Until the eighteenth century, Western societies were hierarchical ones. Since then, they have transformed themselves into societies dominated by two features: participatory democracy and the protection of human rights. In Modern Isonomy, distinguished political theorist Gerald Stourzh unites these ideas as “isonomy.”
 
The ideal, Stourzh argues, is a state, and indeed a world, in which individual rights, including the right to participate in politics equally, are clearly defined and possessed by all. Stourzh begins with ancient Greek thought contrasting isonomy—which is associated with the rule of the many—with “gradated societies,” oligarchies, and monarchies. He then discusses the American experiment with the development of representative democracy as well as the French Revolution, which proclaimed that all people are born and remain free and with equal rights. But progress on the creation and protection of rights for all has been uneven. Stourzh discusses specifically the equalization of slaves, peasants, women, Jews, and indigenous people. He demonstrates how deeply intertwined the protection of equal rights is with the development of democracy and gives particular attention to the development of constitutional adjudication, notably the constitutional complaint of individuals. He also discusses the international protection human rights. Timely and thought-provoking, Modern Isonomy is an erudite exploration of political and human rights.

Gerald Stourzh is professor emeritus at the University of Vienna. He is the author of several books in English and German, including Benjamin Franklin and American Foreign Policy, published by the University of Chicago Press. Cynthia Peck-Kubaczek is an editor, writer, and translator for the Austrian Academy of Sciences and The Vienna Review.
 

Preface
Introduction
1 Isonomy in Greek Antiquity
2 Gradations: Hierarchy in This World and the Other World
3 Equalizations: Ways toward Modern Isonomy in America and in France
4 Democracy with Adjectives
5 The Six Components of Modern Isonomy
   General Legal Capacity: From Slavery to Freedom
   Equality before the Law
      The Liberation of Peasants
      Tolerance and Equalization of Religious Groups
      Jewish Emancipation and Renewed Deprivation of Rights
      On the Equal Rights of Women
      Indigenous Persons
      Citizens and Foreigners
      Positive Discrimination (Affirmative Action)
   The Evolution of Fundamental Rights
   The Protection of Fundamental Rights as Part of Constitutional Justice
   The Internationalization of Fundamental Rights as Human Rights
   Democracy
Conclusion: The Two Focal Points of Modern Isonomy
Bibliography
Index of Names