OUP: Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe: From the Ancien Régime to the Present Day by Sheri Berman
Journal of Democracy
A review: The Making and Unmaking of European Democracy by Samuel Gregg (Acton Blog)
It seem that she has an incomplete picture of the rise of bureaucracy and other instruments of the centralization of power that enabled the rise of the state, even before the regime of the state changed to "democracy," but really, "oligarchy" is the more appropriate term.
What was central to the ancien régime—and Berman demonstrates this convincingly—was the confirmation or granting of legal privileges to particular groups, most notably the nobility and clergy, by European rulers. This sanctioning of legal privileges (such as noble and clerical exemption from taxation or giving the aristocracy a formal monopoly of appointments to the officer corps and the civil service) was an effective way for monarchs to gain such groups’ acquiescence in, and even support for, the ruler’s centralization of power.
Who are the oligarchs who facilitated the rise of "democracy"? Should we be looking at the usual suspects, the mercantile and entrepreneurial class, lawyers, and so on? After all, we are not talking about individuals but families and extended networks or alliances seeking to promote their private good in the name of the "people."
Samuel Gregg, liberal, is like Sheri Berman, another liberal, though they may have different beliefs about individual morality. (I don't doubt that Berman is some form of feminist.) Both of them believe in the illusion that is "liberal democracy" which is actually oligarchy, just as Gregg cucks for "free markets."
None of the Above - "Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe"
Why democracies fail -- and why that’s okay | Sheri Berman | TEDxNewYork
An Interview with Sheri Berman on the Historical Development of Democracy
Sheri Berman on Democracy's Strengths: Origins and Misconceptions
Looking to History to Understand the Trump Administration (w/ Sheri Berman)
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