How should we understand the nature and scope of democracy? To what domains of life should it be applied? Or, alternatively, should democracy be clearly defined to maintain other important ends? This study examines changing responses to these questions from classical Athens to modern times. The context, nature and limits of each major development in democratic theory are explored. Among the thinkers discussed are Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Wollstonecraft, Rousseau, Mill and Marx, as well as 20th-century analysts of democracy including Weber, Dahl, Hayek and Macpherson. The book concludes with an argument that seeks to move contemporary discussion beyond the seemingly endless juxtaposition of one classical position with another. It defends a conception of democracy that departs decisively from both the liberal and Marxist traditions. David Held is the author of Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas, Habermas: Critical Debates, co-author of Classes, Power and Conflict: Classical and Contemporary Debates, States and Societies and State and Society in Contemporary Britain.