A BASIC premise of this book is that democracy is not only or even primarily a means through which different groups can attain their ends or seek the good society; it is the good society itself in operation. Only the give-and-take of a free society's internal struggles offers some guarantee that the products of the society will not accumulate in the hands of a few power-holders, and that men may develop and bring up their children without fear of persecution. And, as we have seen, democracy requires institutions which support conflict and disagreement as well as those which sustain legitimacy and consensus. In recent years, however, democracy in the Western world has been undergoing some important changes as serious intellectual conflicts among groups representing different values have declined sharply.
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Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Political Man:The Social Bases of Politics.
Contributors: Seymour Martin Lipset - Author.
Publisher: Doubleday.
Place of publication: Garden City, NY.
Publication year: 1960.
Page number: 403.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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