Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: democracy as self-subverting -- "More than kings yet less than men": Tocqueville on the new extremes of democratic society -- Civilization without the discontents: Tocqueville on democracy as the social state of nature -- The regime of revolution: Claude Lefort on history, nature, and convention after the democratic revolution -- Political phoenix: Sheldon Wolin on the limits and limitlessness of democracy -- Conclusion: post-politics: society without argument.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2011. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.