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Democracy
Subject Index

Below are groups and resources (books, articles, websites, etc.) related to this topic. Click on an item’s title to go its resource page with author, publisher, description/abstract and other details, a link to the full text if available, as well as links to related topics in the Subject Index. You can also browse the Title, Author, Subject, Chronological, Dewey, LoC, and Format indexes, or use the Search box on the left.
Particularly recommended items are flagged with a red logo:
  1. The Abolition of the State
    Anarchist & Marxist Perspectives

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2007
    Both Anarchists and Marxists believe that it will be possible to do away with the state. But what do they mean by that? What is the state, after all? What institutions, if any, would be necessary to replace its functions? Would a transitional “dictatorship of the proletariat” be needed or will it be possible to immediately abolish the state? Does modern technology require a centralized institution such as the state? Throughout the history of revolutions, the people have created workplace councils and neighborhood assemblies--how could these replace the state?
  2. After the Crash
    The Emergence of the Rainbow Economy

    Resource Type: Book
  3. Against All Odds
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1985
    The shadow haunting the power structure is the danger that those who are controlled will realize they are powerless only so long as they think they are. Once people stop believing they are powerless the whole edifice is in danger of collapse.
  4. Against the Current
    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1986
    Bi-monthly magazine oriented toward movements for social and economic justice; radical, socialist and feminist in orientation.
  5. AlterNet
    Resource Type: Website
    Online news magazine and community featuring original journalism as well as material from many other independent media sources. AlterNet's aim is to inspire action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, health care issues, and other issues.
  6. The American Socialist Movement: 1897-1912
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1952
  7. Another World is Possible 
    Globalization and Anti-capitalism

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2002   Published: 2006
    A call-to-arms for progressive activists. McNally argues that capitalism is synonymous with imperialism and fundamentally incompatible with democracy.
  8. Another world is possible
    New Internationalist January/February 2002

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 2002
    Takes a look at the current global system and possible ways to change it for the better.
  9. An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2003
    An extended argument about what the anti-capitalist movement should stand for.
  10. Arundhati Roy on Obama's Wars, India and Why Democracy Is "The Biggest Scam in the World"
    Resource Type: Film/Video
    First Published: 2010
    Indian writer and activist Arundhati Roy on President Obama, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, India and Kashmir and much more. Roy also talks about her journey deep into the forests of central India to report on the Maoist insurgency.
  11. Beyond the Fragments 
    Feminism and the Making of Socialism

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1979   Published: 1980
    A call for various fractions of the left to unite and work for a socialism through grass-roots activism.
  12. Blocking Progress 
    Consensus Decision Making In The Anti-Nuclear Movement

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1983
    Howard Ryan maintains that consensus is wrong in principle and in practice: "The problem is not so much that individuals are being irresponsible or somehow abusing the consensus process. The problem lies in giving individuals that kind of power in the first place. Consensus turns majority rule into minority rule. That's not democracy."
  13. Books for Burning
    Between Civil War and Democracy in 1970s Italy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2005
  14. Bound By Power
    Intended Consequences

    Resource Type: Book
    These essays focus on how power and ideology work within society. Interviews are with Noam Chomsky, Linda McQuaig, Robert Bertuzzi and others. They speak to the issues of the understanding of power and political dissent, the repression of dissent in post 9/11 media coverage and the war on terror.
  15. Bowling Alone
    The Collapse and Revival of American Community

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2000
    Bowling Alone documents the rise and fall of community activity in the twentieth century in the United States and the social changes this reflects. It offers all the evidence, the confirmatory and the contradictory, to give a complete look at trends of community involvement and how increased social capital can benefit everybody.
  16. Bureau of Public Secrets 
    Resource Type: Website
    Articles from a Situationist perspective.
  17. Canada's Distorted Electoral System
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2000
    Canada's electoral system is undemocratic
  18. Center for Democracy and Technology
    Resource Type: Website
    Addresses issues of Internet censorhip and privacy.
  19. Chomsky on Democracy and Education
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2002   Published: 2003
    Education stands at the intersection of Noam Chomsky's two lives as scholar and social critic: As a linguist he is keenly interested in how children acquire language, and as a political activist he views the education system as an important lever of social change.This book gathers for the first time his impressive range of writings on these subjects, spanning issues of language, power, policy and method.
  20. Chomsky on MisEducation
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2000
    Chomsky critiques the education system and discusses what education could be like in a democratic society.
  21. Chomsky.Info 
    Resource Type: Website
    The Noam Chomsky Web site.
  22. A Citizen Legislature
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1985
  23. Citizens for Local Democracy Newsletter 20, November 1997
    Periodical profile published 1992

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    Published: 1997
    Fighting for democracy and against the Harris government.
  24. Class Warfare
    Interviews with David Barsamian

