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Sample records for american democracies rethinking

  1. Delusions of Liberty: Rethinking Democracy Promotion in American Grand Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    scenarios in which cooperating with autocratic regimes serve American 2 The White House, (2015...individual leaders for removal but leave the underlying political institutions of a regime intact, democratization is unlikely to occur, even if conditions...within autocratic regimes located in the Middle East (where America has already experimented with democracy promotion within a formerly autocratic

  2. Rethinking democracy and representation: a proposal to extend the democratic canon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandro Monsiváis Carrillo

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Rethinking political representation is necessary to understand many contemporary democratic challenges. However, a widely accepted view states that democracy and representation are two irreconcilable principles, thus hindering the theoretical assessment of political representation's democratic relevance. According to this view, what democracy needs is more popular participation; instead, representation involves elitism and political detachment. In this paper I will argue that such a view is inaccurate. Through the reconstruction of the democratic ideal, and the discussion of the concept of political representation, I intend to show that processes of political authorization, accountability and public justification are both elements of political representation and expression of democratic politics.

  3. Democracy, Support for Democracy and Corruption. A Longitudinal Study of Latin American Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Davide Grassi

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Although often unable to satisfactorily solve the problem, democracy (especially enduring democracy is commonly believed to reduce corruption. Yet, both Transparency International and the World Bank continue to attach a high risk of corruption to Latin American countries: corruption and impunity remain prevalent in the area, despite consolidating democratic regimes and recent anticorruption reforms. Using level of democracy and its endurance, as well as information on the perceptions of democratic performance and corruption obtained from the Latinobarometro, we analyzed a panel data covering the period 2005-2010 in 14 Latin American countries. Our main results show that levels of democracy and citizens' assessment of government fairness have a positive impact on corruption. However, satisfaction towards democracy has the opposite effect: when citizens believed democratic governments and public administrations to be efficient, they also perceived that gains against corruption had significantly decreased.

  4. Teaching about American Federal Democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schechter, Stephen L., Ed.

    Ten essays discuss federal democracy, the form of government of the United States. The first essay discusses the origins of American federalism. The second examines why we have a federal system, the functions federalism serves, and the consequences of federalism for the American political system. Federalism in the Constitution and constitutional…

  5. Civic Innovation & American Democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirianni, Carmen; Friedland, Lewis

    1997-01-01

    Argues that American democracy is at a critical stage of development, with declining trust in government, citizens feeling displaced by a professional political class, derailed public interest, and policy that limits citizen deliberation and responsibility. Some instances of civic innovation, community organization, civic journalism, and efforts…

  6. Academic and Career Development: Rethinking Advising for Asian American Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kodama, Corinne M.; Huynh, Jill

    2017-01-01

    Academic and career development for Asian American students is complicated by cultural influences, interdependence with family, and racial stereotyping. This chapter highlights research, theory, and practice to help educators rethink traditional advising approaches to more appropriately work with Asian American students as they navigate their…

  7. Latin American Security, Drugs and Democracy (LASDD) Fellowship ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Latin American Security, Drugs and Democracy (LASDD) Fellowship Program ... with drug trafficking and the growth of transnational organized crime in LAC. ... Call for proposals: Innovations for the economic inclusion of marginalized youth.

  8. South American Youth : Regional Democracy-Building Dialogue ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    This project will undertake a comparative analysis of South American youth in the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and their perception of rights, democracy and regional integration. Researchers will examine the meaning that young people, adults and mediators of youth demands attribute to ...

  9. Towards a Critique of Political Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Tronti

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Starting from the idea that democracy always binds together a practice of domination and a project of liberation, Tronti formulates the conditions for a critique of democracy that would permit a rebirth of political thought in the current conjuncture. Bringing the heterodox Marxist traditions of ‘workerism’ and the ‘autonomy of the political’ together with the feminist thinking of difference, Tronti underscores the identitarian tendencies of democracy and the difficulties of combining democracy with a genuine notion of freedom. For Tronti, democracy is increasingly synonymous with the pervasiveness of capitalism understood as ‘bourgeois society’, and the victory of ‘real democracy’ (as one might speak of ‘real socialism’ is the sociological victory of the bourgeoisie. The homo oeconomicus and the homo democraticus are fused into the dominant figure of democracy, the ‘mass bourgeois’. Against the depoliticizing consequences of ‘democratic Empire’, Tronti proposes a profound rethinking of our notion of politics, one which should not shy from reconsidering the elitist critiques of democracy.

  10. Democracy and the Moral Imperative to Philosophize

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Humphrey, J. F.

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available An important part of Cornelius Castoriadis’ exploration into the adventure of modernity involves his reflections on democracy. Indeed, in no less than three works [Figures of the Thinkable, Rising Tide of Insignificancy (The Big Sleep, and World in Fragments], Castoriadis devotes a part, entitled Polis, in which he discusses democracy and its relation to modernity by beginning with the Greeks. In World in Fragments, the section, "The Greek and the Modern Political Imaginary" clearly indicates the relation existing between the ancient Greeks and democracy in his mind. In my paper, I have considered Castoriadis’ reflections on democracy and the way in which he employs the Greeks in his attempt to rethink modern democracies. I shall argue that if we are to follow Castoriadis in embracing an authentic emancipation promised by but not delivered by modernity, we will have to look to his understanding of democracy as providing the way beyond both the cynicism of post-modernism and false hopes of neo-modernism.

  11. Re-Thinking Normative Democracy and the Political Economy of Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, Paul R.

    2010-01-01

    Normative thinking around democracy often emphasizes the supremacy of electoral politics, underplaying the salience of education as a defining feature to produce a more meaningful, engaged, inclusive form of democracy. Critical pedagogy can be an extremely useful, illuminating and transformative means and process of deconstructing how democracy is…

  12. Nihilism and the Roots of Crisis in American Democracy: A Diagnosis of Cornel West

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julian Jeliński

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Cornel West’s diagnosis of the crisis of the American democracy is the subject matter of this article. Analyzing the condition of the American democracy of the end of XX and the beginning of XXI centuries, C. West focused on the individual, existential character of the crisis. The diagnosed state had according to him much affect not only on political issues, but first and foremost on the spread of nihilism among American citizens. Nihilism – is understood in the C. West as senselessness of life and low self-esteem is the subject matter of this article.

  13. Contested visions of American democracy: citizenship, public housing, and the international arena.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Argersinger, Jo Ann E

    2010-01-01

    This essay reexamines the history of public housing and the controversy it generated from the Great Depression to the Cold War. By recasting that history in the global arena, it demonstrates that the debate over public housing versus homeownership was also a debate over the meaning of American citizenship and democracy, pointing up starkly divergent notions about what was and was not American. Through an examination of national conflicts and neglected local struggles, this article further shows that the fight over public housing was far more meaningful and volatile than traditionally assumed. Both critics and advocates of public housing drew from international experiences and imagery in positioning the home as a constitutive feature of citizenship in American democracy. Fears of Bolshevism, fascism, and communism served to internationalize issues of race, space, and housing and together shaped the decision of whether a decent home was an American right or privilege.

  14. The Happy Gardener: on populism, democracy and specters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julián A. Melo

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The present text aims to retake several aspects and debates concerning the relation between populism and democracy. We will expound the main ideas by authors such as Margaret Canovan, Benjamín Arditi and Sebastián Barros in order to rethink the bonds between both terms. We will try not to take populism and democracy as antithetical poles in communitary political associations, since we are interested in pointing out how the ideas of shadow and specter have been crucial in the thought of these authors. Along with this reflection we seek to revisit several discursive keys of the experience of first Peronism in twentieth-century Argentina, just to investigate the ways in which the logic of Peronist populism rethought democracy and set it as a central element of the identity that it claimed to embody. Thus, we think that may be interesting not just to think populism as a specter of democracy but also to think democracy as a specter of populism.

  15. Saving American democracy: the lessons of Three Mile Island

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kemeny, J.C.

    1980-01-01

    The author's experience of serving with a presidential commission investigating the Three Mile Island nuclear accident leads to an observation that the only way to save American democracy is to change the fundamental decision-making process, at the Federal level, so that it can come to grips with the enormous and complex issues that face this nation

  16. 78 FR 18455 - Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-27

    ... celebrates Greek Independence Day to strengthen the bonds between the birthplace of democracy and the world's... National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy. I call upon the people of the United States to...

  17. RETHINKING DEMOCRACY (reflections on John Dunn’s “Breaking democracy’s spell”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. S. Kanevskiy

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This article analyzes a book “Breaking democracy’s spell”, the last work by John Dunn, world famous political scientist from Cambridge. Current discourse on democracy and tendencies of its development is seen through the lens of this book and John Dunn’s political thought. It is hard to question the fact that democracy is still one of the mightiest political symbols, although its core meaning still poses a lot of questions. Democracy is an unstable variable, which changes through time being influenced by multiple factors. This is why, before trying to understand where democracy’s mimicries are leading us, Dunn proposes to look closer at how it became a category which is so essential for legitimizing contemporary regimes. Is our understanding of democracy the same as it was 100, 50 or even 20 years ago? What determines the dynamics of democracy as a symbol of public power? Does democracy help nations in their quest for well being and effective government? Dunn’s work is not just an original analyses of democracy in political, sociological and historical perspectives, it is also a challenge to provoke a discussion on democracies failures both in developed and developing world. Dunn’s work divided scientific community on those who saw warning signs to democracy and those who considered author to be unjustified pessimist. In reality, Dunn’s work doesn’t give simple explanations because in relatively small text he managed to put complex set of questions, which can’t answered unequivocally. Author himself recognizes that he had to use absolutely new style to convey his thoughts. This article is an attempt to interpret Dunn’s ideas and react to his call to start a discussion on contents and perceptions of democracy which he sent to a political science community. This discourse is particularly important today for Russia where democracy not only encounters institutional difficulties and misunderstood by majority of the citizens

  18. The American Dream, Democracy, and Participatory Theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, George H.

    1983-01-01

    America has moved from participatory democracy to protective democracy, with political elites making the decisions. The result has been a culturally disenfranchised people abandoning the political system which does not want them. Calls for a return to participatory democracy and citizenship education programs which foster it. (CS)

  19. Homegrown Democracy, Homegrown Democrats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norman K. Denzin

    2005-02-01

    Full Text Available Written on the eve of the 2004 American presidential election, this political narrative offers a critical reading of two models of democracy: Instant-Mix imperial democracy (bring to a boil, add oil, then bomb, criticized by Arundhati Roy, and Garrison Keillor’s Homegrown Democrat. Keillor’s pastoral view of democracy is anchored in LakeWobegon, his imaginary utopian community. His homegrown democracy is narrow, provincial, and White. The author concludes that he must look elsewhere for his alternative view of democracy.

  20. Latin American intra-party democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aldo Adrián Martínez Hernández

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Research proposes to determine the level of internal democracy of political parties in Latin America from perception of its members, allowing the creation of an index that has parameters for the measurement and comparison of the parties according to its democratic features. At the same time, research supports designing a profile of the parties by subjecting to analysis the relationship between ideology and internal democracy, stressing that despite the differences between left and right, parties in Latin America do not have dichotomous democratic features, while maintaining low levels despite their ideological location.

  1. African Americans, democracy, and biomedical and behavioral research: contradictions or consensus in community-based participatory research?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spigner, C

    Individualism, in both its political and attitudinal senses, reinforces societal and institutional racism in the United States. Because of individualism's dominant focus on self-interest and self-reliance, any application of "participatory democracy" in community-based biomedical and behavioral research is fraught with dilemmas similar to those that Gunnar Myrdal observed between American racism and democracy. The research establishment is overwhelmed by well-meaning non-minorities who recognize racism and its consequences in health, but only greater representation of people-of-color in the health establishment can ameliorate the inherent contradictions of "participatory democracy" which is so fundamental to the process of community-based participatory research.

  2. The Democratic Gap. Transcultural Confrontations of German Immigrants and the Promise of American Democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mehring, F.

    2014-01-01

    Why has the promise of American democracy been so persuasive to immigrants despite prejudice regarding cultural inferiority, a history of slavery and genocide, violations of human rights, media manipulations, and imperial self-righteousness? How can we analyze, understand, and evaluate the response

  3. RETHINKING LIBERAL DEMOCRACY: PRELUDE TO TOTALITARIANISM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel David

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available In the long course of human evolution and political experimentation, liberal democracy, especially after the events of 1989, has come to be seen as the best political system. In fact, we seemed to have reached the only system compatible with liberty, after the dreadful experiences of Communist and Nazi totalitarianism, and its twin in the economic realm - capitalism. But is liberalism really conducive to freedom? I argue that evil – or totalitarianism – arises from the combination of both the Platonic and Augustinian views: ignorance of values and the pursuit of one’s egotistic desires. Evil has an essentially private nature. In this sense, totalitarianism may arise from a utilitarian culture that sees people – or some forms of knowledge – as worthless and disposable objects.

  4. Democracy's College: The American Community College in the 21st Century--Framing the Issue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topper, Amelia M.; Powers, Jeanne M.

    2013-01-01

    In this manuscript, the guest editors of the EPAA Special Issue on "Democracy's College: The American Community College in the 21st Century": a) introduce the background, history, and context of community colleges in the larger higher education landscape; b) summarize the three research papers and two video commentaries that were…

  5. Rethinking immigration policy theory beyond 'Western liberal democracies'.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natter, Katharina

    2018-01-01

    How do political systems shape immigration policy-making? Explicitly or implicitly, comparative politics and migration policy theories suggest a 'regime effect' that links specific dynamics of immigration policy to liberal democracy. The literature's dominant focus on so-called 'Western liberal democracies', however, has left the 'regime effect' largely untested and research on variations and similarities in immigration policymaking across political systems strikingly undertheorized. This paper challenges the theoretical usefulness of essentialist, dichotomous categories such as Western/non-Western or democratic/autocratic and calls for a more nuanced theorizing of immigration policy-making. It proposes a two-dimensional classification of immigration policy theories, distinguishing between 'issue-specific' theories that capture immigration policy processes regardless of the political system in place and 'regime-specific' theories whose insights are tied to the characteristics of a political system. The paper also advances the 'illiberal paradox' hypothesis to explain why illiberal, autocratic states may enact liberal immigration policies. This theoretical expansion beyond the 'Western' and 'liberal' bubble is illustrated by an analysis of immigration policy-making in 21st century Morocco and Tunisia. Showing how domestic and international institutions, interests, and ideas shape immigration policy-making in Morocco's monarchy and Tunisia's democratic transition, the paper investigates the broader role of political systems in immigration politics and herewith seeks to contribute to a more general and global theorization of immigration policies.

  6. Democracy, Resistance, and the Practice of Literature: Introduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arka Chattopadhyay

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent world politics has witnessed the rise of a certain style of authoritarianism. It can be roughly characterized with a cult of masculine leadership, a popular rhetoric of foreign investment and development, and a phobia of the illegal immigrant made into an ethical obligation. These contradictory forms of politics – the paean to multinational corporations, free trade, and the ‘bloc’-ing of power and the simultaneous mobilization of hyper-nationalism in the form of censoring books and throttling subversive aesthetic practices – characterize the conception and practice of what may be called “authoritarian democracy.” Considering the democratically elected basis of this authoritarianism, it becomes all the more important to ask if democracy paves the way for it. In that case, where do we locate democracy today? Is it right to say that the real democratic space unfolds itself in people’s movements and not in the electoral process? If this is the case, a radical conception of democracy would have to account for a shift of emphasis from the locus of governance to that of resistance and co-option. Historically speaking, democracy may not always be the means but it has been one of the ends for the various acts of resistance such as the working class, anti-colonial, nationalist, feminist, LGBT, or constitutional multiculturalism. In our sour and hungry times, when state aggression is overpowering the geographical marking (Russia’s in Ukraine or Israel’s in Palestine, or strangling the voice of internal resistance (North Eastern regions in India, not to mention religious fundamentalism, we need to rethink the old questions of democracy and resistance. With the ISIS, Boko Haram or the Taliban practice, we have seen how resistance itself can produce a dangerous authoritarianism which further complicates the relations between democracy, authoritarianism, and resistance. How do we historicize and ethically theorize resistance in

  7. The contradictions of democracy globalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Avramović Zoran

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The author deals with the problem of European (global democratization and not with its goals. The author defines the first group of problems as internal contradictions of modern democratic states. In addition to the existing historical-political criticisms of democratic rule, the author refers to critical analysis of democracy in John Keane’s works. According to Keane, modern democratic state gets involved in several ways in the field of free circulation of public opinion. Based on this and other analyses (Bobio, Dahl, the author concludes that in contemporary European democratic societies there also exist profound contradictions that are transferred to globalization of democracy, too. The author identifies the second problem concerning European democratization in its anthropological assumptions. With reference to Tocqueville’s book Democracy in America, the author states that American democracy man develops personality characteristics oriented to the acquisition of material goods (enrichment. The expansion of Euro-American picture of man to other democracies creates the tension between universal institutions and national cultural anthropology. The third problem concerning democracy is defined from the viewpoint of political relativism. The history of the world is the history of cultural differences. The short-term experience in European democratization proves that political relativism is not respected and that tendency to imposing Euro-American model is gaining in strength. This process endangers political identity of a nation, which becomes the source of confrontation and conflicts inside and between the states. In summary, the author suggests the solution of the problem in the spirit of political liberalism. States (or groups of states do not have the right to prescribe for other states how to define their public good, except in case they endanger other states (or in case they conduct massive killing of their own citizens.

  8. Atomic-powered democracy: Policy against politics in the quest for American nuclear energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, R.W.

    1993-01-01

    This dissertation focuses on the relationship of American nuclear energy to democracy. It examines whether the nuclear policy processes have furthered the legitimacy-government accountability and citizen participation-which the democratic institutes are based. Nuclear policy and its institutions have placed severe limitations on democratic practices. Contravened democracy is seen most clearly in the decoupling of policy from politics. Decoupling refers to the weakening of institutional linkages between citizens and government, and to the erosion of the norms that ground liberal democracy. Decoupling is manifested in policy centralization, procedural biases, technical rationality, and the spatial displacement of conflict. Decoupling has normative implications: While federal accountability was limited and citizen participation was shackled, other major groups enjoyed privileged access to policy making. The decoupling of nuclear policy from politics arose within the context of US liberal-democratic capitalism. The federal government pursued its own goals of defense and world leadership. Yet, it was not structurally autonomous from the hegemony of the political-economic context. Economically, the Atomic Energy Act did not permit federal agencies to directly invest in power plant construction, and did not authorize them to commercially generate electricity. Private industry was structurally placed to domesticate the atom. Politically, the liberal-democratic system hampered an unquestioning pursuit of atomic energy. Federal institutions have been forced to heed some of the anti-nuclear concerns. The pervasive influence of the US political economy on nuclear policy has come to transgress democracy. Nuclear power's growth faltered during the 1970s. The political and economic constraints on federal actions have limited the means available to revive a becalmed nuclear industry; this has exerted strong pressure on federal institutions to decouple policy from participation

  9. Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitchell, Timothy; Jaquet, Christophe

    2013-01-01

    How oil undermines democracy, and our ability to address the environmental crisis. This book is a French translation of 'Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil' originally published by Verso Edition (New York, US, ISBN 978-1781681169). Oil is a curse, it is often said, that condemns the countries producing it to an existence defined by war, corruption and enormous inequality. Carbon Democracy tells a more complex story, arguing that no nation escapes the political consequences of our collective dependence on oil. It shapes the body politic both in regions such as the Middle East, which rely upon revenues from oil production, and in the places that have the greatest demand for energy. Timothy Mitchell begins with the history of coal power to tell a radical new story about the rise of democracy. Coal was a source of energy so open to disruption that oligarchies in the West became vulnerable for the first time to mass demands for democracy. In the mid-twentieth century, however, the development of cheap and abundant energy from oil, most notably from the Middle East, offered a means to reduce this vulnerability to democratic pressures. The abundance of oil made it possible for the first time in history to reorganize political life around the management of something now called 'the economy' and the promise of its infinite growth. The politics of the West became dependent on an undemocratic Middle East. In the twenty-first century, the oil-based forms of modern democratic politics have become unsustainable. Foreign intervention and military rule are faltering in the Middle East, while governments everywhere appear incapable of addressing the crises that threaten to end the age of carbon democracy-the disappearance of cheap energy and the carbon-fuelled collapse of the ecological order. In making the production of energy the central force shaping the democratic age, Carbon Democracy rethinks the history of energy, the politics of nature, the theory of

  10. Re-Thinking Dewey's Democracy: Shifting from a Process of Participation to an Institution of Association

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, Lynda

    2016-01-01

    Dewey's definition of democracy from "Democracy and Education" (1916) is analysed and rethought through a path exploring a shift from a conception of participation as a process to one of association as an institution. Contributions to this pathway among others come from political philosophy and educational philosophy. The rationale for…

  11. Global Times once Again: Representative Democracy and Countervailing Trends in Iberoamerica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Roniger

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available In the late 1990s and early 2000s democratic expectations were replaced by the discredit of democracy. Analyzing this trend, this study looks at the interplay of politics and the economic realm. It discusses the fragility and persistence of democracy and identifies the effect of recent macro-economic policies, the weakening of public goods, processes of dualization in forms of participation in the public domain. It also analyzes contrasting political trends, which involve some innovative projects institutionalizing democratic controls, but also new forms of populism and clientelism buttressed by poverty, unemployment and violence which reinforce the logic of exclusion. Finally, it suggests rethinking the public realm as a focus for the re-creation of sociability and a shared sense of future by improving public performance and efficacy, safeguarding public goods and thus promoting democratic sustainability in Iberoamerica.

