ABSTRACT
Robert A. Dahl explores three themes in Democracy and Its Critics: a vast global expansion of the acceptability of democratic ideas; the problems present in democratic ideas and practices; and the need to show that democracy is the best form of government. The main argument in Dahl's Democracy and Its Critics is that modern democracies are, in fact, polyarchies that differ from the traditional understanding of democracy. Dahl examines both whether democracy is the best possible political system, and the extent to which existing political structures meet the requirements of a best possible system. Dahl lays down five standards as ideals against which democracies should be judged: effective participation, voting equality, enlightened understanding, control of the agenda, and Inclusiveness of participation. According to Dahl, any political process that meets these standards would be a perfect democratic process, and its government would therefore be democratic.