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1996
  25. The Common Good
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1998
    Interviews with Noam Chomsky on the U.S. and the world.
  26. Communication for and Against Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1989
  27. Community Economic Workshops
    An Evolutionary Preparation for Social Revolution to Economic Democracy Within an Ecological Society

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1979
    A short discussion of the use of "community economic workshops" in constructing a democratic, anarchistic society.
  28. Connexions
    Volume 11, Number 2 - Winter 1988 - A Social Change Sourcebook

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1988
  29. Connexions
    Volume 5, Number 4 - October 1980 - Health/Sante

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1980
  30. Connexions Annual Resource and Reading List
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1989   Published: 1994
    A short and selective list of resources on issues addressed in the Connexions Annual, such as environment, education, peace, interntional development, women's issues, urban issues, housing, human rights, civil liberties, social change.
  31. Connexions Digest
    Issue 54 - February 1992- A Social Change Sourcebook

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1992
  32. Connexions Digest
    Issue 53 - January 1991- A Social Change Sourcebook

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1991
  33. Connexions Digest
    Issue 51 - May 1990 - A Social Change Sourcebook

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1990
  34. Connexions Digest
    Issue 52 - August 1990 - A Social Change Sourcebook

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1990
  35. Connexions Digest
    Issue 50 - December 1989 - A Social Change Sourcebook

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1989
  36. Connexions Digest
    Volume 12, Number 1 - Fall 1988 - A Social Change Sourcebook

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1988
  37. Consensus decision-making
    Connexipedia Article

    Resource Type: Article
    Published: 2010
    Article about the group decision making process known as consensus decision-making.
  38. Corporate influence Inside business How corporations make the rules
    New Internationalist July 2002

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 2002
    A look into how corporate democracy works and facts regarding corporate influence. Also looks into a short history of corporations.
  39. Counter-Rhetoric 
    Challenging "conventional wisdom" & reframing the conflict

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2006
    This useful little book does two things. It challenges the rhetoric, the perceptions and assumptions regarding the conflict in Israel/Palestine, and it exposes the underlying imbalance of power around which this rhetoric swirls. It is both useful as a historical guide and as a tool for countering the prevailing divisive rhetoric. Whether challenging the concepts embedded in Zionism, the wars of the mid 20th century and the later occupation, or the Wall as security argument, this book gives a systematic alternative to the prevailing mantras and begins the process of changing the viewing of the conflict.
  40. The Crisis of Color and Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1992
    Essays attacking racist sterotypes and cynical arguments used by America's national leaders to obscure both the roots of today's social problems and their solutions.
  41. The Critique of Capitalist Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
  42. The Death of Democracy
    Israel's Flood of Anti-Democratic Laws

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2011
    Democracy is dying in both Israel and the United States, and much of the world is turning away in revulsion.
  43. The Decline of the Democratic Ideal
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1990
    Noam Chomsky contemplates the disappearance of democratic ideals by examining the American reactions to the outcome of the 1990 elections in Nicaragua.
  44. Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1987   Published: 2002
    Arblaster finds the core of the idea of democracy in the notion of popular power. He explores the meaning of this and the problems it involves.
  45. Democracy Against Capitalism 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1995
    Wood provides a brilliant explication and defense of the key theoretical concepts relevant to socialism, understood to be the most radical social and economic democracy.
    For a review, see http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/2198.
  46. Democracy and Social Change
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1966
    Gray maintains that liberal democracy places power in only a few hands and calls for a radical democratization of power within the framework of an economy owned, controlled, and responsible to the public.
  47. Democracy for the Few
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1988   Published: 1995
    How does the U.S. political system work and for what purpose? What are the major forces shaping political life and how do they operate? Who governs in the United States? Who gets what, when, how, and why? Who pays and in what ways. These are the central questions investigated in this book.
  48. Democracy in a Neoliberal Order
    Doctrines and Reality

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1997
  49. Democracy in the Unites States? Fugetaboutit!
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2007
    We who want a more equal and democratic society are the vast majority. There is no reason for us to feel hesitant about speaking our minds and talking revolution to our friends and neighbors, our co-workers, and even people we meet in the course of shopping and so forth. When millions of Americans feel that they are not alone in wanting a revolution, that's when things will start to change. That's when people will start to think creatively and concretely about how to make it happen. Until then, we'll remain on a treadmill to nowhere, with everybody feeling that they are just one lonely person who "can't fight city hall."
  50. Democracy Is that it?
    New Internationalist June 2000

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 2000
    Democracy has become commonplace and its original meaning -- "rule by the people" -- has got lost. Real democracy depends on active citizenship, something that's missing from contemporary culture. Articles cover democracy in Canada and the developing world, economics in relation to democracy and politics in Pakistan.
  51. Democracy's Oxygen
    How Corporations Control the News