  12. Bolivia: A Gasified Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Willem Assies

    2004-04-01

    Full Text Available In October 2003 a wave of popular protest  brought down the Sánchez de Lozada government  in Bolivia. The intention to export natural gas to  the United States and Mexico triggered the protests, but actually stood for widespread discontent  with the Sánchez de Lozada government, the  preceding governments and the economic policies  pursued since 1985. The events belie the opinion  of various students of the Latin American democratic transitions who held that Bolivian democracy  was on its way towards consolidation and suggest that the recent inquiries into the quality of Latin  American democracies may point a way ahead in  rethinking democracy in the region. Taking such  assessments as a reference, this article reviews the  ‘gas war’ and looks at the Bolivian political regime as it has functioned over the past decades. It  will be argued that the ‘pacted democracy’, that  until now sustained institutionality, and the economic model adopted in 1985 have excluded an  important part of the population, both in political terms and where poverty alleviation and equity is  concerned. Increasing popular protest has been  met with increasing repression, which gradually  turned Bolivia into a ‘democradura’, or a ‘gasified  democracy’ that relies on teargas and bullets to  uphold itself. At present the country finds itself at  a crossroads. It either may reinvent democracy or  become an institutionalized ‘democradura’. Resumen: Bolivia: una democracia gasificadaEn octubre de 2003 una ola de protesta popular  llevó a la caída del gobierno de Sánchez de Lozada en Bolivia. La intención de exportar gas natural a los Estados Unidos y México gatilló dichas  protestas, aunque en realidad reflejaron un descontento general con el gobierno Sánchez de  Lozada, los gobiernos anteriores y las políticas  económicas implementadas desde 1985. Los  sucesos desmienten la opinión de varios analistas  de las

  13. 77 FR 18897 - Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-28

    ... our Union. Through two World Wars and a long Cold War, America and Greece stood as allies in the... United States of America A Proclamation Two hundred and thirty-six years ago, a new American Nation was... ancient Hellas, where Greeks brought forth the world's first democracy and kindled a philosophical...

  14. U.S. Democracy Promotion and Al Jazeera: A View into Arab Reactions and Opposing Movements

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Smith, Marie E

    2005-01-01

    .... Will overt American promotion of democracy cause these states to democratize? Using aspects of social movement theory, this thesis examines Arab reactions to public American promotion of democracy...

  15. Rethinking Democracy: an Interview with Zygmunt Bauman

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vicente Ordóñez Roig

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available 0 0 1 91 503 UNIVERSIDAD JAUME I 4 1 593 14.0 Normal 0 21 false false false ES-TRAD JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabla normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} Zygmunt Bauman, professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds and, since 1990, emeritus professor, has developed key concepts for the understanding of fundamental issues of today’s world, such as liquid modernity, time, space and disorder, individualism versus community, globalization and consumer’s culture, love and identity, etc. His analyses of the links between modernity, Holocaust, democracy and social politics were the principal subject of the following interview, which was conducted by Vicente Ordóñez and Vicent Sanz on the occasion of Zygmunt Bauman’s recent visit to Spain. 

  16. Evangelical Religion and Evangelical Democracy: Lincoln’s Legacy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Goldfield

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Evangelical religion and evangelical democracy reinforced each other in nineteenth-century America. The spread of evangelical Christianity and democracy across a continent justified the wars against Native Americans and Mexico, and provided the moral framework for the fight against slavery which many Americans came to see as incompatible with Protestant Christianity and democratic government. The problem with mixing religion and politics in this manner was that political issues became moral issues and, therefore, more difficult to deal with in the political process.

  17. Rethinking Populism: Peak democracy, liquid identity and the performance of sovereignty

    OpenAIRE

    Blühdorn, Ingolfur; Butzlaff, Felix

    2018-01-01

    Despite the burgeoning literature on right-wing populism, there is still considerable uncertainty about its causes, its impact on liberal democracies and about promising counter-strategies. Inspired by recent suggestions that (1) the emancipatory left has made a significant contribution to the proliferation of the populist right; and (2) populist movements, rather than challenging the established socio-political order, in fact stabilize and further entrench its logic, this article argues that...

  18. Addams, Day, and Dewey: The Emergence of Community Service in American Culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morton, Keith; Saltmarsh, John

    1997-01-01

    Chronicles the emergence of community service in the United States, beginning with the turn-of-the-century collision of capitalism and democracy which generated a crisis of community and profound rethinking of the meaning and practice of charity. Three service "paths" are identified: nonprofit human services organizations; active…

  19. Japanese-American confinement and scientific democracy: Colonialism, social engineering, and government administration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosemblatt, Karin Alejandra; Benmergui, Leandro Daniel

    2018-03-01

    During World War II, the U.S. Indian Service conducted social science experiments regarding governance among Japanese Americans imprisoned at the Poston, Arizona, camp. Researchers used an array of techniques culled from anthropological culture and personality studies, psychiatry, psychology, medicine, and public opinion research to probe how the personality traits of the confined Japanese-Americans and camp leaders affected the social interactions within each group and between them. The research drew on prior studies of Indian personality in the US Southwest, Mexico's Native policies, and indirect colonial rule. Researchers asked how democracy functioned in contexts marked by hierarchy and difference. Their goal was to guide future policies toward US "minorities" and foreign races in post-war occupied territories. We show how researchers deployed ideas about race, cultural, and difference across a variety of cases to create a universal, predictive social science, which they combined with a prewar romanticism and cultural relativism. These researchers made ethnic, racial, and cultural difference compatible with predictive laws of science based on notions of fundamental human similarities. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. ¿Más participación igual a mejor democracia? Acerca de la crítica a la democracia participativa // More participation equal than better democracy? On critic to participatory democracy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfredo Ramírez Nárdiz

    2015-12-01

    Nowadays, and in countries as Spain, the critic to the representative democracy as it is conceived in the present seems to go beyond the usual thought about the representation crisis to reach amendment to the whole levels where it is not any more asked to reform specific aspects of the representative model, but to rethink the whole model. It is not proposed a different political model than democratic one, but it is proposed a different democracy that, specially and together with the reform of the more characteristic representative institutions and elements (being the political parties the axis of these reforms, looks for a bigger participation of the citizens in public life in general and in the political decision making in particular finding in participatory democracy one of the pillars of the new proposed democratic model. The question arises when posing if this bigger citizens´ participation is compatible with the representative model and can contribute to change it improving it or if, conversely, a bigger citizens´ political participation can lead to pernicious effects, both involuntary and caused by material limitations of participatory tools, both voluntary wished by rulers and political operators than, in the name of a political improvement materialized through a bigger participation, don´t look for another thing but to reach, to keep and to increase their power even at the cost of a democratic weakening materialized in a worsening of the quality of the representative institutions of the State. It is, therefore, relevant to pose if a bigger participatory democracy necessarily leads to a better democracy, or if contrary happens. On this paper, starting from the role of participatory democracy as possible complement that helps to the improving of representative democracy, the critics to the participatory democracy are exposed and it is tried to give a proposal of answer to the question if a bigger participation is compatible with a better democracy

  1. Deliberative Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Kasper Møller

    Deliberative democracy is the current Buzz-word in contemporary democratic thinking. However deliberative democracy is deeply rooted in the republican tradition of democracy.  Nevertheless these democratic roots are often forgotten when researchers "jump on the bandwagon". This paper will shows how...... deliberation appear within the writing of five important political thinkers within the republican tradition of democracy. Secondly it will investigate the rise of deliberative democracy and explain why the deliberative turn suddenly occurred. However, first a brief general account of deliberative democracy...... is presented in order to outline the focus of deliberative democracy....

  2. Power, Democracy--and Democracy in Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Ken

    2012-01-01

    This article addresses questions of workplace democracy, particularly in relation to school education. Following Luciano Canfora in treating democracy as "the rule of the many", it traces the post-1945 rise of workplace democracy, and its post-1979 decline. Analysing the constitution of contemporary schooling in England, the article…

  3. Mitigated Democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Doomen, J.

    2016-01-01

    Militant democracy is an attempt to defend democracy against totalitarian parties that would use democratic procedures to rise to power. This article is focused on the consistency of the concept of 'militant democracy'. I argue that what militant democracy defends is not the democratic procedure

  4. Reconstruction of the democratic experience: democracy as a pedagogical belief in Dewey’s philosophy

    OpenAIRE

    Carina Tonieto; Altair Alberto Fávero

    2012-01-01

    The present article aims at reconstructing and analyzing the reasons that led the American educator John Dewey to elect democracy as the pedagogical belief of his educational philosophy. In order to do so, fi rstly our work will briefl y retrace the origins of democracy at the Greek paideia, in order to analyze the reasons that led Deweyto choose democracy as the main reference of his pedagogical belief. Finally, we will discuss the democratic concept of education on Dewey’s work Democracy an...

  5. Philosophy of democracy and Principles of Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jarmila Chovancová

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available As the title of suggests the article deals with the problems of democracy, its philosophy and also dominant principles. The author reflects interpretation of democracy on the society with their different understand.             Democracy represents a form of government, a way of political life where these principles are put into practice.             Democracy and its separate principles are expressed in the ultimate legal rules in the democratic countries. Principle of participation as a democratic principle rests with the fact that citizens have right to participate in state administration either directly or via their elected representatives. This principle also ensures that citizens participating in state administration enjoy equal basic rights and liberties and also guarantees that no person can be excluded from participation in state administration or from access to elected or other posts.             Methodology: In the article I using method of analyze - I analyzing dominant problems of democracy-its principles in democratic countries. Another method is comparation- understanding democracy from historical aspect. And the end I also using method of synthesis-explanation democracy understand today.

  6. Reconstruction of the democratic experience: democracy as a pedagogical belief in Dewey’s philosophy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carina Tonieto

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The present article aims at reconstructing and analyzing the reasons that led the American educator John Dewey to elect democracy as the pedagogical belief of his educational philosophy. In order to do so, fi rstly our work will briefl y retrace the origins of democracy at the Greek paideia, in order to analyze the reasons that led Deweyto choose democracy as the main reference of his pedagogical belief. Finally, we will discuss the democratic concept of education on Dewey’s work Democracy and Education and the reasons why the author uses science, philosophy, and education as instruments of reconstruction of the democracy.

  7. «The political» sphere in Miguel Abensour as a possibility for a «salvage democracy»

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Borja Castro-Serrano

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Under the Critical political philosophy by Abensour and his continuous reading of the modern political classics —specifically of the young Marx—, it is intended to build a position of the «political» conceptual space which extends the current political and philosophical space. Readings of «political» as the first element highlights the idea that politics are a condition of irreducibility. It aims at speculating a political philosophy of things themselves, which imposes a need for humanity in the political dimension, which makes it impossible to reduce politics to other matters. And if politics is irreducible and it's tied to a condition of humanity, Is the State the best figure to create this new configuration? As a second element, Abensour suggests rethinking the State matrix and enhancing the place of politics as excessive (irreducible which rediscovers the specificity of democracy under the rubric of a «wild democracy».

  8. Democracy, political representation, leadership and the institutional question. Debates on the theory and practice of politics in contemporary democracies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hernán Fair

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the problem of political representation in contemporary democracies, its links with the role of political leadership and the institutional issue. In the first part, it examines the debates on political representation from the predominant perspectives of Latin American political science and critiques from alternative views of the discipline. The second part focuses on representative democracies today, examining the links and tensions between Laclau´s post-foundational theory of populism and neo-institutionalist political science. The last part critiques laclausian theory of populism, distinguishing conceptually between the institutional, administrative and pluralistic elements and the liberal tradition, which appears juxtaposed in the laclausian approach, and between the populist (post-foundational and ideological (foundational forms, on the basis of the analytical differences between authoritarianism, dictatorship and totalitarism. After that, some resources of the classical tradition of democracy and republicanism are incorporated, which are sub-theorized in Laclau’s approach. Finally, these tools are used to conceptualize and analyze two dimensions, defined as participatory-horizontal-popular and representative-pluralist, which tend to construct a post-foundational theory of radical democracy for the twenty-first century.

  9. Direct Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Beramendi, Virginia; Ellis, Andrew; Kaufman, Bruno

    While many books on direct democracy have a regional or national approach, or simply focus on one of the many mechanisms associated with direct democracy, this Handbook delves into a global comparison of direct democracy mechanisms, including referendums, citizens' initiatives, agenda initiatives...... learned. In addition, the uniquely comprehensive world survey outlines direct democracy provisions in 214 countries and territories and indicates which, if any, of these provisions are used by each country or territory at both the national and sub-national levels. Furthermore, the world survey includes...

  10. DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIA: THE ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    FBL

    The study revealed that many people within the voting age did not vote and were ... known American political scientist, as quoted in Cayne (1993:777) as “an implicit bargain ..... Functional democracy requires strong/effective political institutions and basic rights ... Experience” African Journal of Social Science and Humanity.

  11. Designing For Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knutz, Eva; Markussen, Thomas; Mårbjerg Thomsen, Signe

    2014-01-01

    there are already a number of approaches available which in one way or the other address the relationship between design, democracy and power. We provide an account of participatory design, adversarial design and design activism thereby pointing towards design?s potential for re-distributing power and authority......n this paper we focus on ?patient-democracy? and ?shared decision-making? seen from the perspective of design practice and design research. In the research on democracy in healthcare it is rarely questioned what forms of democracy underlies these concepts. We have examined three different theories...... of democracy and the democratic practices that belong to each of these. For designers working to increase patient democracy it is of vital importance to be able to distinguish different structures underlying democratic practices and to work out methods for prototyping democracy. In design research...

  12. Taiwan’s Democracy: Towards a Liberal Democracy or Authoritarianism?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dafydd J. Fell

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines how Taiwan moved from being viewed as a model Asian democracy to one allegedly suffering from democratic reversal. The reasons for the declining domestic and international reputation of Taiwan’s democracy are discussed. Lastly, some key political challenges facing Taiwan’s democracy are outlined.

  13. Democracy and Sense

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Bent Erik

    Democracy and sense questions practically all that happens in society today. Its aim is to raise a debate on the most urgent problems of economy, democracy, sustainable conduct and the framework for industry and business. A number of untraditional solutions are suggested, but without support...... to either rightwing or leftwing politics. In fact, one of the key points is that political parties have reduced democracy to one day of voting followed by four years of oligarchy. To regain a functioning democracy we must strengthen direct democracy and make the distance between population and government...

  14. Does the digital age require new models of democracy? : lasswell's policy scientist of democracy vs. Liquid democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jelena Gregorius

    2015-01-01

    This essay provides a debate about Lasswell’s policy scientist of democracy (PSOD, 1948) in comparison to the model of liquid democracy (21st century) based on the question if the digital age requires new models of democracy. The PSOD of Lasswell, a disciplinary persona, is in favour of an elitist

  15. Mapping Deviant Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seeberg, Michael

    2014-01-01

    A number of countries have emerged as stable (though minimalist) democracies despite low levels of modernization, lack of democratic neighbouring countries and other factors consistently related to democratic stability in the literature. The study of these deviant democracies is a promising new...... research field but it is afflicted by a notable problem, viz. the lack of a consensus as to which countries are actually instances of deviant democracy. The present article attempts to solve this problem by carrying out a comprehensive mapping of deviant democracies. First, I review the existing literature...... to provide an overview of the cases most often identified as deviant democracies. Second, I use a large-N analysis to systematically map deviant democracies. The analysis includes 159 countries covering the time period 1993–2008. The analysis points to 12 cases that merits further attention, viz...

  16. Islam and Democracy: Conflicts and Congruence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Md Nazrul Islam

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Is authoritarianism intrinsic to Islam? Is Islam incompatible with democracy? These questions are frequently debated in the context of the study of the relationship between the Western and Islamic civilization. The debate has gained momentum since the last decade of the twentieth century, especially after the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the subsequent transition of socialist states in Eastern Europe and other authoritarian states in Asia and Latin America to democracy. The publication of The Clash of Civilizations by American scholar Samuel Huntington, in which he presented a controversial argument about a cultural divide and clash between the Islamic world and the West, pushed the debate even further. Apart from Muslim intellectuals, Western academics have spent a significant amount of time on these questions, with a multitude of articles and volumes examining the compatibility of Islam and democracy. In this paper, we will examine Islam’s relationship with democracy from normative and philosophical viewpoints, examining how the established values and principles of Islam as reflected in the Qur’anic and prophetic traditions correspond to Western democratic norms and practices. In order to obtain a profound understanding of this subject, we have delved into, through content analysis, the thoughts of several early modernist Islamic scholars who have had tremendous impact on contemporary Islamic revivalist movements throughout the world, and interviewed a number of contemporary Islamic thinkers in Bangladesh.

  17. Political economy. On the endogeneity of political preferences: evidence from individual experience with democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuchs-Schündeln, Nicola; Schündeln, Matthias

    2015-03-06

    Democracies depend on the support of the general population, but little is known about the determinants of this support. We investigated whether support for democracy increases with the length of time spent under the system and whether preferences are thus affected by the political system. Relying on 380,000 individual-level observations from 104 countries over the years 1994 to 2013, and exploiting individual-level variation within a country and a given year in the length of time spent under democracy, we find evidence that political preferences are endogenous. For new democracies, our findings imply that popular support needs time to develop. For example, the effect of around 8.5 more years of democratic experience corresponds to the difference in support for democracy between primary and secondary education. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  18. Rethinking image indexing?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Hans Dam

    2017-01-01

    Hans Dam Christensen, ”Rethinking image indexing?”, in: Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, vol. 68, no. 7, 2017, 1782-1785......Hans Dam Christensen, ”Rethinking image indexing?”, in: Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, vol. 68, no. 7, 2017, 1782-1785...

  19. Internet's Potential to Affect Social Studies and Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedman, Adam M.

    2006-01-01

    Technology, and the Internet in particular, is bringing constant change to American society, including the potential to enhance democracy by fostering participation in the electoral process. Because of the wealth of information available on candidates, issues, and policies, the Internet may foster citizens' ability to cast a more informed vote. As…

  20. The Phenomenology of Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Robert

    2009-01-01

    Human beings originate votes, and democracy constitutes decisions. This is the essence of democracy. A phenomenological analysis of the vote and of the decision reveals for us the inherent strength of democracy and its deficiencies. Alexis de Tocqueville pioneered this form of enquiry into democracy and produced positive results from it.…

  1. Democracy in Crisis?

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Neill, Brenda

    2006-01-01

    This article discusses the state of Canadian democracy. Although calling Canadian democracy as something to be in a crisis is still debatable, the author expresses worry over the declining turnout levels in recent elections. Canada--along with a number of other liberal democracies--has experienced a significant and consistent decline in election…

  2. 'Democracy is coming to the RSA': On democracy, theology, and futural historicity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert R. Vosloo

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This article brings the concept of democracy � as an open-ended tradition � in conversation with notions dealing with historicity and the future, such as �democracy to come�, �promise�, and �a democratic vision�. It is argued that although these notions are rightfully associated with the future, they also imply that democracy should not be disconnected from an emphasis on an inheritance from the past. With this emphasis in mind, the first part of the article attends to the French philosopher Jacques Derrida�s intriguing term, �democracy to come�, whereas the second part of the article takes a closer look at some aspects of the work of the South African theologian John de Gruchy on democracy, with special reference to his distinction between a democratic system and a democratic vision. The third, and final, part of the article brings some of the insights taken from the engagement with Derrida and De Gruchy into conversation with the continuing challenges facing theological discourse on democracy in South Africa today.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: A constructive proposal is made that emphasises the futural openness of democracy in a way that challenges a vague utopianism.Keywords: Democracy; Derrida; De Gruchy; future; historicity

  3. Globalization and democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    DEEPAK NAYYAR

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACTThe gathering momentum of globalization in the world economy has coincided with the spread of political democracy across countries. Economies have become global. But politics remains national. This essay explores the relationship between globalization and democracy, which is neither linear nor characterized by structural rigidities. It seeks to analyze how globalization might constrain degrees of freedom for nation states and space for democratic politics, and how political democracy within countries might exercise some checks and balances on markets and globalization. The essential argument is that the relationship between globalization and democracy is dialectical and does not conform to ideological caricatures.

