Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Civil Society Before Democracy: Lessons from Nineteenth-Century Europe

Bringing together historians and political scientists, this unique collaboration compares nineteenth-century civil societies that failed to develop lasting democracies with civil societies that succeeded. Much of the current literature on the connection between civil society and consolidating democracy focuses exclusively on single, contemporary polities that are ever-changing and uncertain. By studying historical cases, the authors are able to demonstrate which civil societies developed in tandem with lasting democracies and which did not. Contrasting these two sets of cases, the book both enlightens readers about individual countries and extracts lessons about the connections between civil society and democracy in contemporary times. Above all, the authors ask the vital but under-researched question, OHow and why does democratic civil society develop?O Review This book bringing together the writings of historians and political commentators from Europe and the United States has the merit of reminding us that civil society is not a new idea since it had a big role to play in shaping European democracies in the nineteenth century. This intelligent sampling of the history of European countries also shows us that civil society is not necessarily synonymous with democracy...-- "The European Library"This high quality collection of articles is the first in English that covers many different European countries and therefore will be of great interest to anyone interested in 19th-century European social and political history.-- "Choice"This is a very well constructed set of essays.-- "English Language Teaching Journal" About the Author Nancy Bermeo is associate professor of political science at Princeton University. Philip Nord is professor of history at Princeton.