Democracy Defended (Contemporary Political Theory)

This is an important challenge to the various writings of Arrow and his social choice theorems on democracy. And it is long overdue. The material is not easily accessible save by someone in the field and this compendium is invaluable for a relative outsider aware of this scholarship but unable to proceed into the details. As the author notes, one can only wonder at the influence of the views of Arrow and his followers on a whole generation of students now global executives, stewards of industry, and diplomats. The apparent rigor of this kind of mathematicized sociology hides the often spurious character of these exercises in ideology (with Neo-Classical eonomics the champ in this deceptive vein). The behind the scenes influence of this kind of thinking needs an alertness to its actual effects, which aren't speculative, e.g. the Chinese propaganda system is known to exploit this thinking for its legitimation purposes.