Is democracy in trouble, perhaps even dying? Pundits say so, and polls show that most Americans believe that their country’s system of governance is being “tested” or is “under attack.” But is the future of democracy necessarily so dire? In The Civic Bargain, Brook Manville and Josiah Ober push back against the prevailing pessimism about the fate of democracy around the world. Instead of an epitaph for democracy, they offer a guide for democratic renewal, calling on citizens to recommit to a “civic bargain” with one another to guarantee civic rights of freedom, equality, and dignity. That bargain also requires them to fulfill the duties of democratic citizenship: governing themselves with no “boss” except one another, embracing compromise, treating each other as civic friends, and investing in civic education for each rising generation.
| Publisher | Island Press |
| Author | Brook Manville, Josiah Ober |
| Country | USA |
| Publication Date | 14/04/2026 |
| Pages | 312 |
| Edition | first |
| Size | 8×5 |
| About the Author | Josiah Ober is the Constantine Mitsotakis Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is the author of The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece, Democracy and Knowledge: Innovation and Learning in Classical Athens, The Greeks and the Rational: The Discovery of Practical Reason, and other books. Brook Manville is an independent consultant who writes about politics, democracy, technology, and business. Previously a partner with McKinsey & Co. and an award-winning professor at Northwestern University, he is the author of The Origins of Citizenship in Ancient Athens and A Company of Citizens: What the World's First Democracy Teaches Leaders About Creating Great Organizations (with Josiah Ober). |
| Publisher Address | info@islandpress.org |
| ISBN | 9780691230450 |