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1997
    Winter shows that far from providing "democracy's oxygen," the news media legitimize a fundamentally undemocratic system. Instead of keeping the public informated, news organizations manufacture public consent for policies which favour the corporate elite.
  52. Democratic Theory
    Essays in Retrieval

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1973
  53. The Demos Versus 'We, the People': from Ancient to Modern Conceptions of Citizenship
    From Democracy Against Capitalism, Chapter 7

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1995
  54. Destroying the Commons
    How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2012
    Our rights and liberties and under ever-increasing attack.
  55. Deterring Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1991
  56. A Dictionary of Marxist Thought
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1983
  57. A Different Sort of Democracy 
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1997
    We do not want to suggest that the democracy of ancient Greece was perfect or that it can be easily be copied in the modern world. Greece was burdened by the dual crimes of slavery and the inferior status of women, as were all ancient societies in the Mediterranean basin and in Asia. What distinguished ancient Athens was that, in that society, human beings began to break out to produce new forms of self-government. That they could not solve all the evils of that time should not be surprising.
  58. The Disconnect in US Democracy
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2004
    Noam Chomsky describes how the American people are excluded from political participation, claiming that action must also come before and after elections and not only once every four years.
  59. Double Standards
    Resource Type: Website
    Focusing on double standards in the media and in international politics. "Double Standard 1. a rule or principle applied more strictly to some people more than others (or oneself)."
  60. Drawing the Line 
    The Political Essays of Paul Goodman

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1977   Published: 1979
  61. Drawing the Line
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1946   Published: 1962
  62. Educating for a Change
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1991
    For the authors of Ecuating for a Change, genuine democracy does not happen solely through our political and educational work. Democratic processes and practices are essential elements in achieving a truly participatory society. The books offers theory and practical tools for consciously applying the principles of democratic practice to daily work.
  63. Electoral reform will give us a voice
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1998
    The democratic case for electoral reform is fundamental, and to attack it
    as somehow a 'right wing' issue is a betrayal of the radical democratic tradition.
  64. The Encyclopedia of Censorship
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1992
    This Encyclopedia concentrates primarily on the United States and the United Kingdom, but it also covers events in Western and Eastern Europe and in parts of the Third World. The Encyclopedia is an accessible and wide-ranging sourcebook on censorship topics.
  65. The Enemy of Nature 
    The End of Capitalism or the End of the World?

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2002   Published: 2007
    We live in and from nature, but the way we have evolved of doing this is about to destroy you. Capitalism and its by-products -- imperialism, war, neoliberal globalization, racism, poverty, and the destruction of community -- are all playing a part in the destruction of our ecosystem.
  66. Every Cook Can Govern
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1956
  67. Everything under control, Life in a managed society
    New Internationalist April 1985

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1985
    A deluge of commercial messages are subtly undermining the consumer's ability to make autonomous decisions. Discussion of why, and how, social control is becoming the norm in Western societies.
  68. Funeral Oration for the Athenian War Dead
    Resource Type: Article
    Speech was given by the Athenian leader Pericles after the first battles of the Peloponnesian war.
  69. Get Up, Stand Up 
    Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2011
    Levine offers insights into the epidemic of political passivity in America and analyzes how major U.S. institutions have created helplessness and fatalism. He proposes ways of recovering dignity, energy, and unity in order to wrest power away from the corporatocracy.
  70. Getting Started on Social Analysis in Canada
    Third Edition

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1984   Published: 1988
    See also CX2933.
  71. Global Showdown
    How the New Activists are Fighting Global Corporate Rule

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2001
    Documents the new forces of resistance and invitates readers to join the struggle for alternatives.
  72. Globalization and the Decline of Social Reform
    Into the Twenty-First Century

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1995
  73. The Great Turning
    From Empire to Earth Community

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2006
  74. Hal Draper on the Two Souls of Socialism
    Insights from Hal Draper

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1990
  75. Hatred of Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2007   Published: 2009
    Rancière defends the principle of democracy against neoconservative repression. He argues that the West can no longer simply extol the virtues of democracy by contrasting it with the horrors of totalitarianism.
  76. Tim Hector
    A Caribbean Radical's Story

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2006
    An account of the life of Antiguan activist Tim Hector.
  77. Hegemony or Survival
    America's Quest for Global Dominance

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2003   Published: 2004
  78. The I.F. Stone's Weekly Reader
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1973
  79. Imagine Democracy 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2000
    Rebick calls for the transformation of fundamental institutions in Canada: the economy, the media and the electoral system.
  80. In Defence of Democracy
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2012
    On Jacques Berlinerblau's book How to Be Secular.
  81. Inside Iran
    New Internationalist March 2007

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 2007
    A look at Iran from history to present. Discussion of women's rights and the youth of Iran.
  82. Interview with Ellen Meiksins Wood 
    Democracy & Capitalism: Friends or Foes?

