" Demos makes a bold and intentionally unsettling case: that ancient democracy was, at its core, rule by the masses over social and political elites, exactly as its critics feared--and that this regime type has something essential to teach us as a corrective to our modern elected oligarchies. Erudite without ever being dry, and written with real style, it is a book that forces democratic theory to reckon with a history it has too long domesticated. Required reading for anyone who thinks seriously about what democracy was, and what it could be again."-- Hélène Landemore, author of Politics Without Politicians: The Case for Citizen Rule "By paying meticulous attention to the full range of ancient writings on the rule of the demos, Daniela Cammack has recovered a lost idea of democracy: the collective power of ordinary citizens over elites. In the process, she shows how impoverished most modern ideas of democracy have become and offers us a glimpse of how we might have genuine democratic sovereignty today. Demos is a tour de force and it will constitute a new starting-point for the study of democracy, ancient and modern."-- Richard Tuck, Harvard University "The book is exciting, important, and original, a must-read for ancient historians and classicists, political scientists, and political philosophers. It will surely spark debate, perhaps even controversy, due to its original and daring arguments.

Daniela Cammack brings a truly new perspective to a field that has been exhaustively studied."-- Josine Blok, author of Drawing Lots: From Egalitarianism to Democracy in Ancient Greece "Daniela Cammack is a gale of fresh air blowing through the exceptionally lively field of ancient democracy studies. Her brilliant new book goes back to basics, reexamining the precise meaning of the demos. Woe betide anyone rash enough to exercise their democratic right of disagreement."-- Paul Cartledge, author of Democracy: A Life and Pericles: Statesman, Demagogue, Eccentric "Looking to 4th century BCE Athenian demokratia for an alternative to modern democracy and treating demos-kratos as the power of a mass to control leaders, hold officials to account, and rule over them, Daniela Cammack flips the script on where and how demos-kratos happens." --Jill Frank, Cornell University.