Struggle for Democracy

Although the conflict and the bloodshed in the name of democracy have given us some our noblest moments, democracy itself remains one of the most flawed, confusing, threatened, and complex of human institutions. By examining the paradoxes and perplexities, The Struggle for Democracy provides a clear understanding of the origin and nature of democracy, including the extraordinary idea of citizenship, the tremendous achievement of free speech, and the enormous power placed in the hands of ordinary men and women.When it was first published in 1989, The Struggle for Democracy, and its attendant documentary series, were acclaimed as groundbreaking and marvelously engaging. Picking up where the first edition left off, this revised edition includes sixteen pages of full-colour photographs and commentary on such monumentally historic events as the destruction of the Berlin Wall, the infamous student demonstrations in Tiannamen Square, and the collapse of Communism in the former Soviet Union. In an inspiring new introductory chapter, Patrick Watson reflects on the challenges facing world democracy as it enters the new millennium. In a new concluding chapter, Benjamin Barber examines the future of democracy and the impact that globalization and technology will have on both emerging and established democracies.

Patrick Watson is a writer, director, actor, television host, and interviewer. He was the co-creator and host of the twelve-part PBS television series The Struggle for Democracy (1989): a series that has aired in more than thirty countries around the world, including the merging free countries of Eastern Europe. Chair of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1989 to 1994, he is now creative director of the CRB Foundation's Heritage Project and commissioning editor, documentaries, for History Television.

Benjamin R. Barber is the Walt Whitman Professor of Political Science and the director of the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy at Rutgers University. He was the co-writer of the international television series The Struggle for Democracy and its companion volume. He is the author of fourteen books, including the classic Strong Democracy, most recently Jihad vs. McWorld, and the forthcoming Clinton memoir, Speak Truth to Power: Intellectuals in the Clinton White House.