"The Troubles with Democracy is synoptic and wide-ranging in its command of the relevant research, deep-structurally original in the literature in seeking a shared life capacity ground of democracy's contested meaning, and in all a lucid bellwether for contemporary democratic studies." --John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, University of Guelph "Jeff Noonan's rearticulation of democratic politics away from political abstraction and systems description, and towards it being embedded in social life values and resources, provides a convincingly critical discussion of the current malaise of 'liberal' democracies. Where Noonan is most valuable is in providing a cogent, clear and critical engagement with the idea of democracy that keeps human freedoms and their material sustenance at the core of his political analysis. He both lays bare the failings of 'liberal' democracies and specifies the transformative agendas required to underpin democracy that is participative, respectful of difference and intolerant to structural inequalities, and genuinely delivers democracy in its enabling social context. A persuasive, eloquent and highly readable contribution towards democratic solidarity and renewal." --Paul Reynolds, Reader in Sociology and Social Philosophy, Edge Hill University.