  4. Ethnic Conflict and Democracy in Nigeria: The Marginalisation ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ethnic conflicts in whatever form need to be resolved in order to allow for democracy to thrive. This paper examines ways in which ethnic problems in Nigeria may be resolved through the creation of a realistic and workable federalism modelled largely on the American model. Journal of Social Development in Africa Vol 15 ...

  5. Making Democracy an Active Force in Students' Lives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Jonette; Neville, Eryca

    2006-01-01

    The fifth grade social studies curriculum includes a study democracy within the context of United Sates history. The traditional approach to teaching the material focuses on stories of the white, male heroes of American History and calls on students to be passive recipients of information. History is presented as a series of events that "just…

  6. Schooling for Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noddings, Nel

    2011-01-01

    There is a widespread movement today to prepare all students for college, and it is promoted in the name of democracy. I argue here that such a move actually puts our democracy at risk by forcing students into programs that do not interest them and depriving them of courses at which they might succeed. We risk losing the vision of democracy that…

  7. A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Greg Robinson

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available

    The confinement of some 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, often called the Japanese American internment, has been described as the worst official civil rights violation of modern U. S. history. Greg Robinson not only offers a bold new understanding of these events but also studies them within a larger time frame and from a transnational perspective. Drawing on newly discovered material, Robinson provides a backstory of confinement that reveals for the first time the extent of the American government's surveillance of Japanese communities in the years leading up to war and the construction of what officials termed "concentration camps" for enemy aliens. He also considers the aftermath of confinement, including the place of Japanese Americans in postwar civil rights struggles, the long movement by former camp inmates for redress, and the continuing role of the camps as touchstones for nationwide commemoration and debate. Most remarkably, A Tragedy of Democracy is the first book to analyze official policy toward West Coast Japanese Americans within a North American context. Robinson studies confinement on the mainland alongside events in wartime Hawaii, where fears of Japanese Americans justified Army dictatorship, suspension of the Constitution, and the imposition of military tribunals. He similarly reads the treatment of Japanese Americans against Canada's confinement of 22,000 citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry from British Columbia. A Tragedy of Democracy recounts the expulsion of almost 5,000 Japanese from Mexico's Pacific Coast and the poignant story of the Japanese Latin Americans who were kidnapped from their homes and interned in the United States. Approaching Japanese confinement as a continental and international phenomenon, Robinson offers a truly kaleidoscopic understanding of its genesis and outcomes.

  8. A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Greg Robinson

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The confinement of some 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, often called the Japanese American internment, has been described as the worst official civil rights violation of modern U. S. history. Greg Robinson not only offers a bold new understanding of these events but also studies them within a larger time frame and from a transnational perspective. Drawing on newly discovered material, Robinson provides a backstory of confinement that reveals for the first time the extent of the American government's surveillance of Japanese communities in the years leading up to war and the construction of what officials termed "concentration camps" for enemy aliens. He also considers the aftermath of confinement, including the place of Japanese Americans in postwar civil rights struggles, the long movement by former camp inmates for redress, and the continuing role of the camps as touchstones for nationwide commemoration and debate. Most remarkably, A Tragedy of Democracy is the first book to analyze official policy toward West Coast Japanese Americans within a North American context. Robinson studies confinement on the mainland alongside events in wartime Hawaii, where fears of Japanese Americans justified Army dictatorship, suspension of the Constitution, and the imposition of military tribunals. He similarly reads the treatment of Japanese Americans against Canada's confinement of 22,000 citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry from British Columbia. A Tragedy of Democracy recounts the expulsion of almost 5,000 Japanese from Mexico's Pacific Coast and the poignant story of the Japanese Latin Americans who were kidnapped from their homes and interned in the United States. Approaching Japanese confinement as a continental and international phenomenon, Robinson offers a truly kaleidoscopic understanding of its genesis and outcomes.

  9. Democracy and identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milović Miroslav

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available It might be that the crisis of democracy is crisis of thinking. Modern metaphysics affirms the monologue of the subject with respect to the problem of rationality, as well as in the social realm. It thus affirms liberal egoism. Such metaphysics structures modernity as a monologue. Thus the question arises: how to think the democracy within this monologue? Democracy appears to be a modern project impossible to achieve.

  10. Democracy and Historical Writing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Baets, Antoon

    2015-01-01

    In this essay, we try to clarify the relationship between democracy and historical writing. The strategy is first exploring the general relationship between democracy and historical awareness, and then, studying the relationship between democracy and historical writing itself to find out whether

  11. (PostMaterialism, Satisfaction with Democracy and Support for Democracy in Eastern Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavlović, Zoran

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The materialist-postmaterialist value dimension, understood as assigning priority to self-expression and quality of life as opposed to physical and economic security, has been one of the most important heuristic tools in the analysis of the changes of predominant values in cross-cultural and comparative studies in past decades. In recent elaboration of self-expression and emancipative values (in both cases, with postmaterialism as the most important component, postmaterialist values have been viewed as an essence of democratic political culture and a cultural precondition of effective democracy. This study was aimed at analysing the relation between postmaterialist values (understood as a political/thick culture variable, satisfaction with country’s democracy (institutional/thin culture variable and support for democracy. The data from the European Values Survey (EVS, conducted on the nationally representative samples in twenty East European countries on the total of twenty countries and 30,393 respondents, were used. It is shown that postmaterialism is an important aspect of democratic political culture in Eastern Europe; in general, the most supportive of democracy are postmaterialists. On the other hand, there is a mixed pattern between the postmaterialist values and satisfaction with democracy – in some countries, citizens satisfied with democracy are more prone to choose postmaterialist items compared to the dissatisfied ones, while in some other countries the reverse is true. Both are, however, important predictors of the support for democracy as well as the country’s level of democracy development (measured by the EIU Democracy index. The relevance of postmaterialist values for the promotion of democratic political culture in Eastern Europe, possible alternative mechanisms of value change as well as the materialist-postmaterialist conception are discussed.

  12. Democracy from Islamic law perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mubarak Abdulkadir

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available It is frequently argued that because many Muslim states are monarchies or dictatorships or because of certain events that have taken place within their borders, Islamic law is not compatible with democracy and democracy is even neglected in the provisions of the holy Qur'an. Islamic law, according to what can be traced in its primary sources, not only supports democracy and people's participation in the state affairs but even possesses provisions in the Qur'an verses which encourage counselling and consultation and some scholars deem that to be democratic representation. Islamic Law, according to the provisions of some verses from the holy Qur'an encourages democracy but not liberal democracy like that of the western world. The religious democracy that can go with our modern time and solve many contemporary problems of the Muslim world is the model which was introduced by late Ayatollah Imam Khomeini after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. The author in this research work concludes by showing that the ideal democracy enshrined in the holy Qur'an, as the primary source of Islamic law, is not liberal democracy of the western world, but rather a religious democracy.

  13. Rethinking Project Management in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svejvig, Per

    2012-01-01

    . The chapter argues for a rethinking process due to pervasiveness and complexity in the contemporary project environment where rethinking is needed in order to stay competitive. The suggested approach for the rethinking project management is a framing process where body of ideas is established......Projects are everywhere across different sectors, industries and countries. Project management is no longer a sub-discipline of engineering and other rather technical disciplines but is also used for many other purposes. Even though practice has changed dramatically over the years, the models...... and methodologies for project management has been fairly static and has therefore received substantial criticism for a lack of relevance to practice. Several scholars have therefore started to think more widely about projects and project management conceptualized as rethinking project management. However this theme...

  14. Contemporary theories of democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mladenović Ivan

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is two-fold: first, to analyze several contemporary theories of democracy, and secondly, to propose a theoretical framework for further investigations based on analyzed theories. The following four theories will be analyzed: pluralism, social choice theory, deliberative democracy and participatory democracy.

  15. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail: What the Election Means for U.S. Health Care, and the Health of American Democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doherty, Robert B

    2017-01-01

    This paper analyzes four trends that are affecting the 2016 election: changing US demographics and the reaction to them, a growing distrust of government, increased polarization and government gridlock, and the rise of populism. It compares the views of candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald S. Trump on the Affordable Care Act, climate change, prescription drug pricing, prevention of injuries and deaths from firearms, and the opioids epidemic; and offers perspectives on the potential impact of the election not only on U.S. health care policy, but on the health of American democracy itself.

  16. Party Ideology, Electoral Competition and the Election of Women in Five Latin American Democracies: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay, 1980-2013

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santiago ALLES

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Women have made enormous progress in their political incorporation. However, the pace of that incorporation has differed across countries. The present article analyzes the effects of party ideology and of the characteristics of electoral competition on the election of women in legislative seats in five Latin American democracies over three decades. The empirical results provide evidence of the effects of party (ideology and institutional factors (type of ballot; and at the same time, call into question the effect of factors previously asserted in the literature, such as district magnitude y party magnitude.

  17. Cosmopolitan Democracy: A Restatement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Archibugi, Daniele

    2012-01-01

    Can democracy be expanded beyond borders? For many years, it was taken for granted that the norms and values of democracy could be applied within the boundaries of a state only. But over the last 20 years, it has been increasingly argued that democracy can also inform international organizations and global politics. This article recapitulates the…

  18. Democracy Aid and Electoral Accountability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heinrich, Tobias; Loftis, Matthew

    2017-01-01

    for this by analyzing incumbent turnover in elections following poor economic performance – the economic vote – as a measure of voting to achieve performance accountability. In our analysis of over 1,100 elections in 114 developing countries between 1975 and 2010, we find distinct evidence that increasing receipt......Although foreign policies often fail to successfully promote democracy, over a decade of empirical research indicates that foreign aid specifically for democracy promotion is remarkably successful at improving the survival and institutional strength of fragile democracies. However, these measures...... cannot tell us how well democracy aid supports the central promise of democracy: accountable government. Since institutions can be subverted in various ways that undermine accountability, it is vital to know whether democracy aid supports accountability to assess its overall success. We provide evidence...

  19. Democracy and non-profit housing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Anne Vorre; Langergaard, Luise Li

    2017-01-01

    Resident democracy as a special form of participatory democratic set-up is fundamental in the understanding, and self-understanding, of the non-profit housing sector in Denmark. Through a case study, the paper explores how resident democracy is perceived and narrated between residents and employees....... The tensions are related to representative versus participatory democracy; collectivity versus individuality; and service versus welfare. The tensions elucidate how resident democracy is squeezed between different logics, which result in an ambiguous setting for practising democracy. Based on the results...... at a housing association. The study indicates that the meta-story of democracy is disconnected from practice and the lived lives of residents. Three analytical tensions structure the analysis, which relate to the conditions for realizing the democratic ideal embedded in the structure of the sector...

  20. Discussing the Prospects of European Democracy with Alexis de Tocqueville

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dalia Eidukienė

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This article analyses the concept of democracy proposed by Alexis de Tocqueville, a famous French historian and sociologist. Special attention is paid to the definition of democracy, the dialectics of freedom and equality as well as the issues of relationship between democracy and centralization of power, democracy and individualism, and democracy and the tyranny of the majority. Tocqueville‘s liberal theory is an excellent example of the political project of the early modern period; it was in step with or, in many cases, ahead of France‘s political evolution, thereby contributing to the formation of the intellectual climate of the later 20th century. More than that, Tocqueville‘s political thought remains relevant even today. He is valued as an innovator, who, as Zbigniew Brzezinski put it, „understood earlier and interpreted better than anyone the uniqueness of the American experiment... His judgements are to this day remarkably prescient and incisive“ (Brzezinski 2011. Consequently, Tocqueville‘s book Democracy in America is a text that is worth being reread. In each political period the readers of this text rediscover anew the meaning of the messages communicated by the author. This depends on the political consciousness, political culture and the „quality“ of the recipients, i.e. on their ability to process and adapt the received information to their times, their state, their specific situation or a specific subject. Tocqueville invites his readers to engage in communicative reading (i.e. dialogue and discussions, which is an important part of modern political communication and political practice. It is also one of the most important attributes of politics and a reliable instrument that makes it easier to form modern political theories and solve political problems. 

  1. Multilingualism and Education for Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biseth, Heidi

    2009-01-01

    This essay attempts to show the importance of linguistic issues in education for democracy and the close relationship between democracy and multilingualism. Increasingly nation-states are having to adapt to linguistic diversity within their borders and to recognize that democracy requires the participation of all citizens, including those belonging to linguistic minorities. Democracy also requires that all linguistic groups share a sense of community. The author argues the need for educational policies that address these challenges.

  2. On the Educational Thoughts in Dewey's Democracy and Education

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    HU Zong-xia

    2016-01-01

    Dewey is a famous American educator,and his Democracy and Education is a complete and systematic theoretical sys-tem of education,so it is know as the classics education, progressive education theory of the general program.There are many de-fects and deficiencies in the education of junior middle school in our country,the pragmatism education thought in the book has a great influence on the education of junior middle school in our country,so analysis of the educational thoughts of Dewey's De-mocracy and Education,such as"child centered theory","school is society", education is"life","learn from doing"and so on,this is to improve the history education of junior high school in our country and further promote the education reform of our country has a great positive significance.

  3. Problem of Democracy Promotion in the of Postcolonial Feminism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladislav A. Muzalevskiy

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the problems of democratization as a neocolonial practice. The author argues that the spread of democracy is similar in many respects to colonialism and civilizing mission as universal and even messianic phenomena. He notes that both of these phenomena, despite the similarity of their origin, have different "gender basis" (colonialism has characteristics of masculinity and civilizing mission - of femininity. The author reviewed the history of transforming the concepts of "colonialism" and "civilizing mission". Results parallels between the two phenomena are analyzed as a specific intellectual and public discourse in a particular era influenced the formation of both phenomena. Examples of national civilizing projects, their intellectual potential and influence on contemporary world politics are also considered. The echoes of colonialism and civilizing mission are visible in US and the EU doctrines of democracy promotion. Examining the evolution of approaches to democratization, the author finds the differences in strategic culture of the United States and the European Union: if the American establishment have a propensity to masculine practice of democracy promotion ("democratic enlargement", the project "Greater Middle East", etc., and European leadership prefers feminine practices. In terms of the post-colonial feminism, this approach does not give these actors any special benefits, as it offers the ineffective governing strategy of the local population, not taking into account, and often denying the specific cultural environment of democracy promotion, paying more attention to institutional characteristics (lack of certain civil rights and freedoms, lack of transparency in the work of public authorities, etc.. The author notes that the current strategy of democracy promotion, though being more complex, creates the effect of "double discrimination", when both the local people and local women (imposing image of "a free and

  4. Ray Stannard Baker and the Spirit of Democracy, 1900-1910.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Tom; List, Karen K.

    The early years of the twentieth century, years when the forces of capitalism tested the nation's will to keep the promises of democracy for all citizens, represent a time of national moral and intellectual lethargy. The muckraking movement sought to instill in the American mind a sense of outrage by exposing the evils of the new social order. If…

  5. Debugging Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Likhotal

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Democracy was the most successful political idea of the 20th century. However since the beginning of the new century democracy has been clearly suffering from serious structural problems, rather than a few isolated ailments. Why has it run into trouble, can it be revived? In the consumption driven world people have started to be driven by the belief in economic prosperity as the guarantee of human freedom. As a result, human development and personal status have become hostages of economic performance, deforming basic civilisation’s ethical matrix. However in 10-15 years, the world may be completely different. We are looking at communications and technology revolutions occurring in very abbreviated time frames. Soon, billions of people will interact via a fast data-transferring Metaweb, and it will change social standards as well as human behaviour patterns. Integrated global economies functioning as holistic entities will spur a deep reframing of global governance, shaping a new configuration of political, economic and military power. One can hardly expect that these changes will leave democratic mechanisms intact. It’s a pivotal moment for all of us because we are facing paradigm changes in our way of life. We clearly need a new political vision that is deliverable quickly. Democracy can be reset if it can provide a platform for collective judgement and individual development—in a value-driven process, when values manifest themselves in concrete and socially meaningful issues, and are not reduced to the economic optimization and politics of the wallet. In other words, the only remedy to resolve the crisis of democracy is more democracy.

  6. Multilingualism and Education for Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biseth, Heidi

    2009-01-01

    This essay attempts to show the importance of linguistic issues in education for democracy and the close relationship between democracy and multilingualism. Increasingly nation-states are having to adapt to linguistic diversity within their borders and to recognize that democracy requires the participation of all citizens, including those…

  7. Law, Democracy & Development

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The evolution and implementation of democracy, good governance practices, human rights and socio-economic development are critical issues facing South Africa and Africa as a whole. Law interacts with this process in ways that may promote or inhibit it. Law, Democracy & Development addresses this interaction. Our aim ...

  8. Democracy Squared

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rose, Jeremy; Sæbø, Øystein

    2005-01-01

    On-line political communities, such as the Norwegian site Demokratitorget (Democracy Square), are often designed according to a set of un-reflected assumptions about the political interests of their potential members. In political science, democracy is not taken as given in this way, but can...... be represented by different models which characterize different relationships between politicians and the citizens they represent. This paper uses quantitative and qualitative content analysis to analyze the communication mediated by the Democracy Square discussion forum in the first ten months of its life......-Republican model. In the qualitative analysis the discourse is analysed as repeating genres – patterns in the communication form which also reflect the conflict of interest between citizens and politicians. Though the analysis gives insight into the nature of the discourse the site supports, little is known about...

  9. The Western Way? Democracy and the Media Assistance Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daire Higgins

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available International media assistance took off during a time where the ideological extremes of USA vs. USSR were set to disappear. Following the Cold War, international relations focused on democracy building, and nurturing independent media was embraced as a key part of this strategy. Fukayama called it the ‘End of History’, the fact that all other ideologies had fallen and Western style democracy was set to become the one common ideology. The US and UK led the way in media assistance, with their liberal ideas of a free press, bolstered by free market capitalism. America was the superpower, and forged the way around the globe with its beacon of democracy. Under that guiding light they would bring truth, accuracy, freedom of expression and independent reporting to the countries which had so long lived under the shadow of communism, or authoritarian media systems. This is what propelled and justified American foreign policy, and their media assistance, for many years. Much work was thus carried out in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet satellites, but many now question the impact and legacy of these projects. When the US and UK spoke of media assistance they seemed to mean ‘free market’. These days, the ‘democracy promoters’ focus has turned more to Africa and the Middle East. The ideology is apparently the same: to help establish and support democracy with a stronger and more independent media. But with Western economies, and their media systems, in crisis, the relevance of this media assistance model is questioned. This essay looks at the history of media assistance and the ongoing debate on the impact of media assistance over the long term, its motives and the new balance of power appearing in international media development.

  10. U.S. Democracy Promotion and Al Jazeera: A View into Arab Reactions and Opposing Movements

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Smith, Marie E

    2005-01-01

    The promotion of democracy in the Arab world, an area to date resistant to effective political liberalization, has become a central pillar in American Middle East foreign policy as well as an integral...

  11. Recognition of Laborers as Citizens: First Worker Democracy versus Liberal Capitalist Democracy

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Brabec, Martin

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 15, 1/2 (2016), s. 157-165 ISSN 1569-1500 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA14-19416S Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : Athenian democracy * capitalism * citizenships * demos * exploitation * liberal democracy * peasants Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

  12. Quality of democracy in Venezuela

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel H. LEVINE

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Discussions of democracy in contemporary Venezuela lack a settled definition of the subject, how to study it, or indeed of what counts as «democracy» in the first place. The regime has been described as everything from participatory democracy, hybrid, mixed, and personalist to populist, illiberal, or no longer democratic but rather competitive authoritarian. The goal of this article is to measure the quality of democracy in Venezuela, within the terms of a procedural concept of democracy as detailed in our earlier work. Empirical measurement of the quality of democracy on five dimensions (electoral choice, participation, responsiveness, accountability, sovereignty reveals a low level overall and deep institutional weakness under a personalist leadership, with little change from 2005 to 2010. Future scenarios, after the 2012 presidential election result, include reinforcement of authoritarian trends, open militarization, liberalization and institutional strengthening, or long term volatility and polarized conflict. All scenarios are contingent on the health of President Chávez, who is a central unifying factor for his movement and regime

  13. Deweyan Democracy: The Epistemic Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jón Olafsson

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available John Dewey famously argued that we should think of democracy as a “way of life”. What this consists in he described as participating according to capacity in public decisions and participating according to need or desire in forming values. He also characterized democracy as “a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience” (Dewey 1966 p. 87; 1954 p. 147; 1957 p. 209. Such and other passages in Dewey’s works show that his conception of democracy is complex. He did not think of it simply as a way of decision-making, nor is democratic procedure of particular importance to him. Concepts such as “associated living” or “communicated experience” point to the social dimensions Dewey was particularly interested in. Dewey also repeatedly claims that democracy demands “social return” from every individual and that democracy enables everyone to develop “distinct capacities” (Dewey 1966, p. 122. A related claim emphasizes how, in a democracy, “all share in useful service and enjoy a worthy leisure” (Dewey 1966, p. 256.

