Classical democracy : Athens -- Republicanism : liberty, self-government and the active citizen -- The development of liberal democracy : for and against the state -- Direct democracy and the end of politics -- Competitive elitism and the technocratic vision -- Pluralism, corporate capitalism and the state -- From postwar stability to political crisis : the polarization of political ideals -- Democracy after Soviet communism -- Deliberative democracy and the defence of the public realm -- Democratic autonomy -- Democracy, the nation-state and the global system.