"After the Revolution: Authority in a Good Society"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Robert Dahl has devoted his professional life to the study and analysis on the issues of democracy and how among his countless publications is the book "After the Revolution: Authority in a good Society". It looks at how the central theme of this volume is the discussion about the problems, strengths and weaknesses of democracy and democratic authority. It show how in the same way as philosophers Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes and Rousseau did, Dahl explores two basic questions in the world as to: who governs and to what ends do they govern. Also, it analyzes some questions over the limits of power given to people and explains he meaning of justice and sovereignty.

From the Paper:

"Further, the Criterion of Economy states that "a process my be less perfect than other alternatives according to the first two criteria but, on balance, more satisfactory simply because it economizes on the amount of time, attention, and energy." Dahl said, that ideal state is never reached in practice; therefore we are satisfied with the most acceptable, closest one to ideal, solution, which is an optimal system for making decisions. Finally, the Principle of Affected Interests states that "everyone who is affected by the decisions of a government should have the right to participate in that government." As was mentioned earlier, Dahl wrote that most associations use some sort of majority rule to make decisions. Hence, the all of the three criteria and the Principle of Equality my be violated for some members of the association. Thus, it needs to be considered how will democracy protects minorities. Dahl suggests three modifications to his fundamental criteria and principles."

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