  14. The Reconstruction of Community College Vocational Education: A Vision for Renewing American Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harbour, Clifford P.; Wolgemuth, Jennifer R.

    2015-01-01

    Objective: The purpose of this article is to explain how central points developed in Dewey's 1916 "Democracy and Education" provide the rationale needed to adopt institutional and policy recommendations made by Grubb and Lazerson in their 2004 book, "The Education Gospel: The Economic Power of Schooling". Method: The central…

  15. Conceptions of "Nordic Democracy" and European Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Uffe

    Reluctance towards European integration in the Nordic countries is doubtlessly more connected to ideas on democracy than elsewhere. This goes not only for the (empirical) practicability of democracy but also for the (normative) desirability of democracy in the EU. After the Second World War, when...... and reborn after the Second World War as genuine democracy. However, a third narrative developed in which democracy was seen as having its roots in the Nordic countries dating back to the Viking Age or earlier. In the period from the 1940s to the 1980s, a number of Nordic anthologies contained articles...... the process of contemporary European integration was approaching, and the concept of democracy at the same time was heavily contested in public debates and among academics, two conceptions of democracy were struggling: On one hand, democracy was recognized as a European value developing in the form...

  16. Rethinking macroeconomic policies for development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deepak Nayyar

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available The global economic crisis has created an opportunity to rethink macroeconomics for development. Such rethinking is both necessary and desirable. It is essential to redefine macroeconomic objectives so that the emphasis is on fostering employment creation and supporting economic growth instead of the focus on price stability alone. It is just as important to rethink macroeconomic policies which cannot simply be used for the management of inflation and the elimination of macroeconomic imbalances, since fiscal and monetary policies are powerful and versatile instruments in the pursuit of development objectives. In doing so, it is essential to the overcome the constraints embedded in orthodox economic thinking and recognize the constraints implicit in the politics of ideology and interests.

  17. Freedom and the Non-Instrumental Value of Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rostbøll, Christian F.

    This paper is an intervention in two debates, one concerning the instrumental vs noninstrumental value of democracy, the other concerning the relationship between freedom and democracy. I reject the purely instrumental justification of democracy and defend the idea that democracy has noninstrumen......This paper is an intervention in two debates, one concerning the instrumental vs noninstrumental value of democracy, the other concerning the relationship between freedom and democracy. I reject the purely instrumental justification of democracy and defend the idea that democracy has...... noninstrumental value. I see the noninstrumental value of democracy in terms of freedom rather than the now more common reference to equality or fairness. The freedom argument can better show the noninstrumenal value of democracy and can better respond to some core objections to democratic noninstrumentalism than...... the equality argument. A main aim of this paper is to show that freedom and democracy are not merely instrumentally linked but, rather, intrinsically related. I argue this mainly via a critical engagement with Philip Pettit’s conception of freedom as nondomination. My defense of the noninstrumental value...

  18. Power and democracy in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jørgen Goul; Jørgensen, Torben Beck; Valgårda, Signild

    the numerous projects under the Power Study, and this book is a short presentation of these conclusions.The main focus of the book is the state of democracy in Denmark at the dawn of the 21st century. How has democracy fared, has the development made things better or worse, and to which extent does......In 1997, the Danish Parliament decided to launch a power study, officially An Analysis of Democracy and Power in Denmark. A steering committee consisting of five independent researchers was assigned responsibility for the project. The Steering Committee has gathered the overall conclusions from...... contemporary democracy live up to our democratic ideals? The answer is that in many ways democracy is doing better than we might have expected, considering the intense pressure on the nation state and the democratic institutions in the postwar period. The Danish population is still full of democratic life...

  19. Democracy is a historical urgency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Synek, Miroslav

    2015-03-01

    Survival of humanity, on this planet, may depend, heavily, on coping with advancing technology of nuclear missiles. Let us consider critical alternatives of powerful governments: democracy, as an alternative to dictatorship. Democracy is based on free elections, as a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Democracy is a historical urgency, in the age of inter-continental nuclear missiles, computerized on a push-button, conceivably controllable by a very powerful, miscalculating and/or insane, dictator, capable of producing global nuclear holocaust, on our entire planet. Diplomacy, together with supporting activities, should be utilized, to help, in important steps, at this time, for achieving democracy in critical areas.

  20. American Policy in the Persian Gulf Region: Peace, Security, and the Spread of Democracy

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Fox, Darin J

    2008-01-01

    To achieve lasting security in the Arabian Gulf region, U.S. policy, though currently focused on Iraq, must engage Saudi Arabia and Iran with all of its instruments of national power to encourage the spread of democracy within the region...

  1. Establishing a Democratic Religion: Metaphysics and Democracy in the Debates over the President's Commission on Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schrum, Ethan

    2007-01-01

    World War II stands as a defining moment for American higher education. During the crisis of international relations that existed by the late 1930s, American thinkers of various stripes felt compelled to mobilize the country's intellectual and educational resources in defense of democracy, thus creating "a great ideological revival of democracy…

  2. Indigenous Education for Critical Democracy: Teacher Approaches and Learning Outcomes in a K-5 Indian Education for All Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngai, Phyllis B.; Koehn, Peter H.

    2011-01-01

    This article focuses on how three dimensions of critical democracy preparation (place-based geographical knowledge, social and political awareness of American Indian history and culture, and orientations conducive to the development of personal connections with American Indians) were impacted by different instructional approaches introduced when…

  3. On Education and the Taste for Democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freire, Paulo

    1991-01-01

    Argues that it is impossible to teach democracy without living democracy. Shows the need to create the taste for democracy, and the appetite for learning, taking risks, and for appreciating differences. Asserts that teachers are not actually champions of civil rights, freedom and democracy but will be called on to fight for these ideals. (PRA)

  4. Democracy, education, and economics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Emami, Z.; Davis, J.

    2009-01-01

    This paper examines the connections between democracy and education, particularly as it concerns economics. We adopt a pluralist proceduralist view of democracy, and argue that this requires a view of individuals as active decision-makers able to deliberate and reflect on their different ideas and

  5. Örgütsel Demokrasi( Organizational Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pınar ERKAL COŞAN

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The understanding of democracy that is shaped by contemporary economic, political, social and cultural developments makes us re-consider organizational life. The number of studies on organizational democracy rises exponentially whereby contributions to and complexities for the organization are discussed. In this context, this study begins with a conceptualization of organizational democracy from modern business management perspective, which is followed by respectively; a discussion of previous research on organizational democracy, the causes behind the new departure towards organizational democracy, the contributions to organizations, the complexities and problems faced during practical implementation, and finally a literature review on the ways and means of ensuring organizational democracy. With this study, the following questions will be raised to scholarly discussion; is organizational democracy just an ideal emphasizing the human element and employee satisfaction, or is it a strategy that needs managerial attention for attainment of organizational goals in 21 st century?

  6. From Deliberative Democracy to Communicative Democracy in the Classroom. A Response to "Education for Deliberative Democracy: A Typology of Classroom Discussions"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weasel, Lisa

    2017-01-01

    This response to Samuelsson's typology for assessing deliberative democracy in classroom discussions views his analysis through an equity lens. It offers Young's model of communicative democracy as a resource and argues that incorporating that model's emphasis on greeting, rhetoric, and storytelling into the typology can help to promote more…

  7. Deliberative Democracy and Adult Civic Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carcasson, Martin; Sprain, Leah

    2012-01-01

    Adult education programs should turn to the deliberative democracy movement in order to help their communities better address the "wicked problems" they face. The authors contend that due to the "wicked" nature of problems in the diverse democracies, communities must develop and sustain their capacity for deliberative democracy and collaborative…

  8. Conceptualizing and Measuring the Quality of Democracy: The Citizens’ Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dieter Fuchs

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, several measurements of the quality of democracy have been developed (e.g. Democracy Barometer, Varieties of Democracy Project. These objective measurements focus on institutional and procedural characteristics of democracy. This article starts from the premise that in order to fully understand the quality of democracy such objective measurements have to be complemented by subjective measurements based on the perspective of citizens. The aim of the article is to conceptualize and measure the subjective quality of democracy. First, a conceptualization of the subjective quality of democracy is developed consisting of citizens’ support for three normative models of democracy (electoral, liberal, and direct democracy. Second, based on the World Values Survey 2005–2007, an instrument measuring these different dimensions of the subjective quality of democracy is suggested. Third, distributions for different models of democracy are presented for some European and non-European liberal democracies. They reveal significant differences regarding the subjective quality of democracies. Fourth, the subjective quality of democracy of these countries is compared with the objective quality of democracy based on three indices (electoral democracy, liberal democracy and direct popular vote developed by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem Project. Finally, further research questions are discussed.

  9. Democracy and Teacher Education: Setting Priorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Jesse H.

    2009-01-01

    As John Dewey noted in his last book, each generation, in its turn, must assume responsibility as caretaker of democracy. He noted that one should never take democracy for granted. Everyone lives in an imperfect democracy, and teacher educators should play their part in protecting, nurturing, and advancing democratic ideals, rituals, values, and…

  10. Corruption, democracy and bureaucracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aviral Kumar TIWARI

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the relationship of corruption with democracy and bureaucracy in the 82 countries in a panel framework. For the analysis we use rule of law, regulatory quality, control over corruption and secondary school enrollment ratio as control variables. We find that democracy, rule of law and control over corruption decreases the level of corruption. When we allowed for interaction effect among independent variables we find the evidence of strong interaction effect between all of the explanatory variables. We also find that, surprisingly, higher democracy and rule of law are positively associated with the level of corruption while higher bureaucracy negatively.

  11. Democracy and development in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tolu Lawal

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Democracy and development are global phenomena. Every country in the world aspires and claims to be democratic. This is because of the role of the latter in developmental process. This paper examined the linkage between democracy and development in Nigeria, using ethics as the yardstick for democratic adherence. The paper adopted content analysis approach to source its data and concluded that democracy is an ingredient of development. It must therefore be sustained to evolve and ensure sustainable development.

  12. Re-thinking residential mobility

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Ham, Maarten; Findlay, Allan M.

    2015-01-01

    While researchers are increasingly re-conceptualizing international migration, far less attention has been devoted to re-thinking short-distance residential mobility and immobility. In this paper we harness the life course approach to propose a new conceptual framework for residential mobility research. We contend that residential mobility and immobility should be re-conceptualized as relational practices that link lives through time and space while connecting people to structural conditions. Re-thinking and re-assessing residential mobility by exploiting new developments in longitudinal analysis will allow geographers to understand, critique and address pressing societal challenges. PMID:27330243

  13. Rethinking headache chronification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Dana P; Smitherman, Todd A; Penzien, Donald B; Lipton, Richard B; Houle, Timothy T

    2013-06-01

    The objective of this series is to examine several threats to the interpretation of headache chronification studies that arise from methodological issues. The study of headache chronification has extensively used longitudinal designs with 2 or more measurement occasions. Unfortunately, application of these designs, when combined with the common practice of extreme score selection as well as the extant challenges in measuring headache frequency rates (eg, unreliability, regression to the mean), induces substantive threats to accurate interpretation of findings. Partitioning the amount of observed variance in rates of chronification and remission attributable to regression artifacts is a critical yet previously overlooked step to learning more about headache as a potentially progressive disease. In this series on rethinking headache chronification, we provide an overview of methodological issues in this area (this paper), highlight the influence of rounding error on estimates of headache frequency (second paper), examine the influence of random error and regression artifacts on estimates of chronification and remission (third paper), and consider future directions for this line of research (fourth paper). © 2013 American Headache Society.

  14. Dewey's Participatory Educational Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Višnovský, Emil; Zolcer, Štefan

    2016-01-01

    In this essay, Emil Višnovský and Štefan Zolcer outline John Dewey's contribution to democratic theory as presented in his 1916 classic "Democracy and Education." The authors begin with a review of the general context of Dewey's conception of democracy, and then focus on particular democratic ideas and concepts as presented in…

  15. Democracy and development: the Nigerian experience | Ebohon ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The conventional notions on the relationship between democracy and development are that democracy accelerates development. Based on the Nigeria experience, this paper argues that both democracy and authoritarianism are social system based political ideologies that derives their character from the wider society, ...

  16. The Myth of Bourgeois Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mulvad, Andreas Christian Møller; Stahl, Rune Møller

    representative democracy - not abolish it. Third, we highlight how Leninists and liberals have unknowingly colluded to sustain the myth that parliamentary democracy is essentially liberal. Finally, turning our attention to the current neoliberal conjuncture, we argue that Badiou’s and Žižek’s notion......This paper argues that the Left should move beyond the commonplace understanding – upheld by Alain Badiou and Slavoj Žižek - that parliamentary democracy is essentially of a bourgeois nature. We show first how the introduction of parliamentary democracy – defined as constitutionalization of state...... power under a legislative body, with regular elections and universal suffrage – was everywhere a result of the pressure of social movements from below against the aspirations of both conservatives and liberals. Second, we reread Marx on the Paris Commune to discover how Marx wanted to radicalize...

  17. Understanding of Democracy among Young People in Croatia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimir Vujčić

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The task of this paper was to explore how young people understand the values of democracy, how much they believe in democracy as a political system, how much they are satisfi ed with the way democracy works (“constitution at work”, and how much they trust government institutions. It is important to analyse the understanding of democracy, for democracy is dependent on the citizens’ opinions and the level of their political culture rather than on its normative constitution and formal value system. Thus, this analysis joins in the debate between foundationalists and antifoundationalists on democracy and its functioning. The present model of research has provided insights into the relationship between so-called diff use and specifi c support of democracy (D. Easton and an explanation of that which R. Dahl defi nes as the “democratic paradox” in contemporary democracies. This scrutiny shows that young people in Croatia understand democracy within the framework of liberal values, but also that they largely tend towards so-called consensual democracy and a socialist syndrome involving a prevalent aspiration to social equality and an economically interventionist state. Moreover, the analysis shows that young people in Croatia have a low level of democratic legitimation and an even lower level of trust in government institutions. This is not a good basis for the development of stable and well-functioning democracy in Croatian society. It all warns against serious shortcomings in the political education of young people in Croatia and in the development of democratic political culture and democratic citizenship.

  18. The Danish Agenda for Rethinking Project Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svejvig, Per; Grex, Sara

    2016-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the similarities and differences between the Danish Re-thinking Project Management initiative named Project Half Double (PHD) and the rethinking project man-agement (RPM) research stream. The paper furthermore discusses how PHD and RPM can inspire...... ideas and local implementations. Findings – RPM and PHD share a focus on value creation, social processes, learning and complexity while PHD also focuses on lean thinking, agile thinking, front-end loading and leadership, which are largely topics beyond the RPM research stream. Originality...... a foundation for further development of both rethinking project management and Project Half Double....

  19. The Danish Agenda for Rethinking Project Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svejvig, Per; Grex, Sara

    2016-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the similarities and differences between the Danish Re-thinking Project Management initiative named Project Half Double (PHD) and the rethinking project man-agement (RPM) research stream. The paper furthermore discusses how PHD and RPM can inspire...... a foundation for further development of both rethinking project management and Project Half Double....... each other in research and practice. Design/methodology/approach – This is an empirical paper based on collaborative research between in-dustry and researchers. PHD has developed principles and practices driven by industry consisting of 10 leading stars and the impact, leadership and flow (ILF) method...

  20. Bioethics and deliberative democracy: five warnings from Hobbes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trotter, Griffin

    2006-06-01

    Thomas Hobbes is one of the most ardent and thoroughgoing opponents of participatory democracy among Western political philosophers. Though Hobbes's alternative to participatory democracy-assent by subjects to rule by an absolute sovereign-no longer constitutes a viable political alternative for Westerners, his critique of participatory democracy is a potentially valuable source of insight about its liabilities. This essay elaborates five theses from Hobbes that stand as cogent warnings to those who embrace participatory democracy, especially those (such as most bioethicists) advocating for deliberative democracy based on a rational consensus model. In light of these warnings, the author suggests an alternative, modus vivendi approach to deliberative democracy that would radically alter the current practice of bioethics.

  1. Deliberative Democracy V. Politics of Identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    OSCAR PÉREZ DE LA FUENTE

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The defenders of deliberative democracy insist in the idea that for searching political truths is necessary to use values as universality, rationality and fairness. The defenders of the politics of identity distrust from this deliberative approach because, the interests of the powerful groups of the society are often behind those values. The common approach of deliberative democracy misunderstands the proper role, language, expression and actual interests of the members of the minorities. Deliberative democracy isn't really compromised with pluralism –social, cultural, ethnic, racial…– because it is more compromised with formal and substantial rules of decision that finally determine the result of the deliberation. Minorities claim for a new understanding of the democracy from the difference, from the identity. Thus, democracy is the result of a dialogue, not from abstractions, but from the particularity. In this sense, it is important the notion of ethics of alterity as a moral effort to understand the Other. This exercise excludes all kind of alterophobia (misogyny, xenophobia, racism, homophobia... and it is against relativist approach. An identity is legitimate in the way it includes the alterity. The minorities claim to think, other time, topics as democracy from the dynamics between identity/alterity, inclusion/exclusion, equal dignity/differentiated identity.

  2. Democracy as a legitimizing ideology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Henry, P.J.; Wetherell, G.A.; Brandt, M.

    2015-01-01

    Democracy as an abstract belief system bestows rights to individuals and serves egalitarian principles. However, the language of democracy may be used to justify harmful treatment of others in the world. Data from 3 representative samples of adults are presented demonstrating that satisfaction with

  3. The Populist Conception of Democracy beyond Popular Sovereignty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pepijn Corduwener

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available With populist parties making electoral progress across the European continent, the question of what their electoral success means for contemporary democratic systems has gained increasing significance. This article investigates how two populist radical right parties, the Austrian FPÖ and the Dutch PVV, conceptualise democracy, based on a wide range of party documents released over recent decades. It builds upon recent academic consensus that the relationship between populism and democracy is best understood from a ‘minimalist’ perspective, seeing populism not as antagonistic to democracy, but as an ideology that conceptualises democracy primarily in terms of popular sovereignty. The article adds to the existing literature by demonstrating that we can extend this understanding of the populist conception of democracy in three aspects: the populist emphasis on state neutrality; a two-fold notion of equality; and the extension of the political sphere in society. Based upon these three issues, the article concludes by exploring how the populist conception of democracy relates to the most dominant form of democracy practised nowadays, liberal democracy, and to what extent it reflects changes in our democratic political culture.

  4. Is Democracy A Prerequisite

    OpenAIRE

    Abdiweli M. Ali

    2011-01-01

    The current literature is silent on whether democracies are more fragile or less susceptible to economic and political breakdowns. Using a host of political instability and policy instability variables, this paper explores empirically, whether political freedom (a proxy for democracy) has any effect on the stability of the political order. Furthermore, it also explores the possibility that political freedom explains differences in the stability of economic policies.

  5. Practicing Democracy in the NCLB Elementary Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Margaret H.

    2010-01-01

    The practice of teaching democracy in school is diminishing. The implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has forced teachers to teach to the test, and has required some to follow scripted curriculum, leaving little time or incentive for teaching democracy. This study examines the importance of practicing democracy and identifies ways in…

  6. Liberty Challenge or Dangers of Liberal Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dalia Eidukienė

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The article analyses dialectics of a modern democracy and liberalism through the new (from the quality point of view subsistence of liberty, the priority element of democracy, in liberal democracies. The significance of such discourse is determined by the existing social inequality and its conversion into political domain. Particular attention is paid to the social issue, which was treated by Max Weber already as the reason of death of the old, fanatic German “national liberalism”, since it has not managed to belong to the German environment. Even today, it still lies in the principles of life and reality of “young” democratic post­soviet states. Conversion of a social issue into political domain disorganises the society, and it is hardly capable to socialise its norms and values in order to be obligated with regard to civic goals. In other words, the social issue significantly adjusts the pace and direction of transformation of the society. Therefore, an immature “young” liberal democracy may become “less liberal” or no longer conform to the “strict” definition of liberal democracy. Referring to the above, we conclude that social composition should become the medium of political reconstruction for “young” democracies. This does not mean, however, the change of the genetic code of liberalism. This is a striving to vest it, as an ideology, additional powers for rationalisation of democracy by delivering to it the content and the meaning, which would answer the challenges and problems of the time. Liberalism should create a new, from the quality point of view, hierarchy of values and become a new context for both political thinking and democracy. This would render new impulses to economic and public politics, meanwhile developing new premises for a new, from the quality point of view, democracy that would help to consolidate the society for the becoming of liberal democracy.  

