Why democracies fail and how they can succeed

On Monday one of the world’s leading political theorists and experts on the idea of democracy, Professor John Dunn (Cambridge), will give a public lecture on theme ‘Why democracies fail and how they can succeed’. John Dunn is the author of many books and articles, including The Cunning of Unreason: Making Sense of Politics (2000); Setting the People Free: The Story of Democracy (2005), and Breaking Democracy's Spell (2014). He has also written seminal books on the political theorist and philosopher John Locke, modern revolutions, political obligation, West African politics, and the relationship between politics and economics.  Before that, he helped to found what has come to be called the ‘Cambridge School’ of intellectual history.  His lecture will discuss, among other things, what there is to hope for and fear from democracy today.