Books by Robert A. Dahl

A thoughtful and often provocative analysis of the factors operating in Congress that make difficult the formulation of a foreign policy control. Three criteria are indicated:- provisions for responsible leadership, facilitating of agreement, leads to rational policies. Is it attainable of desirable to relieve Congress of the responsibility and yet save democracy? He explores the influences on Congress, the constituents, the pressure groups, personal preferences and predilections, the difficulties in attaining facts of public opinion, etc. The power of the executive is up; is this wise and can it be controlled? The citizen has inadequate facilities for sound discussion, and a better system of communication is needed, between citizen and Congress. How raise the citizen's competence? Congressional competence? The responsibilities of the political parties must be intensified; at present there is substantially no difference on foreign policy. He then views the experiments in collaboration, in bipartisanship, and the problems of agreement, and urges five points that need strengthening:- prediction, planning, flexibility, speed and adequacy. (One might venture the opinion that the last is the most difficult of all.) A publication under the Yale Institute of International Studies. Not likely to reach a very wide general market. (Kirkus Reviews)

"A tightly woven explanation of the conditions under which cultures that do not tolerate political opposition may be transformed into societies that do."--Foreign Affairs "[Dahl's] analysis is lucid, perceptive, and thorough."--Times Literary Supplement Amidst all the emotional uproar about democracy and the widespread talk of revolution comes this clear call to reason--a mind-stretching book that equips the young and the old suddenly to see an ageless problem of society in a new and exciting way. Everything Dahl says can be applied in a fascinating way to the governing of any human enterprise involving more than one person--whether it is a nation-state, a political party, a business firm, or a university.

Winner of the 1991 Elaine and David Spitz Book Prize for the best book on liberal and/or democratic theory, this book discusses what democracy is and why it is important. It examines basic assumptions of democratic theory and tests them against the questions raised by critics.