  7. Community, Democracy, and Neighborhood News.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindman, Elizabeth Blanks

    1998-01-01

    Contributes to scholarship on democracy, community, and journalism by examining the interplay between communication, democracy, and community at an inner-city neighborhood newspaper. Concludes that, through its focus on neighborhood culture, acknowledgment of conflict, and attempts to provide a forum for the neighborhood's self-definition, the…

  8. Democracy in the Arab World

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Given that liberalism contains principles that 'have been profoundly hostile to democracy', ..... The challenge posed for Arab democracy by Islamist thought and practice is probably the ..... (2nd edn), London: Malaysian Think Tank London. ...... Thus, the Jordanian treasury was not very dependent on internal taxes, certainly ...

  9. Local democracy in large municipalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thuesen, Annette Aagaard

    2017-01-01

    Municipal amalgamations in Denmark in 2007 led to concern for local rural democracy, as the number of politicians from rural areas dropped after the reform. To preserve rural democracy, local councils at the village level were established in some municipalities, and they have begun to prepare local...

  10. The Mirage of Global Democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Wilde, J.H.

    The literature about global democracy deals with two different types of democratization: Type 1 is about spreading democracy across sovereign states as the basis for good governance. It focuses on the quality of the state/society-nexus: the balance between coercion, reward and identity. Type 2 is

  11. Castoriadis’ Concept of Institution and Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dahl Rendtorff, Jacob

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available In this article I discuss the relation between institution and democracy in Castoriadis’ philosophy. The paper proposes an outline of the development of Castoriadis’ political philosophy with focus on institutionalization, imagination and self-limitation of democratic institutions as central elements in Castoridis’ thought. We begin with a short introduction to the concept of institution and institutionalization. Then we discuss the elements of Castoridis’ critique of bureaucracy as a way to distinguish between totalitarian society and democracy. This is the basis for understanding the relation between the imaginary, freedom and autonomy as basic elements of democracy. Finally the paper discusses Castoridis’ new notion of democracy as a kind of self-limitation and creation of collective meaning as the basis for social legitimacy.

  12. Rethinking Diversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1996

    These three papers were presented at a symposium on rethinking diversity in human resource development (HRD) moderated by Neal Chalofsky at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development. "Diversity: A Double-Edged Sword" (Sally F. Angus) presents the notion of work force diversity through two differing perspectives in order to…

  13. Romanian Democracy, Theory and Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Romulus Brâncoveanu

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available This is a comment on the type of democracy in Romania, as illiberal democracy. Given the Romanian democratization process, we can hope that, in the future, all populisms and politicization will cease, and a true liberal and constitutional democracy will be installed, which will not be a „Romanian democracy” as Paul Wolfowitz suggested to be exported in Iraq. The question is whether it is good or not to „export” such a political model. „Romanian democracy” could be an exporting model only as an alternative to dictatorship and under the assumption that it will be adjusted in time, under the external pressure.

  14. American Studies in Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ioana Luca

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available American Studies at the University of BucharestThe idea of teaching American Studies and founding a program in American Studies was first voiced in the long meetings of faculty and students held at the University of Bucharest soon after the collapse of the communist regime. The proposal was one of many that reflected the spirit of reform and hope for radical changes at the outset of Romania’s transition to democracy. The absence of institutional structures other than English departments and t...

  15. Democracy Barometer. Methodology. Version 4

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Merkel, Wolfgang; Bochsler, Daniel;; Bousbah, Karima;

    2014-01-01

    Based on our theoretical concept of democracy, it is feasible to measure a country’s quality of democracy for a given point in time. Nevertheless, the quality of the whole endeavor is not only the result of an adequate theoretical concept but equally depends on the quality of the measurement itse...

  16. Understanding Democracy

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Garcia, Gilberto

    1998-01-01

    .... Nevertheless, democracy is spreading, and today many countries are called democratic. This paper describes several countries, which are very different because of their history, culture, religion, people, education, and wealth...

  17. Essay on legitimacy and democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia Kaplanova

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Purpose and Originality: The aim of the paper is to deeply analyze a concept of legitimacy. Based on the classical works of Lipset and Habermas, the paper discusses conditions, efficiency, and presumptions on which a modern democratic political system stands. Method: The paper analyzes a relationship between positivist and normative understanding of legitimacy questioning a democratic political order. By a content analysis of two main theories of legitimacy, the paper examines a sense of democratic legitimacy in modern societies. Results: A legitimacy is a pillar of any democracy. From the structuralist point of view, in societies there are three main types of crises (economic, social, political, which are present constantly and interconnected by nature and implications. Each crisis creates a specific deficit and challenge for democracy. By overcoming, a stability of democracy is strengthened which makes a (crisis of legitimacy inevitable. Society: In a time of post-truth politics and crisis of democracy, there is a lack of research dealing with a legitimacy of the democratic regime. By pointing out classical approaches to a stability of democracy, there should be elaborated a new construct of democratic legitimacy reflecting structural conditions of modern societies. This paper is trying to offer an insight into a normative understanding of this construction. Limitations / further research: A theoretical approach could be verified by an empirical research.

  18. Participatory and Dialogue Democracy in U.S. Mathematics Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukhopadhyay, Shiuli

    2009-01-01

    Teaching math to reflect values of democracy has to begin with some consideration of how democracy is conceptualized. A review of various theories of democracy conducted by Hagen (1992) provides everyone with a good starting point as it identifies three primary forms of democracy: competitive, participatory, and dialogue. In this essay, the author…

  19. Performing Transnational Arab American Womanhood

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Koegeler-Abdi, Martina

    2016-01-01

    The first Miss Lebanon-America, Rosemary Hakim, landed at Beirut Airport in July 1955 to start a public diplomacy tour. As an American beauty queen from Detroit visiting Lebanon, her parents' homeland, she was greeted enthusiastically by the local press and closely monitored by US government...... a transnational sense of Arab Americanness to negotiate her own gender and ethnic identity. This is significant because we currently lack a broader historical understanding of Arab American women’s public agency, particularly during the mid-twentieth century. Hakim’s memoir requires us to rethink the history...... of Arab American women’s strategies of self-representation in ways that acknowledge but are not confined within the terms of conventional orientalist discourses....

  20. Solving Local Violence by Cosmopolitan Democracy Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Luthfil Hakim

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The implementation of democracy intensified since the fall of the new order era has some failures. One of the factors is violence phenomena still continue in the region. This study aims to discuss the violence in the region by presenting cosmopolitan democracy as a new design of more humane democracy. In addition, this research method uses library research, because library research can understand the problem in-depth to find the pattern and recommendation from the violence problems which happens in Indonesia. This study uses Hannah Arendt observations on the phenomenon of violence. In addition, the concept of cosmopolitan democracy is referred from Daniele Archibugi, David Held, and Ulrich Beck is presented as a draft of new democracy direction which is more inclusive and humane. The result of this study discloses that the occurrence of incidence is triggered by failed implementation of the democratic system in Indonesia.

  1. Mathematics Education and Democracy Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çetin, Ömer Faruk

    2015-01-01

    Democracy is a most accepted form of government system and has a great importance for citizens by allowing them equal and active participation in common life. As its development and characteristics are important for all citizens of a country, each democratic country puts much emphasis on democracy education in its educational curricula. In recent…

  2. Democracy and Development: The Nigerian Experience (1999-2010 ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Democracy and Development: The Nigerian Experience (1999-2010). Jebbin Maclean Felix. Abstract. This article is a contribution to the debate on democracy and development. It examines the relationship between democracy and development, using a contextual analysis of the Nigerian democratic experience. The key ...

  3. The concept and institutions of education for democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Avramović Zoran M.

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper comprises three sections: (a the concepts and institutions of democracy, (b the concept of education for democracy, and (c the role of school in democratic education. The concept of 'open society' is critical to the strategy of education for democracy. In addition to general conditions for establishing and functioning of democracy, the author points to some of its basic institutions: structured social groups, political parties, leader elections. The concept of 'education' is considered from the standpoint of goals - social, national and individual. It is pointed to tolerance as a key concept of the theory of education for democracy. School, being the most prominent institution in the process of education for democracy, places student and development of his/he; democratic characteristics and capacities in the focus of its strategy. All elements of teaching: curriculum, methods teacher, student, textbook are in the function of the basic idea of democratic education - tolerance and crisscrossed influences (practicing of getting used to differences. Apart from the development and acquisition of thinking in concepts about democracy, education for democracy should encompass knowledge for life at state and social institutions, for private and public life, acquisition of national values, rational decision-making discussion. The framework of strategy in question is certainly exercising of tolerance and getting used to crisscrossed influences.

  4. Flavor Democracy in Particle Physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sultansoy, Saleh

    2007-01-01

    The flavor democracy hypothesis (or, in other words, democratic mass matrix approach) was introduced in seventies taking in mind three Standard Model (SM) families. Later, this idea was disfavored by the large value of the t-quark mass. In nineties the hypothesis was revisited assuming that extra SM families exist. According to flavor democracy the fourth SM family should exist and there are serious arguments disfavoring the fifth SM family. The fourth SM family quarks lead to essential enhancement of the Higgs boson production cross-section at hadron colliders and the Tevatron can discover the Higgs boson before the LHC, if it mass is between 140 and 200 GeV. Then, one can handle 'massless' Dirac neutrinos without see-saw mechanism. Concerning BSM physics, flavor democracy leads to several consequences: tanβ ≅ mt/mb ≅ 40 if there are three MSSM families; super-partner of the right-handed neutrino can be the LSP; relatively light E(6)-inspired isosinglet quark etc. Finally, flavor democracy may give opportunity to handle ''massless'' composite objects within preonic models

  5. The Non-Instrumental Value of Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rostbøll, Christian F.

    2015-01-01

    rejected in this debate. But in order to understand the intrinsic value of democracy, we cannot ignore the relationship between freedom and democracy. Moreover, the freedom argument can better respond to the epistemic challenge to intrinsic accounts than can the equality argument. However, the freedom......A current debate in democratic theory concerns whether we can explain democratic legitimacy purely with reference to the intrinsic value of the public affirmation of equality, or whether we must invoke extra-democratic epistemic standards to do so. The freedom side of democracy is ignored or even...

  6. Elementary Students' Metaphors for Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dundar, Hakan

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of the research was to reveal elementary 8th grade students' opinions concerning democracy with the aid of metaphors. The students were asked to produce metaphors about the concept of democracy. 140 students from 3 public schools in Ankara (Turkey) participated in the research. 55% of the students were females and 45% were males. The…

  7. Third World Libraries; Is There an American Role?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sager, Donald J.

    1994-01-01

    Presents viewpoints of four library professionals on the role of American libraries in the development of third world libraries. Topics discussed include the role of libraries in democracies; financial and human resource needs; the role of library associations; and staff exchange programs, including the American Library Association's Library…

  8. Democracy against the odds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seeberg, Michael

    Why have a number of poor countries sustained electoral democracy against the odds? The extant literature on democracy and democratization consistently points to the importance of socioeconomic development and democratic neighboring countries, in particular, as important prerequisites for a stable...... demonstrates the enormous potential of political parties and civil society in processes of democratization. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hvorfor opretholder en række fattige lande en demokratisk styreform imod alle odds? Demokratiforskere forventer, at et land må have et...

  9. Democracy always comes first’ : Adolescents’ views on decision-making in everyday life and political democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nieuwelink, H.; Dekker, P.; Geijsel, F.; ten Dam, G.

    2016-01-01

    Research shows adolescents to be positively oriented towards democracy, but little is known about what it actually means to them and what their views are on decision-making in both everyday situations and political democracy. To gain insight into these aspects of adolescents’ democratic views, we

  10. Redeeming American democracy in Sayonara

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Isabel Seguro

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Affection is perceived as something natural, pre-existing Culture and, therefore, free form discursive constructions. However, insofar as reality is mediated, if not given existence by language, human relationships are inevitably fashioned by narratives. Romance fictions and in particular heterosexual, interracial love stories have been used in U.S. popular culture as a means of promoting American democratic values of racial harmony at home and abroad. This will be exemplified by analyzing James A. Michener’s 1953 novel Sayonara together with Joshua Logan’s 1957 film adaptation.

  11. Why Choice Matters: Revisiting and Comparing Measures of Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heiko Giebler

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Measures of democracy are in high demand. Scientific and public audiences use them to describe political realities and to substantiate causal claims about those realities. This introduction to the thematic issue reviews the history of democracy measurement since the 1950s. It identifies four development phases of the field, which are characterized by three recurrent topics of debate: (1 what is democracy, (2 what is a good measure of democracy, and (3 do our measurements of democracy register real-world developments? As the answers to those questions have been changing over time, the field of democracy measurement has adapted and reached higher levels of theoretical and methodological sophistication. In effect, the challenges facing contemporary social scientists are not only limited to the challenge of constructing a sound index of democracy. Today, they also need a profound understanding of the differences between various measures of democracy and their implications for empirical applications. The introduction outlines how the contributions to this thematic issue help scholars cope with the recurrent issues of conceptualization, measurement, and application, and concludes by identifying avenues for future research.

  12. Globalization, democracy, and child health in developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welander, Anna; Lyttkens, Carl Hampus; Nilsson, Therese

    2015-07-01

    Good health is crucial for human and economic development. In particular poor health in childhood is of utmost concern since it causes irreversible damage and has implications later in life. Recent research suggests globalization is a strong force affecting adult and child health outcomes. Yet, there is much unexplained variation with respect to the globalization effect on child health, in particular in low- and middle-income countries. One factor that could explain such variation across countries is the quality of democracy. Using panel data for 70 developing countries between 1970 and 2009 this paper disentangles the relationship between globalization, democracy, and child health. Specifically the paper examines how globalization and a country's democratic status and historical experience with democracy, respectively, affect infant mortality. In line with previous research, results suggest that globalization reduces infant mortality and that the level of democracy in a country generally improves child health outcomes. Additionally, democracy matters for the size of the globalization effect on child health. If for example Côte d'Ivoire had been a democracy in the 2000-2009 period, this effect would translate into 1200 fewer infant deaths in an average year compared to the situation without democracy. We also find that nutrition is the most important mediator in the relationship. To conclude, globalization and democracy together associate with better child health in developing countries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. DEMOCRACY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE: INGREDIENTS FOR ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    status on democracy, good governance and socio-economic development. Democracy is being embraced across the globe by most civilized and ... amenities and infrastructure, employment, health, security and constant power ... based on life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic ..... In some Asian.

  14. The Problem of Citizens: E-Democracy for Actually Existing Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Kreiss

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available This article argues that many contemporary e-democracy projects, particularly in the United States, have at their heart a model of atomistic, independent, rational, and general-interest citizens. As such, these projects, variously grouped under the labels of e-governance, online deliberation, open government, and civic technology, often assume a broad shared consensus about collective definitions of “public problems” that both does not exist and sidesteps debates over what these problems are and what potential solutions can and should be. Drawing on recent theories of political parties, social identity, and cultural cognition, this article argues that e-democracy efforts need to account for the fact that the citizens practitioners appeal to see themselves by default as members of social groups, and that this has implications for politics and what Jasanoff calls “civic epistemology.” Presenting the case of attempting to change Republican opinions about climate change, I argue that e-democracy initiatives should seek to foster collaboration and deliberation within , not between, parties and among partisans. To do so, e-democratic reformers need to explicitly structure the collaborative and deliberative environment so there is a range of intra-party opinions and beliefs as part of the consultative and policy-making process.

  15. Metaphors of Social Studies Teacher Candidates on Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tural, Aysegül

    2018-01-01

    Democracy is a form of government in which principle of equality is based, human rights and freedoms are protected. In this research, it is aimed to reveal democracy perceptions of social science teacher candidates through metaphors. Towards this aim, 105 social science teacher candidates are consulted about their democracy opinions. Study is a…

  16. Media Education and the Practice of Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Ferguson

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available They do say that all ideas have their time, and in media education it seems that it is the time for democracy. Books and papers begin to appear and there are conferences with democracy in their titles to replace a focus on the postmodern, or identity. There seems to be a general consensus that democracy is a ‹good thing›. But, as with most other significant terms which hold centre stage for a while, they need to be interrogated with some care. For some more critical educators democracy takes its place alongside Gandhi’s comment when asked about Western Civilisation – he said it would be a good idea. The ‹practice› of democracy takes on a poignant, ironic, desperate or cynical cloak in the light of recent world events and the rise of terrorism as a political weapon. It depends where you stand. Democracy is not something that thrills the hearts and minds of the vast majority of citizens who live in nations who declare themselves to be democratic. Apathy and cynicism work together against democratic growth. But so do governments whose declared democratic aims pay scant attention to the people they are supposed to represent. And then there are the ‹democratic› exercises which supposedly involve the people in a conversation (‹we are listening› they say which results in the status quo being implemented by politicians with morally superior physiognomies. After all, they say, we did ask your opinions. We did ask you to participate. And so democracy staggers from crisis to disaster...

  17. Redefining Democracy for the Modern State.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahe, Paul A.

    1992-01-01

    Draws distinctions between classical and modern concepts of democracy. Contrasts Pythagoras' dislike of factions with Madison's support for economic differentiation and religious toleration. Discusses Aristotle's and Noah Webster's ideas on addressing class tensions. Examines early U.S. theorists' suspicions of direct democracy and support for…

  18. Malawi's Traditional Leadership and Democracy Consolidation ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    is that the tendency to brand traditional leadership as undemocratic masks debate on its great potential for the promotion of democracy. The article contends that efforts towards democracy consolidation require foregoing harmonious power relations and linkages between traditional leaders and elected local governments; ...

  19. Duality and 'particle' democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castellani, Elena

    2017-08-01

    Weak/strong duality is usually accompanied by what seems a puzzling ontological feature: the fact that under this kind of duality what is viewed as 'elementary' in one description gets mapped to what is viewed as 'composite' in the dual description. This paper investigates the meaning of this apparent 'particle democracy', as it has been called, by adopting an historical approach. The aim is to clarify the nature of the correspondence between 'dual particles' in the light of a historical analysis of the developments of the idea of weak/strong duality, starting with Dirac's electric-magnetic duality and its successive generalizations in the context of (Abelian and non-Abelian) field theory, to arrive at its first extension to string theory. This analysis is then used as evidential basis for discussing the 'elementary/composite' divide and, after taking another historical detour by analyzing an instructive analogy case (DHS duality and related nuclear democracy), drawing some conclusions on the particle-democracy issue.

  20. Rethinking Participation and Re-enacting Its Dilemmas?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksson, Birgit; Stephensen, Jan Løhmann

    2015-01-01

    In 2012 the Danish city of Aarhus was appointed European Capital of Culture for 2017. The appointment was based on an ambitious programme that – under the headline Rethink – tried to set an agenda of societal transformation, mainly by seeking to increase the impact of art and culture, and to enha......In 2012 the Danish city of Aarhus was appointed European Capital of Culture for 2017. The appointment was based on an ambitious programme that – under the headline Rethink – tried to set an agenda of societal transformation, mainly by seeking to increase the impact of art and culture...... Rethink project. Informed by theoretical distinctions between different forms of participation, and the diverse interests invested in participatory processes, we investigate how the young cultural entrepreneurs and the artistic administrators of Aarhus 2017 separately, in conjunction, and sometimes even...

  1. Democracy, political participation and good governance in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dare E. Arowolo

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The practice of democracy in Nigeria over a decade ago has not yielded much needed good governance. This is because democracy is practiced in such a way that responsible and competent people are scared away. Scholars and keen observers have attempted at unraveling the factors militating against translating democracy into good governance. The paper revealed that democratisation in Nigeria is pervaded by electoral violence, manipulation of election results and political participation constraints. These identified challenges have made it impossible to attain consolidated democracy that can, in turn, facilitate good governance. Democracy is a catalyst for accountability, transparency and responsive government which brings about good governance. The paper insisted that governance collapse in Nigeria is reflexive of the perfunctory role of the political actors and it adopted elite theory to reinforce this argument. The paper adopted content analysis as a means of data gathering. It dwelt extensively on the synergy between democracy, political participation and good governance but queried the artificial gulf between them in Nigeria. It concluded by putting forth viable and pragmatic way forward.

  2. Popular democracy and waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wallis, L.R.

    1986-01-01

    The US has moved from representative democracy to popular democracy and public scrutiny is unrelenting. Any hope of success on their part in resolving the nuclear waste question hinges on their ability to condition themselves to operate in a popular democracy environment. Those opposed to the siting of high- and low-level waste repositories have already developed a set of recurring themes: (1) the siting criteria are fatally flawed; (2) the criteria are not adequate; (3) the process is driven by politics not science; (4) unrealistic deadlines lead to dangerous shortcuts; (5) transportation experience is lacking; (6) the scientific community does not really know how to dispose of the wastes. They must continue to tell the public that if science has brought us problems, then the answer can be only more knowledge - not less. Failure by their profession to recognize that popular democracy is a fact and that nuclear issues need to be addressed in humanistic terms raises the question of whether America is philosophically suited for the expanded use of nuclear power in the future - or for that matter for leadership in the world of tomorrow

  3. Avenues of Rethinking CSR in development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Azizi, Sameer Ahmad

    2015-01-01

    ’. The developmental implication is based on the governance structures triggering CSR in each context. We need to differentiate between strong and weak states and understand the ways that (lack of) states can influence CSR in developing countries. "Responsible business practices" are explored as useful among......The chapter addresses flaws of the CSR literature and seeks to rethink the concept in relation to developing countries. Two avenues for rethinking CSR in developing countries are outlined; a) a governance approach, and b) an application of the term ‘responsible business practices...