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1996
    Postmodernist pluralism, just like the old variety, obscures the realities of power in capitalist societies. It also disarms and disintegrates the opposition to capitalism. Postmodernism brings us back to the old and uncritical forms of capitalist ideology, which leave the system fundamentally unchallenged. Marxism -- historical materialism -- is the best foundation for an understanding of the society in which we live and therefore also the best guide in our search for a better one.
  83. Interview with Ulli Diemer
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1990
    Jeff Orchard interviews Ulli Diemer about socialism, capitalism, life, and social change.
  84. The Joy of Revolution 
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1997   Published: 2007
    Knabb says "What is needed, I believe, is a worldwide participatory-democracy revolution that would abolish both capitalism and the state. This is admittedly a big order, but I'm afraid that nothing less can get to the root of our problems. It may seem absurd to talk about revolution; but all the alternatives assume the continuation of the present system, which is even more absurd."
  85. Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution 
    Volume I: State and Bureaucracy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1977
    A wide-ranging and thorough exposition of Marx's views on democracy.
  86. Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution 
    Volume II: The Politics of Social Classes

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1978
    Draper ranges through the development of the thought of Marx and Engels on the role of classes in society.
  87. Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution
    Volume III: The Dictatorship of the Proletariat

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1986
    Hal Draper examines how Marx and Marxism dealt with the issue of dictatorship in relation to the revolutionary use of force and repression, particularly as this debate has centered on the use of the term "dictatorship of the proletariat." Draper strips away the layers of misinterpretation and misinformation that have accumulated over the years to show what Marx and Engels themselves meant by the term.
  88. Keep raising the issue of democracy
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1989
    Socialists should keep hammering away at the issue of democracy.
  89. Keeping the Rabble in Line
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1994
    Interviews with Noam Chomsky covering issues such as free trade, health care, global warming, the nature of corporations, human rights, and democracy.
  90. Kenya's Opposition Party
    Against The Current vol. 133

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2008
    That the elections in Kenya were rigged is no longer in question. And for most people that the culprit is the sitting president, sworn in so quickly that the ceremony has been jokingly likened to a lightning wedding, is no longer a question.
  91. The Key to Happiness That No One -- Not Even the Happiness Gurus -- Are Discussing
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2009
    There's just one pathway to happiness in which this deep, human need for power is given pride of place: democracy. By this I mean democracy as a living practice that enables us to have a real say in every dimension of our public lives, from school to workplace and beyond.
  92. The lessons we have learned
    Palestine & Iraq: Any Signs of Hope?

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2002
    A speech on "the peace movement: lessons learned and the way forward." Henry Lowi argues that "There is no sign of hope, for the old prejudices and the old concepts, and there is no hope for the colonialists, and the supremacists, and the ethnic nationalists. There is hope for those who proclaim clearly, and organize diligently, for coexistence between Arabs and Jews under a democratic constitution that upholds human rights."
  93. Let's Stop Kidding Ourselves About the NDP
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1989
    Canadian socialists are terribly reluctant to give up their illusions about the NDP.
  94. Letters from Lexington
    Reflections on Propaganda

    Resource Type: Book
    Published: 1993
  95. Life after Communism West goes East
    New Internationalist April 2004

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 2004
    A look at the effects of communist rule in the former Soviet Union and the post-communism transition.
  96. Life, Money & Illusion
    Living on Earth as if We Want to Stay

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2006
    The failure to reduce green house gas emissions, the success of efforts to curb ozone depletion, causes related to prosperity and social justice are just some the topics covered. By using the example of Kerela, India, Nickerson shows how a society by working together can become car-free, religious and bigotry free, have a high level of health care and literacy and be able to sustain itself on a fraction of the money on which we depend.
  97. Looking for Democracy
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1989
    Instead of sitting on the sidelines congratulating ourselves on how wonderfully free and democratic we are, we should be pressing for a radical democratization of our own society.
  98. Manifestos, Programs, Visions 
    Selected Manifestos - Political Statements - Programs

    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 1649   Published: 2009
    A selection of left manifestos, programs, poltical statements and visions from the 1600s to today.
  99. Manufacturing Consent 
    The Political Economy of the Mass Media

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1988
    Contrary to the usual image of the press and cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitious in its search for truth, Herman and Chomsky depict how an underlying elite consensus largely structures all facets of the news. They analyze how issues are framed and topics chosen, and the way in which the marketplace and the economics of publishing significantly shape the news.
  100. Marx on Democratic Forms of Government 
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1974
    Marx's socialism (communism) as a political programme may be most quickly defined, from the Marxist standpoint, as the complete democratization of society, not merely of political forms. For Marx, the fight for democratic forms of government - democratization in the state - was a leading edge of the socialist effort; not its be-all and end-all but an integral part of it all.
  101. Marxism and Freedom 
    From 1776 to Today

