. Thus we must be aware at the outset of the danger of developing a definition of democracy so diluted that it becomes meaningless.