  4. Democracy as a social technology on schools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kofod, Kasper

    2009-01-01

    " democracy. The democratic influence in schools thus spans from "big" parliamentary democracy to small participatoruy democracy - a dichotomy schooll leadership must maneuvre within using democratic procedures and leadership as social technologies. This article argues that a positive coinnectiion exists...... between strong leadership and having wello-functioning democratic processes in schools and the introduction of tests, quality reports and these approaches does not weaken democratic processes in schools. This connection is nonetheless changing the logics of the state, market, and the civil society vectors.......On a formal level, the influence og "big" parlamentary democracy is enhanced because parliamentary control in individual schools has become stronger; and the formal democratic influence of parents has been strengthned by their membership on school boards, the latter being an example of "small...

  5. How Terrorism Affects Attitudes toward Democracy: Tunisia in 2015.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Robert; Brym, Robert

    2017-11-01

    Tunisia is the only country that emerged from the Arab Spring as a democracy. However, Tunisian democracy is threatened by political divisions, economic problems, and the threat of terrorist attacks. We shed light on Tunisia's democratic prospects by examining (1) the degree to which major terrorist attacks in 2015 influenced Tunisian public opinion on democracy and (2) the extent to which preference for a democratic system affected opinions on the prospects for democracy in Tunisia. We use data from three waves of a nationwide survey conducted just before and just after Tunisia's first major terrorist attack, and just after the country's second major terrorist attack. We demonstrate that after the attacks the Tunisian public became less favourable toward democracy and less optimistic that Tunisia would soon be ready for it. Such scepticism was widespread, affecting people who preferred democracy as much as those who did not. We conclude that the prospects for Tunisian democracy are more precarious than is sometimes assumed. © 2017 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.

  6. A New Index of Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesús M. de Miguel

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The present paper analyses and revises the latest Democracy Index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the United Kingdom. We analyze the changes produced in the index from 2006 to 2011, as well as in the five basic factors that constitute the index: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. The analysis of these factors ?measured by sixty variables? has made it possible to develop a new index, based on the data from 167 countries, and calculate a revised ranking. Countries have been classified into four types: democracies, flawed democracies, mixed systems, and authoritarian/totalitarian regimes. The new index permits a better understanding of the impact of the crisis through variables such as economic growth, human development, quality of life, corruption, and violence.

  7. Anti-discrimination Philosophy and the Decline of Post-capitalist Democracies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Pavel

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The author is trying to explain the contrasts existing between the expanding universe of anti-discrimination sanctions and the decline in legitimacy of democracy. The declining legitimacy affects both consolidated democracies, and newborn democracies. Inequality in the USA, but also at global level is illustrated with relevant statistics. The convergence between the crisis of democracy and the financial and economic global crisis is a major social and political threat. At the global level, after the Arab Spring, the third wave of democratization continued, while the quality of democracy substantially diminished. In the newborn Islamic democracies, discrimination against women, Christians, Jews, gay & lesbians, etc. continued, leading to arson, torture and killings.

  8. Is There Muslim Exceptionalism in Democracy Research?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hariri, Jacob Gerner

    to and between the 16th and 18th centuries are relatively less democratic today. The negative effect of early statehood on current levels of democracy is mediated by European colonization and settlement: Europeans were less likely to colonize and settle in territories with more developed state institutions......, also, to alternative theories of the causes and correlates of democracy. This paper presents evidence against the notion of Muslim exceptionalism in democracy research. Thus, outside the European continent, territories that were governed earlier and more consistently by state organizations up...... and were therefore less likely to bring nascent legalistic and representative institutions to these territories. When we remove the autocratic legacy of early statehood and the influence of European settlement, there is nothing signicantly negative about the degree of democracy in Muslim-majority countries....

  9. Are coups good for democracy?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Derpanopoulos

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available A number of recent studies argue that coups can help usher in democracy. We examine this relationship empirically by looking at the political regimes that follow coups in autocracies, as well as the level of repression against citizens. We find that, though democracies are occasionally established in the wake of coups, more often new authoritarian regimes emerge, along with higher levels of state-sanctioned violence.

  10. Conceptual Foundations Of Deliberative Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Елизавета Васильевна Золотарева

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the analysis of theoretical foundations of deliberative model of democracy that is formed on the basis of synthesis of traditionally opposing approaches to research of democracy — liberal political philosophy (J. Rawls and critical social theory (J. Habermas. Special attention is paid to the problems of testing of normative requirements to the public discourse as the basis of deliberative process.

  11. From Promoting Political Polyarchy to Defeating Participatory Democracy: U.S. Foreign Policy towards the Far Left in Latin America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timothy M Gill

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available During the 1980s, the United States initiated an explicit policy of democracy promotion throughout the world. William Robinson (1996 more accurately described this initiative as “promoting polyarchy,” whereby the United States supported moderate elite actors that promoted neoliberal economic policies to displace both right-wing and communist despots, such as General Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Soviet rulers in Eastern Europe. While much of Latin America remained characterized by polyarchies throughout the late 20th Century, Latin American citizens began to reject these political arrangements and to elect anti-neoliberal candidates that promoted participatory democracy by the turn of the 21st Century, particularly in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. How has the United States changed its democracy promotion strategies to respond to these new dynamics? The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the U.S. government, through agencies such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED and USAID, has altered the main thrust of its foreign policy in Latin America, from promoting polyarchy and displacing despotic leaders, to supporting opposition actors to unseat democratically-elected far leftist leaders that promote participatory democracy. This paper deploys a case study method involving recent U.S. foreign policy in Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and it utilizes both U.S. diplomatic cables and interviews with U.S. state elites to illustrate this shift.

  12. "Views of democracy and peace” inequality, minorities and radical democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    TizianoTelleschi

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Democracy is a moral and practical system conveying living proximity, including definition of love-AGAPE, conflict, inequality, power. First we highlight “what it is” love and “what it is” power. Then, in order to overcome inequality weapply the love theory to an acknowledgment theory to figure out the mediator figure, that is able to build a social space where love-AGAPE may thrive and power may be restored to its relational nature, that is negotiable. From this point we go on analyzing the distributed power (horizontal. At last, thank to A. Gramsci’s hegemony notion, we point out the ideal of radical democracy as the most fertile along the others, to which a common action from different types of qualified mediators should tend.

  13. Education for Deliberative Democracy: A Typology of Classroom Discussions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuelsson, Martin

    2016-01-01

    The theory of deliberative democracy places public deliberations at the heart of democracy. In order to participate in democratic deliberations, citizens need certain skills, attitudes, and values. Within the field of education for deliberative democracy, it is assumed that these are learned through participation in democratic deliberation. Thus,…

  14. Inventions and developments of democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Uffe

    2010-01-01

    In traditional approaches to the history of political ideas, the history of democracy is uniformly studied concerning the point of departure, selection of canonical texts, etc. The paper introduces the Koselleckian conceptual history approach (Begriffsgeschichte) and the principle of a broader...... selection of texts than in the traditional history of ideas to provide a fuller account of usages of the concept, thereby opening up for alternative conceptions of the inventions and development of democracy....

  15. Policy evaluation and democracy: Do they fit?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sager, Fritz

    2017-08-05

    The papers assembled in this special issue shed light on the question of the interrelation between democracy and policy evaluation by discussing research on the use of evaluations in democratic processes. The collection makes a case for a stronger presence of evaluation in democracy beyond expert utilization. Parliamentarians prove to be more aquainted with evaluations than expected and the inclusion of evaluations in policy arguments increases the deliberative quality of democratic campaigns. In sum, evaluation and democracy turn out to be well compatible after all. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Dressing Uncivil Neighbor(hoods. Walt Whitman's Adhesive Democracy in “Calamus” and “Drum-Taps”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura López Peña

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This article analyzes 19th-century US poet Walt Whitman’s vindication of “adhesiveness” as imperative to the formation of a social democracy which might heal the neighborly hatreds of a divided United States and bind the nation together at a time of violent fragmentation and Civil War. The article examines Whitman’s location of the possibility of politics and democracy at the interpersonal level, and connects the poet’s political project in his 1860 “Calamus” with that in the 1865 “Drum-Taps”, studying how Whitman’s belief in the uniting capacity of love between men remained constant even as he was witnessing the tragic consequences of a four-year Civil War which would widen even more the irreconcilable gulfs between different Americans.

  17. Membership ballots and the value of intra-party democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wolkenstein, Fabio

    2016-01-01

    On the face of it, membership ballots present a clear case in which intra- party democracy comes into collision with core principles of representative democracy: they weaken the autonomy of representatives, and undermine the authority of the voters. In this article, I investigate whether this is ......On the face of it, membership ballots present a clear case in which intra- party democracy comes into collision with core principles of representative democracy: they weaken the autonomy of representatives, and undermine the authority of the voters. In this article, I investigate whether...

  18. Just Democracy. A Radical Assessment.

    OpenAIRE

    Jacquemain, Marc

    2012-01-01

    This paper is a tentative assessment of the Rawls-Machiavelli program by Philippe Van Paris, who proposes that justice is the main goal of political action (in a Rawlsian perspective) and democracy is only instrumental (the Machiavellian part of the program). The paper adresses three questions to the proposal of Philippe Van Paris : 1) Can democracy be properly defined without a condition of public debate ? 2) Don't "realistic politics" underestimate the margin of possibility we have to chang...

  19. Power and democracy in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jørgen Goul; Jørgensen, Torben Beck; Valgårda, Signild

    In 1997, the Danish Parliament decided to launch a power study, officially An Analysis of Democracy and Power in Denmark. A steering committee consisting of five independent researchers was assigned responsibility for the project. The Steering Committee has gathered the overall conclusions from...... the numerous projects under the Power Study, and this book is a short presentation of these conclusions.The main focus of the book is the state of democracy in Denmark at the dawn of the 21st century. How has democracy fared, has the development made things better or worse, and to which extent does......, and the political institutions show considerable democratic robustness. However, not everything has gone or is going well. There are still pronounced social divisions in Danish society, although their nature has changed somewhat. The ideal of an informed public debate does not always enjoy the best conditions...

  20. Improving school governance through participative democracy and the law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marius H Smit

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available There is an inextricable link between democracy, education and the law. After 15 yearsofconstitutional democracy, the alarming percentage of dysfunctional schools raises questions about the efficacy of the system of local school governance. We report on the findings of quantitative and qualitative research on the democratisation of schools and the education system in North-West Province. Several undemocratic features are attributable to systemic weaknesses of traditional models of democracy as well as the misapplication of democratic and legal principles. The findings of the qualitative study confirmed that parents often misconceive participatory democracy for political democracy and misunderstand the role of the school governing body to be a political forum. Despite the shortcomings, the majority of the respondents agreed that parental participation improves school effectiveness and that the decentralised model of local school governance should continue. Recommendations to effect the inculcation of substantive democratic knowledge, values and attitudes into school governance are based on theory of deliberative democracy and principles of responsiveness, accountability and justification of decisions through rational discourse.

  1. Democracy, Corruption and the Politics of Spirits in Contemporary Indonesia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bubandt, Nils Ole

    Indonesia has been an electoral democracy for more than a decade, and yet the political landscape of the world’s third-largest democracy is as complex and enigmatic as ever. Indonesia is simultaneous a country that has achieved a successful transition to democracy and a flawed, illiberal......, and predatory democracy. This book provides a portrait of Indonesia’s contradictory democracy through a series of biographical accounts of political entrepreneurs, from the political ‘periphery’ of North Maluku and the ‘political centre’ of East Java respectively. Each biographical account is focused on one...... contentious area of democracy in Indonesia – elections, corruption, decentralization, and regional representation. The chapters explore the intimate ways in which the political world and the spirit world are entangled. The core argument of the book is that Indonesia’s seemingly peculiar problems...

  2. The Internet and Democracy: Global Catalyst or Democratic Dud?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Best, Michael L.; Wade, Keegan W.

    2009-01-01

    In this study, we explore the global effect of the Internet on democracy over the period of 1992 to 2002 by observing the relationships between measures related to democracy and Internet prevalence. Our findings suggest that while Internet usage was not a very powerful predictor of democracy when examining full panel data from 1992 to 2002, it was…

  3. Direct Democracy in Local Politics in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svensson, Palle

    2007-01-01

    Elements of  direct democracy at the local level does exist in Denmark, but it is little known, because no formal rules regulate this aspect of political life, because results from popular initiatives and referendums are not recorded in official statistics, and because few systematic analyses have...... been published. This paper, accordingly, has an explorative nature and asks two basic questions: What is the current state of direct democracy at the local level in Denmark, and what are the prospects for a further development of direct democracy at the local level in Denmark? The paper is based...

  4. Internet and Democracy: Is the Internet an Important Predictor for Physical Education Teacher Candidates' Attitudes towards Democracy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ünlü, Hüseyin

    2017-01-01

    Today, in the digital age, the Internet usage is common among university students. The Internet is also an important platform for actively participating in democracy. This study explores physical education (PE) candidate teachers' attitudes toward the Internet and democracy. It also explores whether the Internet is an important predictor for…

  5. Populismo (en democracia. Repensando los sentidos de la emancipación en el sur de América Latina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ariana Reano

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper has two objectives. Firstly, it proposes rethinking the relationship between populism and democracy, by challenging the positions which create a radical antagonism between these two political dynamics. In order to do this, the paper refers to guidelines put forward by Ernesto Laclau, relating to the rupture and reconstruction of populism understood as political logic. This idea is complemented by contributions from Jacques Rancière, in order to explore the democratizing dimension of populist movements. Secondly, the article analyzes two examples of contemporary governments – that of Nestor Kirchner in Argentina, and of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil – to show how they invite us to re-examine the theoretical-political debate on the concept of democracy as it is currently understood. Re-establishing the debate on the tension between the formal and the substantive dimension of democracy will allow us to rethink the various ways in which a populist logic might lead to a democratizing logic.

  6. Theoretical Models of Deliberative Democracy: A Critical Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tutui Viorel

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: My paper focuses on presenting and analyzing some of the most important theoretical models of deliberative democracy and to emphasize their limits. Firstly, I will mention James Fishkin‟s account of deliberative democracy and its relations with other democratic models. He differentiates between four democratic theories: competitive democracy, elite deliberation, participatory democracy and deliberative democracy. Each of these theories makes an explicit commitment to two of the following four “principles”: political equality, participation, deliberation, nontyranny. Deliberative democracy is committed to political equality and deliberation. Secondly, I will present Philip Pettit‟s view concerning the main constraints of deliberative democracy: the inclusion constraint, the judgmental constraint and the dialogical constraint. Thirdly, I will refer to Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson‟s conception regarding the “requirements” or characteristics of deliberative democracy: the reason-giving requirement, the accessibility of reasons, the binding character of the decisions and the dynamic nature of the deliberative process. Finally, I will discuss Joshua Cohen‟s “ideal deliberative procedure” which has the following features: it is free, reasoned, the parties are substantively equal and the procedure aims to arrive at rationally motivated consensus. After presenting these models I will provide a critical analysis of each one of them with the purpose of revealing their virtues and limits. I will make some suggestions in order to combine the virtues of these models, to transcend their limitations and to offer a more systematical account of deliberative democracy. In the next four sections I will take into consideration four main strategies for combining political and epistemic values (“optimistic”, “deliberative”, “democratic” and “pragmatic” and the main objections they have to face. In the concluding section

  7. The Absence of Structural Americanization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Rasmus Kleis

    2013-01-01

    . Theoretically, economic and technological forces were expected to drive convergence. The article suggests that the reason these forces have not driven convergence in recent years may be that the interplay between them have changed as part of a broader shift from the mass media, mass production, and mass markets......Several comparative media researchers have hypothesized that the media systems of affluent Western democracies are becoming more and more structurally homogeneous—that they are becoming “Americanized.” This article uses data on newspaper industry revenues, commercial television revenues, Internet...... characteristic of twentieth-century Western societies and toward the fragmented media landscapes, tailored production, and niche marketing increasingly characteristic of early-twenty-first century affluent democracies....

  8. Populisms and liberal democracy – business as usual?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thompson, Grahame Frederick

    2017-01-01

    Populism is often thought to mark a sharp break with liberal democracy. But to what extent is this the case? In this contribution the connections between populism and liberal democracy are sketched in the context of several areas where discussions about populisms have stressed their discontinuity...... in these relationships. The contribution ends with a discussion of how it might be possible to defend liberal democracy from a non-liberal position in the face of the critique from populisms....

  9. Democracy and shareholder's participation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radulović Vuk

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Democracy and participation of shareholders or the demand for their active participation in the meetings of the Assemblyhas increasingly gained in importance in modern conditions. This is because, negative trends of passivation, the limitations of democratic potential of shareholders and shareholders' rights abuse by the management body, especially in the work control and compensation policy of shareholders, have been observed in a detailed analysis of the application and results of the Shareholder Rights Directive. The passivity of shareholders, as one of the most striking features of their position in the joint stock company today, is the biggest problem and threat to democratic processes within the company. If we bear in mind that the most common definition of shareholder democracy is 'ability of shareholders to influence the management of the company', we can notice a clear picture of the seriousness and importance of the lack of shareholder participation. This is the reason why the author of this paper gradually examines the causes and consequences of the passivity of shareholders, the proposed changes in this context in the Law of the European Union and the practical implications of such solutions in practice. In addition, the author examines contemporary forms and conditions for shareholder democracy and the legal framework in the European Union and the Republic of Serbia. In this way, we analyze the situation in this area and point out shortcomings of certain solutions, as well as the implications they cause in practice. The main thesis from which starts the scientific work and which will be gradually proven through theoretical and practical analysis is that the wider social processes directly reflect on the state of the joint-stock companies, or the state of corporate governance. This means that the negative trends of modern democracy (in the constitutional sense are almost mirrored in economic capital (EC and our attempt in this paper

  10. 76 FR 17329 - Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-29

    ... this milestone in the birthplace of democracy, we also celebrate our warm friendship with Greece and... strengthened by the profound influence of Greek culture on our national life. From the architecture of our... also look forward to our shared future and recommit to continuing our work as friends and allies. NOW...

  11. Science is a gateway for democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaoua, Mohamed

    2014-06-01

    The Arab Spring of 2011 has highlighted an unprecedent fact in the region: it was the young and educated population who established the spearheading of change, and led their countries to democracy. In this paper, we try to analyze how science has been a key factor in these moves, in Tunisia as well as in Egypt, and how it can help to anchor democracy in these countries.

  12. Reaching beyond Democracy in Educational Policy Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Leigh

    2016-01-01

    Educational policy analyses have tended toward either the impact of policies on student achievement or the furthering of progressive ideals, regularly theorized through concepts of democracy. In this theoretical essay, I suggest that democracy has become a vehicle for cauterized projects of individualized and contingent state status rather than…

  13. South American Youth and Integration : Typical Situations and Youth ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    South American Youth and Integration : Typical Situations and Youth ... IDRC partner the World Economic Forum is building a hub for inclusive growth ... Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and their perception of rights, democracy and regional.

  14. Technologies of democracy: experiments and demonstrations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurent, Brice

    2011-12-01

    Technologies of democracy are instruments based on material apparatus, social practices and expert knowledge that organize the participation of various publics in the definition and treatment of public problems. Using three examples related to the engagement of publics in nanotechnology in France (a citizen conference, a series of public meetings, and an industrial design process), the paper argues that Science and Technology Studies provide useful tools and methods for the analysis of technologies of democracy. Operations of experiments and public demonstrations can be described, as well as controversies about technologies of democracy giving rise to counter-experiments and counter-demonstrations. The political value of the analysis of public engagement lies in the description of processes of stabilization of democratic orders and in the display of potential alternative political arrangements.

  15. Mexico – A New Narco-Democracy in Latin America?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lidija Kos-Stanišić

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the author analyses the democratic transition and the first decade of the Mexican democracy. She points out that the democratic transition took place parallel with a huge expansion of the drug business, which caused the creation of extraconstitutional actors – drug cartels. The situation is particularly pressing in six Mexican federal states where the drug cartels cause deficiencies in the functioning of the majority of partial regimes of constitutional democracy. The conclusion raises fears that the collapse of democracy might extend to other federal states and that Mexico could turn into a narco-democracy in its entire national territory.

