Twenty-First Century Democracy

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

As we look at the state of democracy at the end of the 20th century, we
see that the pendulum has swung to the right, with the birth of new
right-wing movements and the reform of existing movements including the
British Labour Party. The emergence of movements like the Reform Party
illustrates that there are safety valves in democracy and that elites
can be brought to heel. The increased use of direct democracy (the
initiative, referendum, and recall) is another form of safety valve.
Both the rise of new movements and direct democracy are discussed by
University of British Columbia political scientist Philip Resnick, whose
goal in these thoughtful and provocative essays is to challenge the
reader to think about the future of democracy.