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1958   Published: 1971
    Dunayevskaya argues that Marx's theory is the generalisation of the instinctive striving of the proletariat for a new social order, a truly human society.
  102. The Meaning of Democracy
    Resource Type: Article
    Our democratic system: a safe election every four years or so in which voters choose between corporate-dominated parties whose policies are virtually indistinguishable on all fundamental issues.
  103. Media Capitalism, the State and 21st Century Media Democracy Struggles
    An interview with Robert McChesney

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2009
    Robert McChesney talks about contemporary media capitalism and 21st century media democracy struggles to understand and change it.
  104. Media Think
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2000
    Increasingly the news media are owned by a small group of very large corporations with extensive interests outside the industry, run by the corporate elite.Winter argues that instead of offering diverse perspectives on events and issues, the media portray an increasingly dogmatic and orthodox corporate picture of the world around us. The consistency with which they do this has its consequent, intended effect on public opinion and policy formation.
  105. The MegaCity Saga
    Democracy and Citizenship in This Global Age

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2000
  106. The Myth of the Good Corporate Citizen
    Democracy Under the Rule of Big Business

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1998
    Dobbin argues that transnational corporations (TNG's) have power over every nation's government; they are not the good citizens they claim to be.
  107. Necessary Illusions 
    Thought Control in Democratic Societies

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1989   Published: 1991
    An inquiry into the nature of the media and the role of intellectuals in "a political system where the population cannot be disciplined by force, and thus must be subjected to more subtle forms of ideological control."
  108. The New Challenge of Direct Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1996
    Direct democracy involves citizens in discussion and decisions about what the government is to do, rather than leaving this to officials or parliaments. It thus challenges the restrictions placed by representative democracies such as Britain and the United States on political consultation and popular participation. Why should responsible adults not take public decisions as well as making their own individual choices?
  109. New Democracy Internet site
    Resource Type: Website
    Supports a democratic revolution to overthrow corporate capitalism, but opposes socialism. Features short articles on labour issues, the deficit, education.
  110. New Internationalist Online
    Resource Type: Website
    Articles from the New Internationalist, chat forum, ethical shopping, more.
  111. News and Letters
    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    Articles from a Marxist-Humanist perspective.
  112. The Next Liberation Struggle
    Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy in Southern Africa

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2005
    An indispensable guide to understanding how the resources of that era can be used to contribute to real liberation for the region and for the continent of Africa as a whole.
  113. The No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2002
    Ths book explores how democracy is constricted and deformed by economic power-brokers and a self-serving political class.
  114. No platform or no democracy?
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1996
    Rather than promoting themselves as vehicles for broadening access to discussion and debate, universities now seek to present themselves as highly regulated institutions in which students will be protected from unsolicited or offensive ideas.
  115. On Democracy As A Good
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2013
    Is democracy good in itself? Exploring the impact of democracy during and after the Arab Spring.
  116. On Revolution
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1963   Published: 1968
    Arendt examines the American, French, and Russian revolutions and draws conclusions about the meaning of revolution.
  117. One Vote for Democracy 
    Consensus vs. democracy

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1986
    Makes the case that the democratic model is better than the consensus model for activist group decision-making.
  118. Outbreaks of Democracy
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2000
    For most of its history, democracy was seen as a degenerate mode of politics, much feared for its reliance on a populace seen as foolish and volatile. Yet since the adoption of representation in the eighteenth century, and the provision of an institutional place for democracy at the level of the state, we have laid to rest those dangerous images of noisy and volatile mobs, constant mass assemblies and endless inefficient talk. With the people being ruled by proxy, and periodically consenting to elite rule in elections, we have found a way to combine legitimacy with decency and viability.
  119. Palestine/Israel: A single state, with liberty and justice for all
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2009
    The notion of religious-ethnocentric entitlement and exclusivity for one people at the expense of another has been rejected the world over. Palestinians reject it and we assert that we are human beings worthy of the same human rights accorded to the rest of humanity; that we are worthy of our homes and farms, our heritage, our churches and mosques, and our history; and that we should not be expected to negotiate with our oppressors for such basic dignities. The two-state solution was and remains an instrument to circumvent the basic human rights of Palestinians in order to accommodate Israel#s desire to be Jewish. Polls show that Palestinians refuse to be the enemies of our Jewish brothers and sisters anywhere, just as we refuse to be oppressed by them.
  120. Palestinian Democracy
    Against The Current vol. 121

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2006
    Few elections throughout the world have been perceived by the local population, as well as international observers, as democratic and transparent as the Palestinian ones. At first glance, Palestine seems to be the perfect example of the “democratization of the Middle East” that President George W. Bush and his administration are fighting for.
  121. Parliament vs. the People
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1984
  122. Participatory Democracy
    Prospects for Democratizing Democracy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2008
    Twenty or more arguments for participatory democracy written contributors including Goerge Woodcock, Murray Bookchin, Gerry Hunnius, Colin Ward, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, and Don Calhoun.
  123. Peasant, Citizen and Slave
    The Foundations of Athenian Democracy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1997
  124. A People's History of the World
    From the Stone Age to the New Millennium

