Details of Democracy

{{Short description|2007 book by Liu Yu}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}{{Infobox book

| author = Liu Yu

| isbn = 754-262-958-1

| pub_date = June 2009

| country = China

| language = Chinese

| media_type = Print (hardback & paperback)

| title_orig = 民主的细节：美国当代政治观察随笔

| publisher = Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore Co., Ltd.

}}

⁤Details of Democracy ({{Zh|c=民主的细节：美国当代政治观察随笔}}) is a book by Chinese writer and political scientist Liu Yu. ⁤⁤Originally published in 2009 as a collection of essays, the work explores the workings of American democracy to a Chinese audience. ⁤

Originally a collection of essays written for her blog on the subject of American democracy, the book uses stories and anecdotes to explain the daily mechanisms of democracy. ⁤⁤Liu delves into aspects such as the legislative process, labor strikes, and the role of the media.

Details of Democracy was a bestseller, selling over 300,000 copies in Mainland China and was named Book of the Year by Southern Weekly, The Beijing News, and Sina.com.{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ian |date=3 February 2015 |title=How to Be a Chinese Democrat: An Interview with Liu Yu |url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2015/02/03/china-democracy-guru-liu-yu/ |access-date=19 April 2024 |work=The New York Review of Books}}{{Cite web |title=清华大学政治学系 |trans-title=Department of Political Science, Tsinghua University |url=http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/publish/ps/1921/2010/20101220103430721247380/20101220103430721247380_.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405204941/http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/publish/ps/1921/2010/20101220103430721247380/20101220103430721247380_.html |archive-date=5 April 2011 |access-date=19 April 2024}} The book earned Liu the nickname "China's de Tocqueville," in reference to the French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville who also analysed American democracy.⁤

⁤Details of Democracy is considered a cornerstone of China's liberal intellectual movement. ⁤⁤By offering a clear-eyed view of American democracy, the book sparked discussions about political participation and reform within China.{{cite web |last=Dirks |first=Emile |date=27 January 2015 |title=Details of Democracy 民主的细节 by Emile Dirks |url=https://corn.groups.politics.utoronto.ca/?p=354 |access-date=19 April 2024 |work=China Open Research Network at the University of Toronto}}