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The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives Hardcover – September 19, 2023

by Brook Manville (Author), Josiah Ober (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 32 ratings
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A powerful case for democracy and how it can adapt and survive―if we want it to

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.

Manville and Ober trace the long progression toward self-government through four key moments in democracy’s history: Classical Athens, Republican Rome, Great Britain’s constitutional monarchy, and America’s founding. Comparing what worked and what failed in each case, they draw out lessons for how modern democracies can survive and thrive. Manville and Ober show that democracy isn’t about getting everything we want; it’s about agreeing on a shared framework for pursuing our often conflicting aims. Crucially, citizens need to be able to compromise, and must not treat one another as political enemies. And we must accept imperfection; democracy is never finished but evolves and renews itself continually. As long as the civic bargain is maintained―through deliberation, bargaining, and compromise―democracy will live.

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  1. Print length
    312 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Princeton University Press
  4. Publication date
    September 19, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0691218609
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0691218601
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A New Yorker Best Book We've Read This Year"

"Longlisted for the Runciman Award, Anglo-Hellenic League"

"Praising the people who agree with you is the easy part of democratic government. The hard part is building a superintending architecture that wins the consent even of those you hate. [Manville and Ober] recognize this truth, and, indeed, build a whole theory of democracy around it. . . . Persuasive."---Adam Gopnik, New Yorker

"Manville and Ober urge defenders of liberal democracy to take the long view. The book provides fascinating portraits of four great breakthroughs in citizen self-rule. . . . [They] argue, the great democracies survived because they forged and maintained a 'civic bargain,' a political pact about who is a citizen, how decisions are made, and the distribution of responsibilities and entitlements."---G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs

"Well-written and insightful. . . a veritable treasure trove for anyone who wants to understand the events leading up to our experiment in self-government, the challenges encountered along the way (human nature being what it is), and the patterns that are most likely to be repeated in the future."---J. Bradford Delong, Project Syndicate

"Even with all that seems discouraging in our own time, Americans should take heart that we the people can make a difference and maintain the continuity of our experiment. . . . Manville and Ober] offer a useful and accessible framework for talking about democracy―in a time when we are all too accustomed to speaking past one another on fundamental matters of civic life."---Hans Zeiger, American Purpose

Review

“The Civic Bargain is a very welcome and original addition for those who want to know something about future prospects for democracy. Brook Manville and Josiah Ober take a deep historical perspective, they establish essential conditions for democracy, and they tell us that it is a process that is never finished. Civic bargains must be struck repeatedly at critical junctures to keep democracy alive.”―David Stasavage, author of The Decline and Rise of Democracy: A Global History from Antiquity to Today

“In The Civic Bargain, democracy is a living system, ever evolving as the political agents shape and reshape the terms of their bargain with one another. Manville and Ober present the interweaving histories of democracy in such a way that one has the sense of galloping through a forest with a guide who knows the wildwood the way he knows his own kitchen.”―Jenna Bednar, University of Michigan

“Looking at the past, present, and future of democracy through the lens of a civic bargain is both helpful and hopeful. Manville and Ober combine a lively history lesson with a practical way forward, lighting a democratic path through the darkness.”―Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America

“Manville and Ober’s new book offers new, fascinating insights about democracy, both ancient and modern. They update the metaphor of the social contract to that of a ‘civic bargain,’ whose terms are constantly renegotiated by citizens as a condition of their mutual flourishing. A thought-provoking and captivating read.”―Hélène Landemore, author of Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press (September 19, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 312 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691218609
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691218601
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 32 ratings

About the author

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Brook Manville

Brook Manville

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Brook Manville is a historian, writer and adviser. His background combines an unusual breadth of academic, consulting and management experience. After completing advanced degrees in history (Yale, Oxford), he became an award-winning university professor. He subsequently reinvented himself as a media and technology executive, and then again as a strategy and organizational consultant, as a partner in McKinsey & Co; and later as the principal of his own consultancy. Today he researches and writes about the history of democracy, democratic leadership, and the future of free societies. Married, with three children, he is based in metropolitan Washington DC. His newest book, The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives, was written with his friend and long-time collaborator Josiah Ober.

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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • xhighbar
    5.0 out of 5 stars great summary of the history of democracy
    Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Self government by informed citizenry. Emphasis on literacy, life long learning to become skilled at communication, bargaining in good faith, seeking to understand the viewpoints of others , with the goal of negotiating win win compromises.

    Mutual respect, safety, security, give and take, hard work by all to avoid war, and narrow minded selfish “bosses “ that don’t want to respect your right to self govern.

