Setting the People Free: The Story of Democracy (Book Review‪)‬

Setting the People Free: The Story of Democracy John Dunn London: Atlantic Books, 2005, 246 pp. It is uncommon for a theoretical discussion of democracy to resonate throughout everyday political discussion. The removal of dictatorial regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq created a rare opportunity for political scientists to remind us of the historical thread connecting democratic theory with practice. Despite the devastation and dashed expectations of the Iraq war, in particular, one should now be able to point, at the very least, to a better and more widespread understanding of the democratization process and to exactly what it is that we in the West mean when we declare a political system to be a "democracy," or a nation to be "democratic." Regrettably, that particular window of opportunity has almost closed. Especially in book-length form, substantive examinations of either the meaning of democracy or the means by which democratization occurs have been noticeable by their absence. Fareed Zakaria's The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad stands out as a welcome exception.