It’s a mistake to think that democratic values are incompatible with the skepticism and pragmatism of the statecraft tradition, or that statecraft is a school only for autocrats and oligarchs. My survey of the Western theory of statecraft shows how it’s possible to be a democrat and a realist at the same time, and it suggests that the current formula of rich Western republics, periodic elections plus codified rights, fails to pull off this combination.

It’s also a mistake to treat democracy as an idealistic creed, or to think that its primary value lies in upholding high ideals. At best, this presumption provides a comforting delusion to consolidate the disempowerment of ordinary citzens, thereby cancelling out meaningful realities to which democracy could in fact correspond. At worst, idealism erodes the foundations of any effective government at all. What can the sanctity of rights, the priority of liberty, and the sovereignty of ballots do for citizens interested in tackling international terrorism or ecological degradation? (They allow us to vote out the bastards who take away our guns and tell us what to do with our property, that’s what!)