This book defends a radical view: the word 'democracy' means nothing and should be abandoned. According to the abolitionist, the switch to alternative devices would be a significant communicative, cognitive, and political advance, enabling us to ask better questions, provide genuinely fruitful answers, and have more rational discussions.

Herman Cappelen is a Chair Professor at the University of Hong Kong, the Co-Director of ConceptLab-HK, and the Director of AI&Humanity-Lab. He works in all areas of systematic philosophy and has written 10 monographs and many influential papers.

• Preface and Acknowledgements


• Part I: A Theory of Abandonment


• 1: Introduction


• 2: Arguments for Abandonment


• 3: Abandonment compared to Elimination, Reduction, Replacement, and Amelioration


• 4: Abandonment and Communication


• Part II: Some Data about 'Democracy'


• 5: The Ordinary Notion of 'Democracy': Methodological Preamble


• 6: Some Data about 'Democracy' and 'Democratic'


• Part III: Abandonment of 'Democracy'?


• 7: Problems with 'Democracy'


• 8: Better than 'Democracy': A Chapter of Good Cheers


• 9: Consequences of Abandoning 'Democracy'


• Part IV: Democracy Ameliorated


• 10: Ameliorations of 'Democracy'


• 11: Verbal Disputes about 'Democracy'


• Part V: Efforts to Defend Democracy


• 12: Objections and Replies


• Bibliography