Democracy has moved to the center of systemic reflections on political economy, gaining a position which used to be occupied by the debate about socialism and capitalism. Certitudes about democracy have been replaced by a new awareness of the elusiveness and fluidity of democratic institutions and of the multiplicity of dimensions involved. Understanding Democracy: Economic and Political Perspectives is a book which reflects this new intellectual situation. It consists of a collection of essays by well-known economists and political scientists from both North America and Europe on the nature of democracy, the necessary conditions for a stable democracy, and the relationship between democracy and important economic issues such as the functioning of the market economy, economis growth, income distribution, and social policies.