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1999
    Harman describes the shape and course of human history as a narrative or ordinary people forming and re-forming complex societies in pursuit of common human goals.
  125. The Philosophy of Antonio Negri
    Resistance in Practice

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2005
  126. Planning As Learning: The Education of Citizen Activists
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1994
    Phd thesis focusing on the learning undertaken by members of citizens' groups involved in land use planning.
  127. Politics Past
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1958   Published: 1970
    A collection of essays by Dwight Macdonald.
  128. Powers and Prospects
    Reflections on Human Nature and the Social Order

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1996
  129. Pragmatics Of Community Organization - First Edition
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1986
    Information on how to plan action, how to organize meetings, how to train participants for action, how to negotiate, and how to end a particular exercise in community organization.
  130. Pretensions to Empire
    Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2006
    Delves into the perversion of America's democratic legacy under George W. Bush, and makes the case for impeachment.
  131. The Privatization Putsch
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1989
    According to Hardin, privatization is the expression of the ideology of a right wing, corporate agenda: business wants to gets its hands on public funds and politicians are more than willing to hand over publicly owned enterprises and public services to business friends, nearly always on terms that are immensely favourable to the corporations involved.
  132. Quelling The People
    The Military Suppression of The Beijing Democracy Movement

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1992   Published: 1993
    The author examines what happened on June 3, 1989 when students protested in Tiananmen Square.
  133. Radical Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1997
    Lummis revives the meaning of democratic struggle and critques the economic and technological processes that have hindered its growth.
  134. Radical Digressions 
    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 2006   Published: 2010
    Ulli Diemer's website/blog featuring comment from a radcial left-libertarian perspective.
  135. Radical Digressions 2
    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 1981   Published: 2000
  136. Radical Digressions 5
    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 2008
  137. Radical Digressions 6
    Resource Type: Website
    First Published: 2009
  138. The Real World of Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1965
    Macpherson examines the rival ideas of democracy — the communist, Third World, and Western-liberal variants — and their impacts on one another.
  139. Red Emma Speaks
    Selected Writings and Speeches by Emma Goldman

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1972
    A collection of essays which provide a comprehensive view of Emma Goldman's theories and beliefs.
  140. The Red Menace 
    A libertarian socialist newsletter

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1975   Published: 1980
    Articles on topics such as socialism, Marxism, anarchism, work, popular education, organizing, wages for housework, Leninism, bureaucracy, hierarchy, jargon, prostitution, obscenity, science fiction, and terrorism.
  141. Reinventing power: People take control
    New Internationalist September 2003

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 2003
    A look at democracy and power in countries including Mexico, South Africa and Thailand. Briefly mentions key concepts, including feminism and Foucault.
  142. Renewing Socialism
    Transforming Democracy, Strategy and Imagination

    Resource Type: Book
    Published: 2008
  143. Revolution Re-Assessed 
    Politics of Human Liberation

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1980
    The political objectives and beliefs of the Australian-based Libertarian Socialist Organisation.
  144. Rights and Liberties
    Introduction to Volume 9, Number 2, of the Connexions Digest (Rights & Liberties issue)

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1984
    Civil liberties and human rights appear as a key dimension in almost every other field of social justice and social change, but those who seek a freer and more just society cannot rely on the state to achieve their goals.
  145. Rosa Luxemburg 
    Selected Political Writings

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1972
    A selection of Rosa Luxemburg's writings which highlight her outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of revolutionary socialism.
  146. Rosa Luxemburg
    Abridged Edition

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1966   Published: 1969
    A biography of Luxemburg by a British academic.
  147. The Rosa Luxemburg Reader 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2004
    A definitive one-volume collection of Luxemburg's writings.
  148. Rosa Luxemburg's Shock Doctrine
    The "Hideous Nakedness" of Imperial Wars

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 2008
    Luxemburg's discussion regarding capitalism and democracy speaks to the world we live in today. Imperial war, she wrote, shows capitalism in 'all its hideous nakedness.' This bloody nakedness is not only essential to capitalist development, but depends on it. Indeed, it is the most cataclysmic and radical of all capitalist shocks.
  149. Ruling Canada
    Corporate Cohesion and Democracy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2005
  150. Ruling the Void
    The Hollowing of Western Democracy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2009
    Analyzes democratic trends over the last few decades in Europe and America.
  151. The Russian Revolution and Leninism or Marxism? 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1918   Published: 1961
    The basic lesson of every great revolution, the law of its being, decrees: either the revolution must advance at a rapid, stormy, resolute tempo, break down all barriers with an iron hand and place its goals ever farther ahead, or it is quite soon thrown backward behind its feeble point of departure and suppressed by counter-revolution. To stand still, to mark time on one spot, to be contented with the first goal it happens to reach, is never possible in revolution. And he who tries to apply the home-made wisdom derived from parliamentary battles between frogs and mice to the field of revolutionary tactics only shows thereby that the very psychology and laws of existence of revolution are alien to him .
  152. Saddam's Iraq
    Revolution or Reaction?

