Democracy's Double Helix
Democracy's Double Helix
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USDWhere does our modern democracy come from? It is a composite of two very different things: a medieval tradition of political participation, pluralistic but highly elitist; and the notion of individual equality, emerging during the early modern period. These two things first converged in the American and French revolutions – a convergence that was not only unexpected and unplanned but has remained fragile to this day. Democracy's Double Helix does not simply project and trace our modern democracy back into history, assuming that it was bound to come about. It looks instead at the political practices and attitudes prevailing before its emergence. From this perspective, it becomes clear that there was little to predict the coming of democracy. It also becomes clear that the two historical trajectories that formed it obey very different logics and always remain in tension. From this genuinely historical vantage point, we can therefore better understand the nature of our democracy and its current crisis.
- Explains the emergence of modern democracy in a completely new way
- Provides a systematic historical explanation of democracy's current crisis
- Presents a highly readable narrative of early modern politics across Europe
Reviews & endorsements
‘Lars Behrisch has written an important and intriguing book about the roots of modern democracy in early modern Europe, showing in a clear and original manner how practices of equality and participation developed both before and during the ‘age of revolution.' This is a volume that will be of interest to historians, political theorists, and historical sociologists alike.' David Bell, author of Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution
‘This book reopens a much needed conversation about the tension between democracy and political participation. With countless fresh insights along the way Behrisch shows that they are not, as often thought, identical, and that we ignore the tensions at our peril. His double helix sets a new standard for debate on modern politics.' Lynn Hunt, author of The Invention of Human Rights
‘Ranging across the European continent and the Atlantic from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Lars Behrisch's Democracy's Double Helix is a major intervention of astonishing scope and great explanatory power. Chronicling the “accidental” origins of democracy, it provides the best causal account we have to date of the modern emergence of the ideal and practice of individual equality in all its promise and elusive frustration.' Darrin M. McMahon, author of Equality: The History of an Elusive Idea
Product details
September 2025Hardback
9781316516317
344 pages
229 × 152 mm
Not yet published - available from September 2025
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Table of Contents
- A new history of the birth of modern democracy
- Part I. State-building and Political Participation:
- 1. Medieval states and estates
- 2. Sixteenth-century origins of the fiscal-military state
- 3. Patterns and mutations of early modern participation
- Part II. Notions and Practices of Equality:
- 4. Reformation and confessional pluralism
- 5. Trade, markets, capitalism
- 6. Natural law and individual rights
- 7. States, subjects, citizens
- 8. The Enlightenment
- Part III. Revolutionary Convergences:
- 9. An explosive Atlantic triangle
- 10. The American Revolution
- 11. The French Revolution
- From past to future.
