The golden democratic tradition
  of an informed and involved electorate freely and rationally choosing its public
  officials seems to be at odds with American political reality. Thus the questions:
  On what basis do people vote and form opinions? How does the lack of information
  at the individual level affect system performance? In this collection twenty-six
  distinguished political scientists discuss, debate, and define the relationship
  between information and the democracy it supposedly serves. The contributors
  address both the empirical and normative aspects of governing in the United
  States, employing psychological, sociological, and economic perspectives.
 

Democracy enjoys unparalleled prestige at the beginning of the twenty-first century as a form of government. Some of the world's most prosperous nations are democracies, and an array of nations in Europe, Africa, and South America have adopted the system. This globalization has also met resistance and provoked concerns about international power exerted by institutions and elites that are beyond the control of existing democratic institutions. In this volume, leading scholars of democracy engage the key questions about how far and how fast democracy can spread, and how international agencies and international cooperation uneasily affect national democracies. At first glance, the efforts of intergovernmental organizations to intervene in a nation's governance seem anything but democratic to that nation. The contributors demonstrate why democracy has been so attractive and so successful, but are also candid about what limits it may reach, and why.

Contributors are Lisa Anderson, Larry Diamond, Zachary Elkins, John R. Freeman, Brian J. Gaines, James H. Kuklinski, Peter F. Nardulli, Melissa A. Orlie, Buddy Peyton, Paul J. Quirk, Wendy Rahn, Bruce Russett, and Beth Simmons.