{"product_id":"athenian-democracy-modern-mythmakers-and-ancient-theorists-paperback","title":"Athenian Democracy: Modern Mythmakers and Ancient Theorists - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eArlene W. Saxonhouse\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAthenian Democracy\u003c\/em\u003e provides innovative readings of ancient theorists to reveal both the complexity of democracy's achievements and its limits.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this classic work, noted political scientist Arlene W. Saxonhouse offers fresh and provocative explorations of ancient political theorists, lending new insights about democracy's foundations and principles. These insights are more relevant than ever in a moment when the viability of democratic regimes is under scrutiny. Saxonhouse provides an in-depth discussion of the modern mythmakers (Hobbes, Paine, Hamilton, Mill, and Arendt, among others) who, in praising or excoriating Athenian democracy, have in fact distorted it to support their own assessments of democracy. She then offers detailed reinterpretations of the writings on democracy of four ancient theorists who had directly experienced life in the first democratic regime: Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSaxonhouse argues that the mythmaking that often attends our views of Athenian democracy-whether as a flawed, slaveholding regime that fostered factions and oppressed women or as an ideal regime of egalitarian and participatory democracy-blinds us to the deeper understanding of democracies that these ancient theorists can offer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eArlene W. Saxonhouse is the Caroline Robbins Collegiate Professor of Political Science, Emerita, at the University of Michigan. She is the author of numerous books and articles dealing with ancient Greek political thought, including \u003cem\u003eFree Speech and Democracy in Ancient Athens\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eFear of Diversity: The Birth of Political Science in Ancient Greek Thought\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 198\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.42 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 15, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53062936133939,"sku":"9780268210717","price":61.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/mlwfp0NpkS9780268210717.webp?v=1771445100","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/athenian-democracy-modern-mythmakers-and-ancient-theorists-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}