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G.D.H. Cole’s Wars: At the Homefront

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Pluralist Democracy in International Relations

Part of the book series: The Palgrave Macmillan History of International Thought ((PMHIT))

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Abstract

In this chapter, I show that G.D.H. Cole referenced many socialist and republican sources of inspiration when he argued that not poverty but a lack of liberty was the most important democratic problem. I argue that Cole’s defences of democracy and his opposition to the reduction of democratic rights during the First Word War are most representative of pluralism. I pause on how Cole developed his case against conscription into a substantial critique of representative democracy and participatory democratic theory. His account of non-governmental organisations as forces of an emerging world society was an intrinsic part this nascent democratic theory. The German political theorist Carl Schmitt forcefully attacked but also misrepresented Cole’s pluralism. Still, Schmitt’s defences of ethnic homogeneity and Cole’s pluralism are antagonistic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany

    Leonie Holthaus

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  1. Leonie Holthaus
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Holthaus, L. (2018). G.D.H. Cole’s Wars: At the Homefront. In: Pluralist Democracy in International Relations. The Palgrave Macmillan History of International Thought. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70422-7_5

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