Commento a Lipset

Comment to Lipset

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

In her analysis of Lipset's theses, the author starts by criticising the ideology in which they are soaked: at various stages, this makes some of the arguments in defence and explanatory of this or that feature of American "exceptionalism" contradictory, and causes the negative aspects to be judged summarily and too justificatorily. Zincone's thesis is that different models of democracy may exist, and that the United States are not the best, but a democracy with good points and bad points like all the others. Furthermore, it should not be taken for granted, as Lipset would have it, that the European democracies are per force bound to be "Americanised". It would hence be more useful and fruitful for Europeans and Americans to abandon these pointless competitions as to which model of democracy is "best". They should, instead, be prepared to learn reciprocally from the strengths and weaknesses of their respective systems.