Table Of ContentParadise Lost,
Paradise Regained
The True Meaning of Democracy
Arthur D. Robbins
This bound copy consists of corrected page proofs. It is not for sale or
other distribution and is to be used for review purposes only.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9676127-6-8
ISBN-10: 0-9676127-6-4
Binding: Hard cover, Smythe sewn
Press Date: June 1, 2012
Publication Date: August 15, 2012
Trim Size: 6” x 9”
Backmatter: Endnotes, Bibliography, and Index
Price: $34.95 USA / $39.95 Canada
First Printing: 5,000 copies
Distribution: Baker and Taylor
Paradise Lost,
Par adise R egained
The True Meaning
of Democracy
Arthur D. Robbins
ACroPolIS BookS
New York
Copyright 2012 by Arthur D. robbins
Acropolis Books
P.o. Box 2629
New York, NY 10009
www.acropolis-newyork.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording
or any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from
the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication
robbins, Arthur D.
Paradise lost, paradise regained : the true meaning
of democracy / by Arthur D. robbins.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
lCCN 2011940038
ISBN-13: 978-0-9676127-6-8
ISBN-10: 0-9676127-6-4
1. Democracy. 2. Political science--Philosophy--
History. I. Title.
JC423.r63 2012 321.8
QBI11-600203
Interior design, kate Nichols
Jacket design, Erika Fusari
Jacket image, Eve by Albrecht Dürer, courtesy of Museo del Prado, Madrid
This book is composed in 10.3 Sabon
Printed in the United States of America on permanent and durable acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For the children everywhere—
May they inherit a world that is free, just, and joyous
A lie can go half way around the world,
before the truth even gets its boots on.
—Mark Twain
k
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The Specter of Government 1
Part I: ParadIse Lost
Democracy in Historical Context
1 What Is History and Why Does It Matter? 13
2 False Friends 27
3 Ancient Athens: Wellspring of Democracy 43
4 Government and Character: lessons from Athens 59
5 The roman republic: oligarchy with a Hint of Democracy 75
6 Experiments in Government: The Italian City-States 83
Part II: democracy In amerIca
Opportunity Missed
7 Early Voices in America 97
8 Democracy Denied 115
9 America’s Early oligarchy 133
10 Alexander Hamilton and the British Connection 147
viii contents
11 Democracy Affirmed:
The People of Pennsylvania Write a Constitution 161
12 The Struggle Continues: Democracy vs. republicanism 173
13 Democracy Defined 181
14 American Government: The Shaping of American Character 195
15 Democracy as Myth 213
Part III: the Quest for unbrIdLed Power
Democracy Crushed
16 The Battlefield after the Battle 229
17 Power Concealed 251
18 Power revealed: Napoleon in Myth and reality 265
19 Darkness Visible: Hidden Power Comes to light 281
20 The Pathology of Power 299
21 The Pathology of Political Disengagement 311
Part IV: ParadIse regaIned
Democracy in the Modern Age
22 Empowerment and the Process of Change 325
23 The Democratic Process 339
24 Democratizing the oligarchy 357
25 The Executive 373
26 Diversity in the East 387
27 Democracy Come True 405
Conclusion: The Citizen-State 427
Endnotes 437
Bibliography 451
Index 461
k
Preface
S
oME TIME AGo, I read a book by kenneth M. Dolbeare entitled
Political Change in the United States: A Framework of Analysis
(1974). At the end of the book, Dolbeare suggests to the reader
that he design a new form of government. This new government, a gov-
ernment that never existed before, would suit the whims and fancies of
the reader. Dolbeare imposed no constraints, no guides to work with.
This was a most unusual proposition, at once both intimidating and
empowering. How could one possibly presume to create a new govern-
ment, if only in the imagination? on the other hand, wouldn’t it be a
wonderfully liberating experience to engage in such an exercise? New
possibilities would open up. one would begin to see the current govern-
ment through different eyes. The future would seem brighter, seen in the
light of this new government.
Well, I took up Dolbeare’s challenge. I did exactly as he suggested.
I borrowed from Aristotle his use of the word “virtue” and proceeded
to create a new form of government. For Aristotle, “virtue” meant the
excellence of a thing. The virtue of a knife is its sharpness; the virtue
of a workhorse is its ability to pull heavy loads. If I wanted to create a
democracy, what would be its virtue? As I understood the word “democ-
racy” then, and still do, the virtue of democracy as a form of government
is its inclusion of the maximum number of citizens in the deliberative
and legislative processes.
This then became my goal—to design a government that had this
virtue. It would be a government that included hundreds of thousands
or maybe even millions of citizens, not as passive observers but as actual
governors. There would be no other considerations. I would not worry
whether or not my new government was feasible or even desirable. I
would not include any other constraints. I would simply proceed with
my new government, heedless and free of any second-guessing.
For the past twenty years or so, I have been living with this imagi-
x PREFACE
nary government in my head. It has cast a warm glow of anticipation
and optimism as I have lived out the harsh realities of how government
has indeed been behaving in current reality. Though I took no steps to
realize the new government I had created, it nonetheless existed for me
as an alternate reality to the government that did exist.* I offer Paradise
Lost, Paradise Regained: The True Meaning of Democracy in the hope
that those who read it will join me in my journey to the land of imagi-
nary government, where new possibilities exist as realities.
rockport, Massachusetts
June 15, 2011
* The reader will learn something about this imagined government in Chapter 27,
“Democracy Come True.”