  16. Participatory Democracy in Local School Districts: Fact or Fiction, Boon or Bane?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatley, Richard V.

    1976-01-01

    Discusses the viability of participatory democracy and representative democracy for educational decision-making and argues that pure representative democracy would be preferable to the combination of participatory and representative democracy that now predominates. (Available from the Kansas Association of School Boards, 825 Western, Topeka, KS…

  17. Dewey versus "Dewey" on Democracy and Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Ploeg, Piet

    2016-01-01

    In the literature on citizenship education, frequent references are made to Dewey. However, educationalists do not always interpret him correctly. To provide some counterbalance, I explain Dewey's views on education and democracy. I base this, not only on "Democracy and Education", but also on 17 articles that Dewey wrote after…

  18. Devouring the Other: Democracy in Music Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gould, Elizabeth

    2008-01-01

    In this essay, the author builds on Val Plumwood's (1993, p. 192) notion of "devouring the other" to address fundamental problems of social justice and difference in liberal democracies and music education. The problem with liberal democracies is that they assimilate (devour) difference; consensual treatment of its citizens is predicated on the…

  19. Jurisdiction Size and Local Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lassen, David Dreyer; Serritslew, Søren

    2011-01-01

    and problems of endogeneity. We focus on internal political efficacy, a psychological condition that many see as necessary for high-quality participatory democracy. We identify a quasiexperiment, a large-scale municipal reform in Denmark, which allows us to estimate a causal effect of jurisdiction size......Optimal jurisdiction size is a cornerstone of government design. A strong tradition in political thought argues that democracy thrives in smaller jurisdictions, but existing studies of the effects of jurisdiction size, mostly cross-sectional in nature, yield ambiguous results due to sorting effects...

  20. "Democracy Will Not Fall from the Sky." A Comparative Study of Teacher Education Students' Perceptions of Democracy in Two Neo-Liberal Societies: Argentina and Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zyngier, David; Traverso, María Delia; Murriello, Adriana

    2015-01-01

    This paper compares and contrasts pre-service teachers' (PSTs) beliefs about democracy in Argentina and Australia. While there are many important studies of how school students understand democracy and democratic participation, few have studied what teachers, and especially pre-service teachers, think about democracy. This paper uses a mixed…

  1. The Re-Think Tree.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gear, Jim

    1993-01-01

    The Re-Think Tree is a simple framework to help individuals assess and improve their behaviors related to environmental issues. The branches of the tree in order of priority are refuse, reduce, re-use, and recycle. Roots of the tree include such things as public opinion, education, and watchdog groups. (KS)

  2. Rethinking Education and Poverty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tierney, William G., Ed.

    2015-01-01

    In "Rethinking Education and Poverty," William G. Tierney brings together scholars from around the world to examine the complex relationship between poverty and education in the twenty first century. International in scope, this book assembles the best contemporary thinking about how education can mediate class and improve the lives of…

  3. How do South Africans understand Democracy and Christianity ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The average South African is often seen as Christian and as supporting democracy, but research suggests many of the fundamentals of democracy and Christianity are clearly not accepted unconditionally. Africa Insight Vol.34(2/3) 2004: 16-22 ...

  4. LAW DEMOCRACY & DEVELOPMENT

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    HP27975994114

    the routine of daily business”.21 In the Court's view, this is so because, in a ..... tendency to be disruptive of deliberative processes and to rely on slogans and ... of a deliberative model of democracy for understandings of fundamental rights.

  5. Flavour democracy and the lepton-quark hierarchy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fritzsch, H.; Muenchen Univ.; Plankl, J.

    1990-01-01

    The mass hierarchy of the leptons and quarks is interpreted as a consequence of a coherent state phenomenon ('flavour democracy'). It is emphasized that particular forms of the mass matrices can arise from the coherent state basis. The violations of the 'flavour democracy' turn out to be relatively large. Numerical examples are presented. (orig.)

  6. How is an absolute democracy possible?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joanna Bednarek

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In the last part of the Empire trilogy, Commonwealth, Negri and Hardt ask about the possibility of the self-governance of the multitude. When answering, they argue that absolute democracy, understood as the political articulation of the multitude that does not entail its unification (construction of the people is possible. As Negri states, this way of thinking about political articulation is rooted in the tradition of democratic materialism and constitutes the alternative to the dominant current of modern political philosophy that identifies political power with sovereignty. The multitude organizes itself politically by means of the constitutive power, identical with the ontological creativity or productivity of the multitude. To state the problem of political organization means to state the problem of class composition: political democracy is at the same time economic democracy.

  7. Frances Kellor, Americanization, and the Quest for Participatory Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Press, John

    2010-01-01

    Frances Alice Kellor (1873 - 1952) is most famous for leading the Americanization movement that greeted immigrants from 1906 to 1921. The movement has been damned as coercive in the name of conformity in the historical literature. This dissertation argues that Kellor's Americanization movement promoted immigrants and immigration, Americanized…

  8. Philosophical Foundations for Democracy: A Ukrainian Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuriy Myelkov

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The article intends to conduct a philosophical analysis of democracy as it is presented by democratization processes in societies under globalization. Turbulent political life or contemporary Ukraine with its recent ‘revolution’ provides an excellent example of such a process. The authors demonstrate that the processes in question could be denoted as rather manipulation and political technologies than democratic transition. They argue that democracy can only be understood correctly as the self-organization of society composed of free and conscious human personalities. They show that personality as the subject of democracy, opposed to crowds led by contemporary demagogues, is the only possibility to achieve real changes for a better society.

  9. Democracy as the Rule of Nobody. Does It Make Sense Today?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tonči Kursar

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available I would like to contribute to the ongoing debate on democracy by discussing the notion of the rule of nobody. I first address Rosanvallon's theory of counter-democracy and Keane's concept of monitory democracy. Keane writes about 'monitory democracy' not only as a new phase in the development of democracy on a global scale, but primarily as an abolishment of all domination in human relations. His idea that in a monitory democracy 'no body rules', has been criticized by John Dunn and John Gray. They consider it meaningless to claim that in democracy 'no body rules', since every form of rule needs rulers. I would like to show that both this supposedly realistic criticism and Keane's version of the rule of nobody are too literal and superficial. If we consider democracy to be a kind of sentiment rather than a set of political institutions, we get closer to the puzzling idea that 'no body rules'. This idea, namely, is not about abolishing the rule of men over men, but about being aware of the contingency of all forms of mastery. This was well known to Plato and has been convincingly revived in the works of the French philosopher Jacques Rancière.

  10. The Reporter's Privilege under Fire: Is the American Press Still Free?

    Science.gov (United States)

    West, Natalie

    2009-01-01

    The First Amendment's guarantee of an independent press that may freely collect and disseminate news is often considered the bedrock of American democracy. Yet more than a century and a half after the "New York Herald's" John Nugent became the first American reporter jailed for refusing to identify a confidential source, reporters…

  11. Identity and democracy: linking individual and social reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Davis, J.B.; Marin, S.R.

    2009-01-01

    Following Amartya Sen's approach, John Davis and Solange Regina Marin look at individual and social reasoning when examining the complex relationship between identity and democracy. They characterize democracy as a process of social or public reasoning that combines the individual reasoning of all

  12. Democracy Dies in Dualisms. A Response to "Dewey and Democracy"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarofian-Butin, Dan

    2017-01-01

    This essay reviews Atkinson's article "Dewey and Democracy" and argues that while Dewey and the social foundations classroom may indeed be important for teacher preparation, it is not in the way Atkinson suggests. Namely, I argue that Atkinson's essay has three distinct (yet interrelated) issues: his problematic oversimplifications, what…

  13. AMBIGUOUS JANUS OF MODERN DEMOCRACY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volodymyr V. Khmil

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of the research is to analyze ambiguous concept of  democracy as a phenomenon of political and social formation based on political and instrumental approach. As a result, some deep fundamentals of  human social existence and values as social life basis are blurred. Task. The task of  this investigation is to reveal the concept of democracy in its invariative philosophical  meaning and find the consequences of global social transformations towards social entropy. Methods of investigation. To implement the task an activity approach has been used with further possibility to single out two approaches - politological and philosophical. The focus on democracy from philosophic point of view makes possible to anticipate negative entropic processes that lead  to future ambiguity. Subject matter. Chaotic social processes can result in  ruined family, spiritual, legal and moral formations. Regulatory and legal paradigms are becoming less effective and entail disintegration of spiritual and value constituents of worldview causing necessary conditions for social entropy. Originality and Findings. Possible threats for human freedom that hinder the way to targeted  prospects of mankind have been considered in the paper. Thus, taking into account all positive aspects of democracy, it is simultaneously becoming the tool of continuous differentiation of society into tiny autonomous communities similar to nomadic atomization of society. The concept based on moral substantial existence basis as in “axis time” by K. Jaspers that can prevent social entropy resulting in world anthropologic catastrophes has been grounded in the present research.

  14. Design for the values of democracy and justice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pols, A.J.K.; Spahn, A.; Hoven, van den J.; Vermaas, P.; Poel, van de I.

    2015-01-01

    In this chapter, we provide an overview of literature on the relation between technology and design and the values of democracy and justice. We first explore how philosophy has traditionally conceptualized democracy and justice. We then examine general philosophical theories and arguments about this

  15. Democracy, Citizen Sovereignty and Constitutional Economics

    OpenAIRE

    Vanberg, Viktor J.

    2006-01-01

    This paper is an exercise in conceptual clarification. Its purpose is to explore the contribution that constitutional economics can make to the theory of democracy. Constitutional economics as the economics of rules is concerned with the study of how the choice of rules in the social, economic and political realm affects the nature of the processes of human interaction that evolve within these rules. The theory of democracy is concerned with institutionalorganizational problems of self-govern...

  16. Power and Democracy in Denmark. Conclusions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jørgen Goul; Christiansen, Peter Munk; Beck Jørgensen, Torben

    In 1997, the Danish Parliament decided to launch a power study, officially An Analysis of Democracy and Power in Denmark. A steering committee consisting of five independent researchers was assigned responsibility for the project. The Steering Committee has gathered the overall conclusions from...... the numerous projects under the Power Study, and this book is a short presentation of these conclusions.The main focus of the book is the state of democracy in Denmark at the dawn of the 21st century. How has democracy fared, has the development made things better or worse, and to which extent does......, and the political institutions show considerable democratic robustness. However, not everything has gone or is going well. There are still pronounced social divisions in Danish society, although their nature has changed somewhat. The ideal of an informed public debate does not always enjoy the best conditions...

  17. Is Polis the Answer? Hannah Arendt on Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monika Bokiniec

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to reconsider Hannah Arendt’s most influential works from the point of view of her attitude towards democracy and analysis of the way it may contribute to the contemporary understanding and redefinition of the very notion of what democracy is.The paper begins with the reconstruction of Arendt’s anthropology in order to ground her political reflections. The next part discusses the basic characteristics of counsel democracy in forms of spontaneous, local organizations and associations in which every citizen could freely and equally participate, as they show through her analysis of revolutions. The last part deals with different and contradictory interpretations of Arendt’s attitude towards democracy and the question whether her proposition is a practical, revolutionary proposition or an idealist utopia. The interpretation of Arendt’s project emphasizing her democratic and reformative approach is defended. The conclusion states Hannah Arendt’s important contribution to the contemporary reflection on democracy in view of her recognition of the power of grassroots collective actions and their role in contemporary political sphere and the necessity of such formed at grass­roots and spontaneous level actions and associations as a unique safety valve for the society, as well as a counterbalance for mass society.  

  18. America’s Battle for Media Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victor Pickard

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This contribution is a recording of the CAMRI research seminar held at the University of Westminster on November 19, 2014, in which Victor Pickard presented his book "America’s Battle for Media Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform": http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/americas-battle-media-democracy-triumph-corporate-libertarianism-and-future-media-reform Why do American media have so few public interest regulations? How did the American media system become dominated by a few corporations, and why are structural problems like market failures routinely avoided in media policy discourse? By tracing the answers to many of these questions back to media policy battles in the 1940s, Victor Pickard explains how this happened and why it matters today. Drawing from extensive archival research, the book uncovers the American media system’s historical roots and normative foundations. His book charts the rise and fall of a forgotten media reform movement to recover alternatives and paths not taken. As much about the present and future as it is about the past, the book proposes policies for remaking media based on democratic values for the digital age. Victor Pickard is an assistant professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously he taught media studies at NYU and the University of Virginia, and he worked on media policy in Washington, D.C. as a Senior Research Fellow at the media reform organization Free Press, the public policy think tank the New America Foundation, and Congresswoman Diane Watson’s office. He has published numerous journal articles and book chapters on the history and political economy of media institutions and media reform activism. His op-eds on media policy debates and the future of journalism have appeared in news outlets like The Guardian, The Seattle

  19. Mapping Anomalous Democracies During the Cold War

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seeberg, Michael

    2014-01-01

    During the Cold War, a number of countries established stable democracies despite low levels of modernization and a relative lack of democratic neighbour countries—factors otherwise consistently related to the endurance of democracy. Meanwhile, the Cold War superpowers often supported autocracies...... are identified, including Bolivia, Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkey....

  20. Inclusive or managed democracy?

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    remains fragile, and faces the reality that political stability has not been accompanied ... 'managed democracy'2 cognizant of the manipulation of political, economic ...... pushing societies under extractive institutions toward political instability.

  1. Dewey versus ‘Dewey’ on democracy and education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Ploeg, Piet

    In the literature on citizenship education, frequent references are made to Dewey. However, educationalists do not always interpret him correctly. To provide some counterbalance, I explain Dewey’s views on education and democracy. I base this, not only on ‘Democracy and Education’, but also on 17

  2. Creating an International Network of Democracy Builders | IDRC ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Creating an International Network of Democracy Builders. The Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at Queen's University will conduct three case studies on democratic transition in Liberia, Costa Rica and Palestine, partnering with the Sua Foundation, the Arias Foundation and the Arab Thought Forum, respectively.

  3. E-democracy a group decision and negotiation perspective

    CERN Document Server

    French, Simon

    2010-01-01

    Web-based interactions to support participation and deliberative democracy, called e-participation and e-democracy, are coming and coming fast. In some instances, the Internet is already permeating politics. However, it is far from clear if the processes involved in these interactions are meaningful and valid, and most of the research in the field has focused largely on the technologies to facilitate or automate the standard democratic instruments involved, such as e-voting or e-debating. This book, though, uses the point of view of the Group Decision and Negotiation approach to thoroughly discuss how web-based decision support tools can be used for public policy decision making. e-Democracy is structured into five main parts. The first part places democracy in context and reviews participatory instruments already in use in the physical world. The second part reviews methodologies that may be used to support groups in public policy decision making with a view on discussing how they may be used in the virtual ...

  4. Prescribing Democracy?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bourne, Angela; Casals Bertoa, Fernando

    2017-01-01

    When democracies ban political parties, one of the central issues to usually emerge in both public and academic debate concerns the effects of proscription. Some argue that proscription may lead to radicalisation, a growth of militancy and readiness to use violence. Some also argue that, in the l......When democracies ban political parties, one of the central issues to usually emerge in both public and academic debate concerns the effects of proscription. Some argue that proscription may lead to radicalisation, a growth of militancy and readiness to use violence. Some also argue that...... of party bans on party system development has remained mostly under-researched. Trying to address this lacuna, and employing a new dataset of banned parties in Europe between 1945 and 2015, we compare the effects of party ban regulation on party system stability in three different arenas: electoral......, parliamentary and governmental. In particular, we examine the impact of party proscription on electoral volatility, fragmentation and closure in three different countries: Turkey, Germany and Spain. Using examples both at national and regional (e.g. Basque Country, Navarre, Saxony) level, and making use...

  5. Direct democracy and minority rights: same-sex marriage bans in the U.S.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Daniel C

    2011-01-01

    Objectives. A common critique of direct democracy posits that minority rights are endangered by citizen legislative institutions. By allowing citizens to directly create public policy, these institutions avoid the filtering mechanisms of representative democracy that provide a check on the power of the majority. Empirical research, however, has produced conflicting results that leave the question of direct democracy's effect on minority rights open to debate. This article seeks to empirically test this critique using a comparative, dynamic approach.Methods. I examine the diffusion of same-sex marriage bans in the United States using event-history analysis, comparing direct-democracy states to non-direct-democracy states.Results. The results show that direct-democracy states are significantly more likely than other states to adopt same-sex marriage bans.Conclusion. The findings support the majoritarian critique of direct democracy, suggesting that the rights of minority groups are at relatively higher risk under systems with direct democracy.

  6. On Democracy and Leadership: From Rhetoric to Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karagiorgi, Yiasemina

    2011-01-01

    This paper resembles a personal narrative on leadership and democracy and outlines how an educational leader can conceptualize democratic leadership and take some steps towards transforming theory into practice. The concepts of democracy and democratic schools within the discourse of educational theory and research are briefly discussed. Based on…

  7. Democracy, leadership and nation building in Nigeria | Nweke ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dissatisfied with a long-term period of military rule, Nigerians clamored for democratic rule and the nation has since 1999 witnessed civilian transitions of power within democracy. For Nigerians, the beauty of their hard earned democracy lies in its proclivity towards integral and sustainable national development. The thrust ...

  8. Dementia and representative democracy: Exploring challenges and implications for democratic citizenship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sonnicksen, Jared

    2016-05-01

    Despite growing recognition of the rights of people with dementia for full citizenship, issues related to democracy, whether from theoretical or practical perspectives, remain neglected. Especially since discourses on dementia have expanded to this rights-based approach, it is imperative to begin to examine the meanings and practices of democracy within a context of dementia. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to assess implications of dementia in the context of democracy. Rather than surveying the variety of democratic concepts, it will focus the analytical framework on representative democracy and then outline several challenges to and for representative democracy and citizens with dementia. The intention is to begin to identify paths for ensuring representation, inclusion and participation for those who have dementia. © The Author(s) 2016.

  9. Open Government: A Tool for Democracy?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emiliana De Blasio

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The growing disconnection between citizens and decision-makers is pushing politics towards a re-shaping of institutional design. New spaces of political participation are sustained and even reinforced by communication, especially by digital communication. Governments and public administrations can find and use different models to facilitate citizens’ participation; e-government, open government and a specific design of digital democracy. In this respect, open government can constitute a way to re-connect citizens and political institutions, but at the same time, it can also be an “appealing” tool to institutionalize bottom-up participation and so anesthetizing it. The aim of this article is to present the first findings of an international research project about open government and participatory platforms in four European countries (France, Italy, Spain, the UK. The study tries to understand if participatory platforms can improve the quality of democracy, and if open government can contribute to democratizing democracy.

  10. Bombing beyond Democracy. Remembering the Ruins of Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hoffmann, Birthe

    2013-01-01

    World War II is often seen as a victory for democracy, but at the same time represents the final bankruptcy of those humanistic ideas that seemed so deeply rooted in European tradition. This affected not only the self-perception of the Germans, as obvious, but also that of the winning democracies...

  11. Banzhuren and Classrooming: Democracy in the Chinese Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jiacheng; Chen, Jing

    2013-01-01

    The issue of education and democracy has become more and more important in China. This paper firstly explains the theory of democracy in Chinese classrooms, and then focuses on the Chinese banzhuren who is responsible for classrooming, an important educational area equal to instruction. We illustrate how Chinese students achieve development…

  12. "Democracy and Education": Reconstruction of and through Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, James

    2016-01-01

    While focusing on "Democracy and Education," James Campbell attempts in this essay to offer a synthesis of the full range of John Dewey's educational thought. Campbell explores in particular Dewey's understanding of the relationship between democracy and education by considering both his ideas on the reconstruction of education and on…

  13. Democracy and Human Rights: Concepts, Measures, and Relationships

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Todd Landman

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The empirical literature on democracy and human rights has made great strides over the last 30 years in explaining (1 the variation in the transition to, consolidation of, and quality of democracy; (2 the proliferation and effectiveness of human rights law; and (3 the causes and consequences of human rights across many of their categories and dimensions. This work has in many ways overcome the ‘essentially contested’ nature of the concepts of democracy and human rights conceptually, established different measures of both empirically, and developed increasingly sophisticated statistical and other analytical techniques to provide stronger inferences for the academic and policy community. This article argues that despite these many achievements, there remain tensions between conceptualisations of democracy and human rights over the degree to which one includes the other, the temporal and spatial empirical relationships between them, and the measures that have been developed to operationalize them. These tensions, in turn, affect the kinds of analyses that are carried out, including model specification, methods of estimation, and findings. Drawing on extant theories and measures of both, the article argues that there must be greater specificity in the conceptualisation and operationalization of democracy and human rights, greater care in the development and use of measures, and greater attention to the kinds of inferences that are made possible by them.

