Abstract

Democratic theory is in need of a new vision. While mainstream American theorists continue their search for an empirically verifiable theory that would legitimate existing Western political orders, European thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas have deeply challenged both the methods and the conclusions of neoclassical democratic theorists such as Schumpeter, Dahl, and Sartori. Zolo enters this debate through an examination of the political consequences of the complexity of modern social systems, arguing that this complexity undermines the premises of all the participants in the discussion. He deeply challenges those who refer to "complexity" as a benign or empowering feature of modern life, arguing rather that social complexity undermines the autonomy of the individual that is presupposed in both classical and neoclassical democratic theory. From an epistemological discussion of the effects of complexity to a thorough review and critique of neoclassical theory, Zolo demonstrates a command of the field and offers a provocative challenge to it.