Is democracy dying, in America and abroad? 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 of democracies to recommit to a “civic bargain” with one another that guarantees political rights of freedom, equality, and dignity, but requires them to fulfill the duties of democratic citizenship.

The talk will center on the key ideas raised in The Civic Bargain, specifically 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. Democracy isn’t about getting everything we want; it’s about having no “boss” other than our fellow citizens, and agreeing on a shared framework for pursuing our often conflicting aims. Crucially, citizens need to be able to compromise, and to treat one another not as political enemies but as civic friends. And we must accept imperfection; democracy is never perfect and never finished. If the civic bargain is maintained—through deliberation, bargaining, and compromise—democracy will survive and thrive.
This lecture will be delivered by Josh Ober, the Constantine Mitsotakis Chair in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. Ober specializes in the areas of ancient and modern political theory and historical institutionalism. His primary appointment is in Political Science; he holds a secondary appointment in Classics and courtesy appointments in Philosophy and the Hoover Institution. His most recent books are The Greeks and the Rational: The discovery of practical reason (University of California Press 2022) and Demopolis: Democracy before liberalism in theory and practice (Cambridge University Press 2017).
The lecture is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided beginning at noon.
 
Join us via our livestream on YouTube.
Originally published at constudies.nd.edu.