On Democracy

by Joshua Cohen, Joel Rogers

Examines the structures of the economy and political system of the United States and recommends methods for reforming the American government.

Genres: Academic, Politics, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 1983

About the author

Joshua Cohen is a political theorist, trained in philosophy, with a special interest in issues that lie at the intersection of democratic norms and institutions. He has written extensively on issues of democratic theory, particularly deliberative democracy and its implications for personal liberty, freedom of expression, religious freedom, and political equality. He has also written on issues of global justice, including the foundations of human rights, distributive fairness, supranational democratic governance, and labor standards in supply chains. Cohen serves as co-editor of Boston Review, a bimonthly magazine of political, cultural, and literary ideas. He has published Philosophy, Politics, Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2009); Rousseau: A Free Community of Equals (Oxford University Press, 2010); The Arc of the Moral Universe and Other Essays (Harvard University Press, 2011); and edited (with Alex Byrne, Gideon Rosen, and Seana Shiffrin) The Norton Introduction to Philosophy (forthcoming 2015). Cohen is a member of the faculty of Apple University.

Reviews

[Andreea · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I read one (one!) more book that pertains to political theory, I will reach my breaking point. Needless to say, Cohen seems like a sweetheart <3

[Garrett Strain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cohen sold out and now works at Apple University, but he sure did write a damn good book with Joel Rogers in 80s. The chapter "Structure" on the structure of capitalist democracy is the one of the most cleared-eyed assessments of the challenges to building an alternative to modern capitalism that I've ever read.