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1990
  153. Secrets, Lies and Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1994
    Noam Chomsky interviewed by David Barsamian
  154. A Short Course in Intellectual Self-Defense
    Find Your Inner Chomsky

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2005   Published: 2008
    What must a citizen in a democracy know to make the word democracy meaningful? Baillargeon provides readers with the tools to see through everyday spin and jargon -- from politics to advertising, from mysticism to news reporting.
  155. The Silent Revolution
    Media, Democracy, and the Free Trade Debate

    Resource Type: Book
    Published: 1990
  156. The Silent Revolution in Africa
    Debt, Development and Democracy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1990
    Cheru ascribes the crisis in Africa to its origins as export-led development rather than the natural factors such as drought and famine. He praises the evolution of ordinary Africans opting out of the formal market and the IMF.
  157. The Silent Takeover
    Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2001
    A combination of globalisation and the growing power of major corporations is rendering democratic governments impotent for influencing key decisions that affect the lives of ordinary people.
  158. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
    Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1967
  159. Socialism Democracy and Self-Management
    Political Essays

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1980
    Essays by a long-time leader of the Trotskyist Fourth International on topics such as direct democracy and self-management.
  160. Socialism in Crisis?
    Canadian Perspectives

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1992
  161. The Socialist Register 1974
    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1974
  162. The Socialist Register 1985/1986
    Social Democracy and After

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1986
  163. The Socialist Register 1990
    The Retreat of the Intellectuals

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 1990
    Essays on the retreat away from socialism and Marxism by Left or formerly Left intellectuals.
  164. The Spectre of Capitalism
    The Future of the World Economy After the Fall of Communism

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1993
  165. Street Level Democracy
    Political Settings at the Margins of Global Power

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1999
    A wide-ranging book that traces the conflicts between global power and local action. People in farming communities, town mosques, city markets, and fishing communities suffer the effects of wrenching change and grapple with the politics of everyday life.
  166. The Struggle for Democracy
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1988
  167. Taking the Risk Out of Democracy 
    Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1995   Published: 1997
    The twentieth-century history of corporate propaganda practiced by U.S. businesses and the ways in which such corporate propaganda was exported to, and adopted by, other western democracies especially the United Kingdom and Australia.
  168. Teaching for Democratic Citizenship
    Resource Type: Book
    Published: 1991
  169. Tearing Down the Seven Pillars of Neoliberalism 
    Manifesto 2007

    Resource Type: Article
  170. Telling the Truth
    Socialist Register 2006

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2005
    A collection of essays that examines the difficulties of illuminating the degenerative and secretive nature of public life.
  171. Three Brothers In Blood
    Resource Type: Film/Video
    First Published: 2006
  172. The Throes of Democracy
    Brazil since 1989

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2008
  173. The Trouble With Billionaires 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2010
  174. The Two Souls of Socialism 
    Socialism from Above vs. Socialism from Below

    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1960   Published: 1970
    It was Marx who finally brought the two ideas of Socialism and Democracy together, because he developed a theory which made the synthesis possible for the first time. The heart of the theory is this proposition: that there is a social majority which has the interest and motivation to change the system, and that the aim of socialism can be the education and mobilization of this mass-majority. This is the exploited class, the working class, from which comes the eventual motive-force of revolution. Hence a socialism-from-below is possible, on the basis of a theory which sees the revolutionary potentialities in the broad masses, even if they seem backward at a given time and place. Marxism came into being, in self-conscious struggle against the advocates of the Educational Dictatorship, the Savior-Dictators, the revolutionary elitists, the communist authoritarians, as well as the philanthropic dogooders and bourgeois liberals.
  175. The Tyranny of Structurelessness 
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1970
    Unstructured groups may be very effective in getting women to talk about their lives; they aren't very good for getting things done. It is when people get tired of 'just talking' and want to do something more that the groups flounder, unless they change the nature of their operation.
  176. Uncivil Obedience
    The Tactics and Tales of a Democratic Agitator

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1991
    How to push for social change without breaking the law.
  177. Unreliable Sources
    A Guide to Detecting Bias in the New Media

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1992
    Lee and Solomon argue that American news media censor actual current events. The reason being is that there is pressure from the Government and Corporations. The public must challenge the facts of both electronic and print media.
  178. Untying the Knot
    Resource Type: Book
  179. Urbanization Without Cities
    The Rise and Decline of Citizenship

    Resource Type: Book
    The author argues that there should be participatory democracy so there could be balance ecologically between city and country.
  180. The Venezuelan Revolution
    New Internationalist June 2006

