No-nonsense guide to Democracy

For as long as I have been writing about North-South issues - and that's longer than I care to remember the New Internationalist has been there with pungent, pithy, probing, political analysis. Now they've had the bright idea to encapsulate some of their accumulated wisdom in the No-Nonsense Guides. You can't go wrong-I personally intend to order the whole series.

The No-Nonsense Guides are the most accessible and enjoyable means for people with hurried lives to find out how the world really works. George Monbiot, environmental campaigner and author of Captive State.

How democratic is democracy? We take the pulse of today's body politic and find the patient in an enfeebled state. This book explores how democracy is constricted and deformed by economic power-brokers and a self-serving political class, from Birmingham to Bangalore. A sterile consensus of technocrats, neo-liberals and spin-doctors worldwide has usurped the hopes for a democratic future. The book is also a guide to the rich diversity of forms of elected government and contains some practical ideas for empowering today's voters around the world.

Chapters include: The Democratic Malaise; Democracy in the South Eco-democracy; Democratizing the Economy.

Richard Swift is a co-editor of the New Internationalist magazine and is based in Toronto. He has worked in radio journalism and alternative publishing for many years and has a long-term interest in questions of ology and democracy.