Liberalism and Democracy

Liberalism and Democracy (Italian: Liberalismo e democrazia) is a 1985 book by the Italian political scientist Norberto Bobbio.

Liberalism and Democracy

2006 edition
Author	Norberto Bobbio
Original title	Liberalismo e democrazia
Translator	Martin Ryle and Kate Soper
Language	Italian
Publisher	FrancoAngeli
Publication date	1985
Publication place	Italy
Published in English	1990
Pages	72

Summary

The book is about the relationship between liberalism and democracy, covered in 17 chapters grouped in 3 parts. The first part is about the origin and constituents of liberalism, notably its central idea of individual rights, which would have been alien to the ancient world in which democracy originated. The second part is a modern history of liberal and democratic movements, including their often turbulent interactions and the recent concept of liberal democracy, which seeks to combine them. The third part is about challenges to liberal democracy, such as socialism, economic liberalism, lack of governance, populism and authoritarian forms of democracy.^[1][2]

Reception

In Differentia: Review of Italian Thought, Edmund E. Jacobitti wrote that despite Bobbio's assurance that liberalism and democracy rarely are antagonistic, the book portrays an old conflict between individual ambitions and the demands of a society. Jacobitti wrote that the book describes the ways in which liberals and democrats have debated and that it is regrettable it does not devote more space to arguing for the necessity of dialogues and conflicts between them, asking, "what will the world's fate be if ever an evil, hypnotic, and wealthy liberal does wed the elusive demos?"^[1]