ABSTRACT
Democratic theory gives a good deal of weight to the concept of civil liberties. But democratic theorists have rarely attempted to assess the relationship between theory and practice in their own societies. In other words, it seems that democratic theory does little more than assume and assert that civil liberties are fully developed, protected and operational in societies which they see as democratic. Democratic theory has claimed a high degree of objectivity through the empirical study of government and politics. Radical theory has become increasingly incestuous in recent years, concentrating on intensely theoretical internal debate. Consequently, radical theorists have tended to ignore or simply denounce the premises and arguments of democratic and, more generally, liberal theory rather than subject them to rigorous scrutiny and criticism. The origin of the mythology lies in the official ideology of wartime Britain itself, but it has been perpetuated for forty years by uncritical popular historians working from the official histories.
