ABSTRACT
We tend not to think realistically about how mass democracies emerged and how they work. That is, in part, why the recent ‘democratic recession’ that has been ongoing since 2006 has surprised and shocked many political commentators and even researchers. After briefly presenting and exploring the phenomenon, this chapter lays out three stylized ways of common thinking about democracy, personified by romanticists, utopians, and activists, respectively. Against all three and drawing on research traditions such as rational and public choice theory (or political economy, for short), the chapter makes a series of arguments in favour of a more realistic, level-headed approach to examining democracy in particular and politics in general. In doing so, it provides a gentle introduction to rational choice analysis, defends it against some common sociological critiques, and points out a variety of real limitations facing the theory.
