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Future Survey Editor Assembles Election-Year Guide to Democracy

(PRLEAP.COM) In an effort to help the public better understand the changing nature of U.S. and global democracy in this new era, The World Future Society is publishing a 36-page Future Survey mini-guide, Democracy in the 21st Century: Forward or Backward?.

"Two important trends are indisputable" says social scientist and Future Survey editor Michael Marien. "First, there has clearly been a long-term trend toward democratic governance over the past century; secondly, this trend has stalled in recent years and in some respects reversed. Does this portend a brief step backward before moving forward again, or an unanticipated long-term reversal of democracy as complex challenges and crises continue to mount?"

In an effort to help the public better understand the changing nature of U.S. and global democracy in this new era, Marien has assembled his findings in a special, 36-page Future Survey mini-guide, Democracy in the 21st Century: Forward or Backward?, published by the World Future Society (www.wfs.org). The report presents 85 recent abstracts of important books, white papers, and articles on general trends related to democracy worldwide, the struggling "new democracies," proposals for strengthening U.S. democracy, elections and voting in the U.S., problems with American media and education, promises of e-democracy, global governance issues, and democratic idealisms. Books and articles reviewed include the work of Robert Dahl, Freedom House, Thomas L. Friedman, Francis Fukuyama, Al Gore, Larry Sabato, and Fareed Zakaria. The mini-guide includes three indexes (by subject, title, and author) and a Foreword and Synthesis, both commenting on the fragile and threatened state of democracy in the United States and many other nations.

"Nearly everyone, in nearly every country, favors democracy as the preferred form of governance, messy and imperfect as it may be," Marien notes. "That said, it is important to recognize different definitions of democracy in different places and in different eras, and different perceptions as to what improvements should be made and can be made. Generally speaking, the political right favors democracy promotion in other nations, and assumes that we ‘have’ a democracy (thus consciously or unconsciously ignoring calls for reform). In contrast, the political left sees many flaws in American ‘democracy,’ and increasingly, the global level of governance. The political center, and more-or-less neutral social science observers, also appear to increasingly see major problems. This guide serves as an introduction to these many complex problems of who decides what and how, and the muddy future of democracy."

Democracy in the 21st Century: Forward or Backward? is available for $15 from the World Future Society.
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Also available are two other mini-guides recently prepared by Michael Marien: Global Warming and the Energy Transition, and Security and Peace in the 21st Century: Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism and Other Threats. The Mini-Guides are available from WFS for $15 each, or $40 for all three.

"Why review just one or two books at a time, when whole new vistas can be opened up by a reader-friendly glimpse at 50 to 100 books," asks Marien.

About Future Survey:
Published monthly since 1979 by the World Future Society, (www.wfs.org) Future Survey provides abstracts of important new books, reports and articles on trends, forecasts and proposals regarding government, environment, society, technology, globalization and more. Further information at: http://www.wfs.org/fsurv.htm .

Editors: To request a review copy of this Special Report, or of Future Survey or the other two Mini-guides, contact director of communications Patrick Tucker 301-656-8274 ext. 116, ptucker@wfs.org . More information about the World Future Society may also be obtained from the Society’s Web site, www.wfs.org .

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