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 2006
    A look inside the Venezuelan Revolution and facts and history of the country.
  181. Waiting for Democracy
    A Citizen's Journal

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1989
    Rick Salutin's of the pivotal 1988 "free trade" election. Waiting for Democracy makes a strong case that our political system is anything but democratic, though it offers little hope of changing it.
  182. We Make the Road By Walking 
    Conversations on education and social change

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1990
    Horton, the founder of the Highlander Folk School, and Freire, a Brazilian education leader, are from two different backgrounds, but their shared views on the use of participatory education in bringing about social change are the basis for this thought-provoking book.
  183. West Papua "Will we ever be free"
    New Internationalist April 2002

    Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
    First Published: 2002
    Discusses the effects of the oil industry on West Papua and the people's struggle for freedom and a new form of governemnt after a long history of betrayal. Also looks at West Papuan culture from a tourist's perspective.
  184. What Do We Do Now? Building a Social Movement in the Aftermath of Free Trade 
    Resource Type: Article
    First Published: 1989
    We have the potential to create a social movement in this country that goes beyond single-issue organizing to work toward an integrated vision of a more just and caring society.
  185. What Uncle Sam Really Wants
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1993
    Chomsky discusses examples of U.S. intervention and links together events stretching over four decades in regions throughout the world. He provides a quick synopsis of American foreign policy and paints a vivid picture of the realities faced by social movements.
  186. Who do we try to rescue today?
    Canada under corporate rule

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2000
    A collection of essays discussing aspects of the role of corporations in late-20th-century Canada.
  187. Who Will Tell The People
    The Betrayal Of American Democracy

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1993
    An exploration of the undermining of U.S. democracy, starting with the basic issues of who gets heard, who gets ignored, and why.
  188. Why Marx Was Right 
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 2011
    Eagleton takes common objections to Marxism and demonstrates how and why they are wrong.
  189. Worker Co-operatives
    Working Papers Vol. 2 No. 6

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1984
    An introduction to the principles and practical considerations of forming worker co-operatives.
  190. Worker Cooperatives in America
    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1984
    A historical background of worker cooperatives as well as a contemporary discussion of small and large co-ops.
  191. Workplace Democracy
    A Guide to Workplace Ownership, Participation, and Self-Management Experiements in the US and Europe

    Resource Type: Book
    First Published: 1978
  192. Zimbabwe: One state, one faith, one lord
    Resource Type: Article
    The one-party system of Zimbabwe.

Experts on Democracy in the Sources Directory

  1. African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
  2. Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL)
  3. Central American Integration System
  4. Commonwealth Secretariat
  5. Connexions Information Sharing Services
  6. Council of Europe
  7. Ulli Diemer
  8. La Francophonie
  9. International Development Law Organization
  10. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
  11. Marxists Internet Archive
  12. Organization of American States
  13. Southern African Development Community
  14. United Nations
  15. United Nations Human Rights Council

Effective publicity doesn’t have to cost a lot of money
    Connexions Information Sharing Services

Connexions Library

Catalogue of more than 13,000 books, articles, films, periodicals, websites and other resources.
Indexed by Author, Title, Format, Subject, Dewey number, Library of Congress classification, Year of Publication.
Connexions Directory Associations, NGOs, websites dealing with social and environmental issues — A-Z Index or Subject Index.
For experts and media spokespersons also see the Sources directory and the comprehensive Sources Subject Index.
Calendar Events from across Canada. Also see: Sources Calendar and news releases.
Publicity and Media Resources, publications and articles to help you get publicity and raise awareness. Plus Media Names & Numbers Canadian media directory and the Parliamentary Names & Numbers Canadian government directory.
Donations Connexions welcomes your support. Your donations make our work possible. Volunteers always welcome.
Mission Connexions exists to support individuals and groups working for freedom and social justice. We work to maintain and make available a record of the theory and practice of people struggling against oppression and for social change. We believe that the more we know about the struggles, victories, and defeats of the past, and about those who took part in them, the better equipped we will be to bring a new world into being. Connexions maintains a physical archive of books and documents, and is engaged in an ongoing project to build and expand an indexed digital archive of documents. We try to feature a wide variety of resources reflecting a diversity of viewpoints and approaches to social change within our overall mandate of support for democracy, civil liberties, freedom of expression, universal human rights, secularism, equality, economic justice, environmental responsibility, and the creation and preservation of community. We are internationalist in our orientation, but as a Canadian-based project we feature an especially extensive collection of Canadian documents and profiles of Canadian activist organizations.
Copyright Some materials in Connexions are copyrighted by their authors or creators. Others are in the public domain or copyright Connexions. Materials for which Connexions holds the copyright are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non-commercial – No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Indexing and search applications are by Ulli Diemer, Chris DeFreitas, and Henri Nzounkeu.