This is part one of a two-volume set. "...[Sartori] reviews the major democratic theories of our time and canvasses astutely the salient issues among them. Sartori synthesizes a theory of his own which he proffers as a new mainstream view to his readers. His trenchant and swift-moving argument moves deftly among competing schools of thought. The book's greatest strength lies in Sartori's demonstration that prescriptive and descriptive theories (the ideal and the real) must be blended, to be valid, in an integral whole—in theory of the democratically possible. The clarity and dramatic power of this erudite work render it very accessible to undergraduate students." – William T. Bluhm, The University of Rochester