    Current events seeking to promote boss rule using fear, untruths, and polarization towards extreme views addressed. The exhausted majority of humans in the “middle” will find inspiration.
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  • Donald A. Collins
    5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Perspective Well Captured
    Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    On Sunday October September 30, 2023 my son and I were among an overflow audience at Washington DC’s famous Politics and Prose book store to hear one of the two authors, Brook Manville effectively elucidate the complexity of how democracies rise and fall.

    This incisive book has been favorably reviewed by The Atlantic.

    Using slides in his 40 minute lecture, he clearly summarized the fact that earlier democracies such as those of Greece and Rome and how their histories impact our own.

    The current disarray in the US House makes the analysis timely.

    Both bring substantial qualifications to this complex task which will require significant recognition of the multiple attacks by the racist nihilists who seek fascist control of our fragile democracy.

    Trump could be re-elected. My suggestions for a second edition of this comprehensive book, perhaps in paperback- would be for the inclusion of the helpful slideshow Professor Manville used in his lecture and making the print larger for his readers.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Laurence M. Weinberg, M.D.
    5.0 out of 5 stars An appreciation of what democracy really is
    Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    An impressively thoughtful book about what a democracy really is, and not the starry-eyed pablum we were all handed in school. A fascinating précis of democracies in ancient Athens and Rome, and later in Britain and the US, sets the stage to understanding the true nature of bossless self-governing and the ongoing revisions and renegotiations necessary to achieving a civic bargain. Suggestions, especially regarding resurrecting civic education, as to how find our way back from the precipice provide a guardedly optimistic conclusion. This book will make you think, hard, about things we have taken for granted for far too long.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, concise, and constructive
    Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This eloquent call for protecting democracy combines the best of current relevance and historical perspective. The histories of Greece, Rome, Britain, and the United States come vividly to life, revealing a struggle to give power to the people and avoid submission to authoritarian rulers. This look into the past lays the foundation for compelling conclusions about what we must do in America today to protect our constitutional community. The past teaches that a process of good-faith bargaining, addressing needs of all stakeholders, is essential in negotiating compromises that solve pressing problems. Civic education emerges as a major priority, so that all citizens can understand how to strengthen their country and how to teach their children to face future challenges.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Mr. C.
    5.0 out of 5 stars A truly enlightening book about the most important issue of our time.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Winston Churchill and Herr Donald Trump were not the first leaders to address the conflict between democracy and tyranny. There were Pericles and Caligula, Alfred the Great and Genghis Khan, one might even say Putin and Zelensky. Brook Manville, a classics scholar and political analyst, takes on the centuries-old issues of what makes democracy survive or fail, speaking with acuity and wisdom. A book for our time and for all time.
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  • Oli
    5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful. Must read to better understand how democracy survives.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Well written. Insightful.
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  • Jennifer Futernick
    5.0 out of 5 stars Why Democracy Must Survive—and How It Can
    Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2023
    Worried that democracy is dying or in precarious health? Fearing that democracy has come to a real crossroads in the US and in autocracy-leaning countries? If so, The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives, by Brook Manville and Josiah Ober, is a must read. With an assured grasp of the history of democracy explained through four case studies – classical Athens, republican Rome, British parliamentarianism, and US constitutionalism – this book poses and answers two questions: What is democracy? How does it arise? It also explains the 7 essential conditions of democracy in a wide-ranging and rather beautiful way.

    Manville and Ober assert that democracy is not a static collection of laws and institutions but, rather, an organic, living, and often messy system. Above all, democracy is bossless self-governance that survives when citizens can, at least eventually, interact and learn from each other even though that process of learning never ends. Democracy is about deal-making and compromise and understanding that the “gives and gets” must be distributed. Bargaining is essential to democracy.

    Throughout the book, the authors explain that to consolidate and sustain self-government, citizens must agree to a civic bargain. The civic bargain specifies who is a citizen, how decisions are made, and what citizens owe one another. By the time I finished the book, I felt informed but also heartened about the conditions necessary for citizen self-governance:
    1) No boss, 2) security and welfare 3) citizenship defined 4) citizen-led institutions 5) good faith compromise 6) civic friendship 7) civic education.

    The final condition, “civic education,” spoke personally to me. Back in 1962, when I was a ninth-grader in Greensboro, North Carolina, I took Civics from Curtis Howard “Chubby” King (Mr. King). He was also the football coach and guidance counselor and, on weekends a professional piano player, so he had many skills. But in Civics class, with his cherubic face, warm smile, dramatic voice, and always a white shirt and bowtie, he was a master teacher. He discussed the foundations of democracy and the sometimes waywardness of politics, but also the importance of civility and shared values and mutual respect; the power of compromise. I thought of Mr. King, who died in 2009, with even deeper appreciation while reading about the past, present, and future of democracy in The Civic Bargain. This book helped me more fully understand that messy as it is, fragile as it can be, there is not another system of government that so fairly and effectively serves its population, often for centuries.
    2 people found this helpful
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