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The RISE of DEMOCRACY
REVOLUTION, WAR AND TRANSFORMATIONS
IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SINCE 1776
CHRISTOPHER HOBSON
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THE RISE OF DEMOCRACY
Macintosh HD:Users:Graham:Public:GRAHAM'S IMAC JOBS:15554 - EUP - HOBSON:HOBSON NEW 9780748692811 PRINT
Macintosh HD:Users:Graham:Public:GRAHAM'S IMAC JOBS:15554 - EUP - HOBSON:HOBSON NEW 9780748692811 PRINT
THE RISE OF DEMOCRACY
Revolution, War and Transformations in
International Politics since 1776
Christopher Hobson
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© Christopher Hobson, 2015
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
The Tun – Holyrood Road
12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry
Edinburgh EH8 8PJ
www.euppublishing.com
Typeset in 11 /13pt Monotype Baskerville by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and
printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7486 9281 1 (hardback)
ISBN 978 0 7486 9282 8 (webready PDF)
ISBN 978 0 7486 9283 5 (epub)
The right of Christopher Hobson to be identified as author of
this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related
Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).
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CONTENTS
Preface vi
1 Introduction: Beyond the ‘End of History’ 1
2 Thucydidean Themes: Democracy in International Relations 18
3 Fear and Faith: The Founding of the United States 45
4 The Crucible of Democracy: The French Revolution 74
5 Reaction, Revolution and Empire: The Nineteenth Century 106
6 The Wilsonian Revolution: World War One 140
7 From the Brink to ‘Triumph’: The Twentieth Century 171
8 Conclusion: Democracy and Humility 204
Bibliography 221
Index 245
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PREFACE
Layers upon layers. Much like the concept I have been studying, this
work is marked by different periods, experiences and places. It repre-
sents my first substantive attempt to come to grips with democracy:
a beguiling, ambiguous and slippery idea and reality that I expect to
be grappling with for a long time to come. While commencing from
international relations (IR), this book is not much concerned with dis-
ciplinary questions, except in so far as the artificial line we have drawn
between the domestic and international realms has limited our ability
to fully understand democracy. Most IR scholars have either ignored
democracy or employed a shallow conception of it, devoid of most that
marks it as worthy of study. Meanwhile, political theory has – u ntil
recently – largely failed to deal with the wider international context,
a crucial condition of possibility for state- based democracy. This book
seeks to chart a course between these problematic tendencies and
in doing so, tends to blur between international relations, political
theory and history. In this regard, perhaps I have accidentally been
overly influenced by the approach of early English school thinkers,
especially Hedley Bull and Martin Wight. Yet the book departs from
these scholars in ultimately having a more critical intent. In this regard,
the purpose of this study is not to explain or theorise, but to contrast,
disrupt and denaturalise. For instance, how can we so easily talk of the
Arab Spring – referencing the earlier European experience – but still
be dismayed that the outcome of these political transitions remains
unclear only a few years later? It took Europe more than a century to
arrive at something approaching stable democratic government; why
should it be expected that other countries can reach a similar destina-
tion in a fraction of the time? This reflects an overwhelming tendency
to view democracy as something freestanding, almost devoid of a past.
vi
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Preface vii
Strangely enough, in such a situation simply providing a historical
contrast becomes a valuable and necessary corrective. This is what the
book’s cover is meant to convey. The image is hardly how we might
depict democracy today; even contemporary critics would portray
their scepticism in different terms. Yet we tend to forget that it is the
current situation which is the historical anomaly, and not the other
way around. In reminding us of this, my aim is not to bolster the lazy
scepticism towards democracy that is too often evidenced by those of
us lucky enough to have the freedoms that allow us to be so blasé.
The book very consciously avoids that quote by Winston Churchill,
which tends to become a cheap crutch for doubters who have yet to
abandon democracy but find little left to love in it. Even if we have
legitimate grounds for being frustrated with the many failings of
democracy, outright cynicism is not the solution. Democracy has its
flaws, but one of its greatest virtues is precisely that it provides space
to complain, identify problems and hopefully induce change. To this
end, here I provide the foundations and the first cut of a normative
defence of democracy. The chief technique employed is to ask us to
look at democracy through the foreign eyes that history provides.
There are perhaps no remarkable discoveries here; much like democ-
racy, its contribution is modest and straightforward, but hopefully still
of value.
This book has been completed in iterations over the past decade
across three countries, three democracies: Australia, the United
Kingdom and Japan. This work bears the marks and influences of
these different periods. Unfortunately one consequence of my globe-
trotting is that I have been stripped of my right to vote in Australia,
and I remain a denizen in my current home of Japan. As I can no
longer vote, teaching and writing is perhaps where my voice can be
best heard. In this sense, this book is partly meant to be a democratic
act.
Scholarly endeavours like this are for the most part thoroughly soli-
tary, but are punctuated by – a nd ultimately reliant upon – t he input
and support of others. This book has been made possible through
decisive and valuable interventions from those around me, while the
flaws and limitations found within are ones I am solely responsible for.
My sincere thanks to loved ones, friends, mentors and colleagues who
have supported me, to varying degrees and in different ways, during
the slow process of seeing this project to completion. I am also very
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viii The Rise of Democracy
appreciative of the considerable patience and assistance shown to me
by the staff at Edinburgh University Press. The book is dedicated to my
parents, Paul and Vivien. I am deeply grateful for the opportunities and
love they have given me.
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‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful
tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor
less.’
‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean
so many different things.’
‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master –
that’s all.’
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking- glass, and What Alice Found
There (1871)
