Does Everyone Want Democracy?: Insights from Mongolia [Hardcover]

Do all people desire democracy? For at least a century, the idea that democracy is a universal good has been an article of faith for American policy makers. Paula Sabloff challenges this conventional wisdom about who wants democracy and why. Arguing that certain universal human aspirations exist, she shows how local realities are highly particularistic and explains that culture, history, and values are critical to the study of political systems. Her fascinating study of Mongolia—feudal until it became the first country to follow Russia into communism and now struggling with post-socialist democratization—is a model for investigating how everyday people around the world actually think about and implement democracy on their own terms.

This book challenges the conventional wisdom that democracy is a universal desire, offering a model case study of Mongolian democratization that ties culture, history, and values to the study of political systems.

Paula L. W. Sabloff is a professor at the Santa Fe Institute. She is a political anthropologist who has conducted research in Mexico, the United States, and Mongolia, and taught at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pennsylvania. She curated the exhibition “Modern Mongolia: Reclaiming Genghis Khan” at the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) and is editor of several books, including Higher Education in the Post-Communist World (1998), Modern Mongolia (2001), and Mapping Mongolia (2011).

List of IllustrationsPreface and AcknowledgmentsChapter 1. IntroductionChapter 2. Democracy means independence and freedomChapter 3. Democracy means human rightsChapter 4. Democracy brings political freedomChapter 5. Democracy brings economic freedomChapter 6. A democratic government is responsible to its citizensChapter 7. Citizens’ rights or civic duty: citizens’ relationship to democratic governanceChapter 8. Conclusion: Shared experl3$