  14. Democracy as a meaning. Regional participatory forums of public consultation in Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Víctor Humberto Guzmán

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the study of part of the dispute process around the Audiovisual Communication Services law in the argentine public space during the year 2009. Specifically, it shows how the signification of democracy was configured in the Regional Participatory Forums of Public Consultation (FPCP organized by the Federal Broadcasting Committee (COMFER which were held during 2009 as a previous stage to the presentation of the Audiovisual Communication Services Bill. Thus, from the analysis of the interventions in the FPCP, the paper presents the emergence of democracy as democratic gradualness configured in three analytical dimensions: what democracy is not, democracy as plurality, and democracy as participation.

  15. SWELA, Ethnicity, and Democracy in Cameroon’s Patrimonial State

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Orock, Rogers Tabe Egbe

    2014-01-01

    empowerment and accountability. This article draws from a recent anthropological theoretical position on democracy as a work of cultural construction as well as on ethnographic material on an ethno-regional elite organization in Southwestern Cameroon called SWELA to provide an alternative reading...... of the ethnicity-elite-democracy nexus in postcolonial Africa. I suggest that while ethnicity is a major idiom through which the politics of democracy is practiced in Africa where most states are very patrimonially organized, this need not be seen as unproductive to the democratic ideals or expectations...

  16. Constitutionalism and Democracy in Contemporary International Community

    OpenAIRE

    Padjen, Ivan

    1992-01-01

    Starting from the insight that jurisprudence of legal theory should be concerned primarily with,on the one hand, international law, and, on the other, constitutional developments, the paper; analyzes some prominent conceptions of constitutionalism and democracy in international community and municipal legal orders; formulates a new set of criteria for the analysis of constitutionalism and democracy in international law; and argues that Laswell and McDougal's policy oriented jurisprudence offe...

  17. Democracy, property rights, income equality, and corruption

    OpenAIRE

    Dong, Bin; Torgler, Benno

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents theoretical and empirical evidence on the nexus between corruption and democracy. We establish a political economy model where the effect of democracy on corruption is conditional on income distribution and property rights protection. Our empirical analysis with cross-national panel data provides evidence that is consistent with the theoretical prediction. Moreover, the effect of democratization on corruption depends on the protection of property rights and income equality...

  18. Democracy and environment as references for quadruple and quintuple helix innovation systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carayannis, Elias G.; Campbell, David F. J.; Orr, Barron J.

    2015-04-01

    The perspective of democracy and the ecological context define key references for knowledge production and innovation in innovation systems. Particularly under conditions of environmental change where enhancing the potential for adaptation is critical, this requires a closer look at ecological responsibility and sensitivity in the different innovation models and governance regimes. The "Quintuple Helix" innovation model is an approach that stresses the necessary socio-ecological transition of society and economy by adding an environment helix to an innovation system already made up of three (university-industry-government) or four (civil society relations) helices in a way that supports adaptation by incorporating global warming as both a challenge to and a driver of innovation. There is the proposition that knowledge production and innovation co-evolve with democracy (Carayannis and Campbell, 2014). In the Triple Helix model (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 2000) the existence of a democracy does not appear to be necessary for knowledge production and innovation. However, the Quadruple Helix (Carayannis and Campbell, 2009, 2010 and 2014) is defined and represented by additional key attributes and components: "media-based and culture-based public", "civil society" and "arts, artistic research and arts-based innovation" (Bast, Carayannis and Campbell, 2015). Implications of this are that the fourth helix in the Quadruple Helix innovation systems brings in and represents the perspective of "dimension of democracy" or the "context of democracy" for knowledge in general and knowledge production and innovation in more particular. Within theories of democracy there is a competition between narrow and broader concepts of democracy (Campbell, 2013). This is particularly true when democracy is to be understood to transcend more substantially the narrow understanding of being primarily based on or being primarily rooted in government institutions (within a Triple Helix

  19. Delegated democracy. Siting selection for the Swedish nuclear waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johansson, Hanna Sofia

    2008-11-01

    The present study concerns the siting of the Swedish nuclear waste repository. Four cases are examined: the feasibility studies in Nykoeping and Tierp (cases 1 and 2), as well as three public consultation meetings with conservationist and environmental organisations, and two study visits to nuclear facilities in Oskarshamn and Oesthammar, which were held during what is called the site-investigation phase (cases 3 and 4). The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co (SKB) began the search for a nuclear waste site in the 1970s. Since 1992 SKB has conducted feasibility studies in eight municipalities, including in the four municipalities mentioned above. At the present time more comprehensive site investigations are underway in Oskarshamn and Oesthammar, two municipalities that already host nuclear power plants as well as storages for nuclear waste. In addition to SKB and the municipalities involved in the site-selection process, politicians, opinion groups, concerned members of the public, and oversight bodies are important actors. The analysis of the cases employs the concepts of 'sub-politics', 'boundary work', and 'expertise', together with the four models of democracy 'representative democracy', participatory democracy', 'deliberative democracy', and 'technocracy'. The aim of the study is to describe the characteristics of Swedish democracy in relation to the disposal of Swedish nuclear waste. The main questions of the study are: Which democratic ideals can be found within SKB's siting process during the feasibility studies and in the consultation process during the site investigations? and Which democratic ideals were influential during the feasibility studies and in the consultation process? The study is based on qualitative methods, and the source materials consist of documents, interviews, and participant observations. In summary, the form of democracy that emerges in the four case studies can be described as delegated democracy. This means that a large

  20. Feet to the Fire: New Orleans Kids Rethink Their Devastated School System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wholey, Jane; Burkes, Betty

    2015-01-01

    Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools is an organization of primarily middle school youth that formed after Hurricane Katrina destroyed most of the city's schools. This chapter describes Rethink's first six years of operation, which culminated in school system policy changes and an HBO documentary about the organization's groundbreaking work.

  1. Rethinking Popular Culture and Media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Elizabeth, Ed.; Sensoy, Ozlem, Ed.

    2011-01-01

    "Rethinking Popular Culture and Media" is a provocative collection of articles that begins with the idea that the "popular" in classrooms and in the everyday lives of teachers and students is fundamentally political. This anthology includes outstanding articles by elementary and secondary public school teachers, scholars, and activists who…

  2. Regional Autonomy and Local Democracy: Independent Candidates Cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suryanto

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available One of the efforts to achieve local democracy is through the participation of independent candidates in the Direct General Election in the region. The presence of independent candidates in the Direct General Election gives a great hope to change the political structure of the shackles of the old forces. This paper aims to discuss the implication of regional heads coming from independent candidates on the effectiveness of local governance and the implementation of substantive democracy in the region. The method used is a qualitative approach using descriptive research method. The data collection is done through literature approach. Processing data uses Milles and Huberman interactive models, which includes data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. The study concluded three things: First, the presence of independent candidates in the Direct General Election gives the opportunities to achieve local democracy that is getting bigger, Second, Regional Heads elected from independent candidates face the challenges of the ineffectiveness of regional government, and Third, within certain limits, the power of elected regional heads from independent lane leads to the realization of democracy that is not substantial.

  3. High-stakes educational testing and democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ydesen, Christian

    2014-01-01

    This article investigates the relation between high-stakes educational testing and democracy drawn from the experiences of 20th-century high-stakes educational testing practices in the Danish history of education. The article presents various concepts of democracy using leading propositions within...... the field of education. Then a sample of relevant historic case studies are examined in light of these definitions. Among other things, the article concludes that a combination of different evaluation technologies – some formative and some summative – might be the safest way to go from a democratic...

  4. Rethinking Educational Evaluation for Quality Educational Outcomes

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rethinking Educational Evaluation for Quality Educational Outcomes. ... Educational Evaluation (EE) provides information for action by offering invaluable knowledge in terms of theoretical and practical ... AJOL African Journals Online.

  5. The young Marx on constituent power and “true democracy.”

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Flohr, Mikkel

    Marx and Marxism is commonly charged with having neglected politics and the development of a theory of politics. However, this presumption ignores Marx’s unfinished and unpublished 1843 Critique of Hegel’s Doctrine of State, where he engaged political theory at length – an engagement, which...... propelled him towards his subsequent critique of political economy. It is the aim of the proposed paper to reconstruct and reinterpret his argument focusing in particular on his conceptualization of constituent power and “true democracy.” In the 1843 Critique Marx argues that democracy is the foundation...... the conflicts of civil society. Marx therefore concludes that all these political forms are democracies in contradiction with themselves. Marx proceeds to suggest that it is possible to overcome these contradictions and develop an adequate political form of democracy, which he describes as “true democracy...

  6. Democracia dos antigos x democracia dos modernos: uma revisão de literatura Old democracy x modern democracy – a literature review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandre José Pierini

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available This work is a literature review on democracy. Firstly, a short historical retrospect of democracy is carried out. This retrospect is important because democracy had links with the citizen’s direct participation in the decision-making. The modern democracy, on its turn, is related to the political representation, where the citizen participates through mechanisms developed by the State to elect its representatives. The main aspect is the crisis inherent in the current democratic system which needs an urgent review process. It is on the crisis established on democracy that the old as well as the modern democracy establish convergence points, for mechanisms of direct participation are being thought and blended together with the modern democracy, with the purpose of recreating the current political system.O presente trabalho se caracteriza como uma revisão de literatura sobre o tema democracia. Para a consecução da revisão, buscou-se expor no primeiro momento a realização de um breve retrospecto histórico da democracia. Esse retrospecto é importante porque a democracia possuía vínculos com a participação direta do cidadão nas tomadas de decisão. A democracia dos modernos por sua vez, se relacionada com a representação política, onde o cidadão participa por meio de mecanismos criados pelo Estado para eleger os seus representantes. O ponto nevrálgico e que marca sobretudo os aspectos relacionados a esta revisão de literatura é a crise inerente do sistema democrático em voga e que necessita sobremaneira de um processo de revisão. A crise da democracia conduz ao estabelecimento de pontos de convergência entre a democracia dos antigos e a democracia dos modernos mecanismos de participação direta estão sendo pensados e mesclados junto à democracia dos modernos com o intuito de recriar o sistema político vigente.

  7. Examining Citizen Participation: Local Participatory Policy Making and Democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Michels, A.M.B.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/11124501X; de Graaf, L.J.

    2010-01-01

    Citizen participation is usually seen as a vital aspect of democracy. Many theorists claim that citizen participation has positive effects on the quality of democracy. This article examines the probability of these claims for local participatory policymaking projects in two municipalities in the

  8. Philosophy for Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartels, Rob; Onstenk, Jeroen; Veugelers, Wiel

    2016-01-01

    Philosophy for Democracy is a research project that aims to examine whether and how Philosophy with Children contributes to the development of democratic skills and attitudes. In the Netherlands, as in almost all Western countries, Philosophy with Children is linked with the movement for citizenship education. This article reports the research on…

  9. 21st-century liberal democracy and its contradictions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Bellini

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This brief paper intends to highlight the contradictions in which liberal democracy struggles within the process of globalisation, influenced as it is by the new connecting technologies. In particular, the difficult relationship between liberalism and democracy is analysed in light of the latest communitarist theories and new trends that interpret them socially. 

  10. American Dreaming: Critical Perspectives on a Media Training Program for Emerging Democracies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miglena Mantcheva Sternadori

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Since the end of the Cold War, the International Media Training Center has brought dozens of Eastern European journalists to study in non-degree programs at U.S. universities. This study is a cultural critique of one such program. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews, participant observation, and articles from university newsletters. The trainees reveal that support from mentors is often insufficient, and some participants face significant hostility after returning to their native countries. The fast-paced media environments in those countries have not forgiven their yearlong absence: organizational power has been redistributed, connections have been weakened, and new colleagues have aggressively taken over one's old turf. The findings suggest that training a few journalists from disparate media outlets is unlikely to have much effect on media professionalism in emerging democracies, unless the trainees are guaranteed an opportunity to become trainers. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs100376

  11. "Oh, Say Can You See?" Visualizing American Symbols in the Fifth Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brugar, Kristy A.; Dickman, Andrew H.

    2013-01-01

    Symbols have always had an important role in shaping our identity as a nation. The American flag, the Statue of Liberty, the White House, and the bald eagle all help to convey American values such as liberty, freedom, democracy, and independence. But how do elementary students understand these symbols and the values behind them? In this article,…

  12. The Secret Driving Force Behind Mongolia’s Successful Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-01

    the nation’s democracy movement its earliest stages. Courtesy of the Democratic Union of Mongolia PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 141 The Secret Driving...assistance and trade. Our state budget PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 143 THE SECRET DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MONGOLIA’S SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY collapsed; we...O yungerel Tsedevdam ba (2006) PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 145 THE SECRET DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MONGOLIA’S SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY significantly as

  13. Local Democracy in Myanmar

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kyed, Helene Maria; Harrisson, Annika Pohl; McCarthy, Gerard

    Myanmar is undergoing a comprehensive political transition. In April this year the first democratically elected government in six decades came into power under the leadership of NLD, the pro-democracy party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. The largest peace conference in the country’s history was held...... in early September, and Myanmar again made the international headlines a week later when Kofi Annan visited the country to head a commission for addressing communal violence. These national events are crucial to the democratization process in Myanmar and for ending the almost seven decades of civil war....... However, often overlooked in this larger picture of transition is the state of local democracy, including village level governance and everyday state-citizen engagements. Political changes at this level are equally crucial for the wider democratization process. This roundtable summary discusses the 2016...

  14. Secrecy and Democracy: The Conflict between American Ideals and American Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-05-22

    secrecy begins1 — Hannah Arendt , The Burden of our Time) INTRODUCTION The United States was born in secrecy. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention...Application Programming Interfaces.” American Behavioral Scientist 57, no. 5 (December 2012): 623-642. DOI:10.1177/000276421269363. Arendt , Hannah . The...secrecy and transparency, privacy and publicity, that undermines 1Hannah Arendt , The Burden of our Time (London: Secker and Warburg, 1951), 386

  15. Liberalism and democracy Liberalismo e democracia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    (Autor Claude Lefort

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available In this essay, the historical connections between liberalism and democracy are analyzed, based mostly on three important authors of the French liberal thought of the first half of the 19th century: Benjamin Constant (1767-1830, François Guizot (1787-1874 e Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859. Although, the Author doesn’t forget to highlight the contemporary issues which demand confronting and elucidating the chances of democracy. Keywords: French Liberalism. Democracy. Political Philosophy. Tolerance. São aqui examinadas as relações históricas entre liberalismo e democracia, com base principalmente em três importantes autores do pensamento liberal francês da primeira metade do século XIX: Benjamin Constant (1767-1830, François Guizot (1787-1874 e Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859. Contudo, o Autor não deixa de lançar luz sobre as questões contemporâneas que exigem enfrentar e elucidar as chances da democracia. Palavras-chave: Liberalismo francês. Democracia. Filosofia política. Tolerância.

  16. Schooling for Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noddings, Nel

    2008-01-01

    The author of this article contends that current efforts at school reform--ostensibly designed to increase equality of outcomes--may actually be undermining democracy by undervaluing the wide range of talents required in 21st-century America. Many policy makers today argue that all students should have a standard curriculum that will prepare them…

  17. Democracy predicts sport and recreation membership: Insights from 52 countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balish, Shea M

    2017-03-01

    Although evidence suggests sport and recreation are powerful contributors to worldwide public health, sizable gender differences persist. It is unknown whether country characteristics moderate gender differences across countries. The primary purpose of this study was to examine if countries' levels of democracy and/or gender inequality moderate gender differences in sport and recreation membership across countries. The secondary purpose was to examine if democracy and/or gender inequality predicts overall rates of sport and recreation membership for both males and females. This study involved a nested cross-sectional design and employed the sixth wave (2013) of the world value survey (n Ss =71,901, n countries =52). Multiple hierarchal nonlinear Bernoulli models tested: (1) if countries' levels of democracy moderate gender differences in sport and recreation membership; and (2) if democracy is associated with increased sport and recreation membership for both males and females. Countries' level of democracy fully moderated gender differences in sport and recreation membership across countries. Moreover, democracy was positively associated with both male and female membership, even when controlling for individual and country-level covariates. Democratic political regimes may confer health benefits via increased levels of sport and recreation membership, especially for females. Future research should test mediating mechanisms. Copyright © 2016 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. The European Citizens’ Initiative: Transnational Democracy in the EU at last?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maximilian Conrad

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, in force since December 2009, introduced the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI as a means of strengthening citizen involvement in EU decision making. A minimum of one million citizens from at least seven of the EU’s current 27 member states can request that the European Commission submit a legislative proposal on the issue of the initiative. But the ECI is not only a means of strengthening participatory democracy in the EU. It also bears the potential for a more fundamental transformation of democracy, namely in the direction of transnational participatory democracy. Starting with a short introduction to how the ECI will work in practice as well as a brief history of participatory democracy in the EU, this article therefore examines the ECI from the perspective of democratic theory. How profound an impact will the ECI have on democracy in the European Union?

  19. The Ideology of the American Dream: Two Competing Philosophies in Education, 1776-2006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beach, J. M.

    2007-01-01

    This article puts forth 2 competing notions of the American Dream, 1 radical and 1 conservative (both put forth by Thomas Jefferson), as the basis for 2 competing public philosophies of American democracy and education. This article traces out the ecology of inequality that has determined the context of these 2 competing public philosophies,…

  20. Precious African American memories, post-racial dreams & the American nation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Waldo E

    2011-01-01

    This interdisciplinary essay explores a fundamental paradox at the heart of American race relations since the 1960s: "the changing same." The more things change; the more they remain the same. Combining historical and social-scientific evidence with autobiographical reflections, this discussion critically probes the paradoxical decline and persistence of two dimensions of our enduring racial quagmire: racial inequality and white supremacy. The essay argues that these powerful and interrelated elements of America's continuing racial dilemma demand a massive democratic movement to alleviate both at once. This wide-ranging struggle to realize the promise of American democracy requires more than just a revitalized African American Freedom Struggle that is both intraracial and interracial. Progress toward resolving the seemingly intractable problem of racial inequality in the United States demands far more than intensified efforts to alleviate economic inequality; it requires alleviating white supremacy as well.

  1. Patron-Client Politics, Democracy and Governance in Nigeria, 1999 ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Its evidence abounds in older democracies, emerging democracies and even authoritarian regimes. In Nigeria, its evidence abounds in the pre-colonial political system through the colonial era to the previous civil administrations in the country since independence. The paper revealed that pecuniary motivation and the ...

  2. Education and support for representative, direct and stealth democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Coffé, Hilde; Michels, Ank

    2014-01-01

    Using data collected within the scope of a Dutch internet panel survey (LISS) in 2011, this study tracks public support for direct, stealth and representative democracy according to educational level. Our findings indicate that, in terms of overall support for each specific type of democracy, lower

  3. Corruption: Threat to democracy and market economy in Nigeria ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In the research on 'Corruption: Threat to Democracy and Market Economy', the researchers critically explore the issue of corruption and how it threatens the democracy and market economy in Nigeria. Relevant literature was revised, which formed the secondary data. The theoretical framework of the study is political ...

  4. Post-militarism: provenance of praetorian democracy in nigerian, 1999

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The development of 'command democracy' took root during this period. On the basis of the empirical evidence adduced, the paper argued that the phenomenon of 'praetorian democracy' which became visible from 1999 to 2007 undermined the constitution and due democratic process. Executive contempt for the rule of law ...

  5. Democracy and development in the age of globalisation | Mubangizi ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Globalisation is one of the leading characteristics of the world today – a world that is striving for development, democracy and the protection of human rights. There is no doubt that the relationship between globalisation and democracy is quite complex. So too is the relationship between globalisation and development.

  6. Classifying and explaining democracy in the Muslim world

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rohaizan Baharuddin

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to classify and explain democracies in the 47 Muslim countries between the years 1998 and 2008 by using liberties and elections as independent variables. Specifically focusing on the context of the Muslim world, this study examines the performance of civil liberties and elections, variation of democracy practised the most, the elections, civil liberties and democratic transitions and patterns that followed. Based on the quantitative data primarily collected from Freedom House, this study demonstrates the following aggregate findings: first, the “not free not fair” elections, the “limited” civil liberties and the “Illiberal Partial Democracy” were the dominant feature of elections, civil liberties and democracy practised in the Muslim world; second, a total of 413 Muslim regimes out of 470 (47 regimes x 10 years remained the same as their democratic origin points, without any transitions to a better or worse level of democracy, throughout these 10 years; and third, a slow, yet steady positive transition of both elections and civil liberties occurred in the Muslim world with changes in the nature of elections becoming much more progressive compared to the civil liberties’ transitions.

  7. Constructing (IlLegitimate Democracy: Populism and Power Concentration in Newspaper Discourse on Venezuela

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ernesto Abalo

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Despite scholarly consensus about the importance of the media for democracy, scant attention has been paid to what democracy means to journalistic discourse and how discourses on democracy are interrelated with legitimacy. The aim of this paper is to explore how (illegitimate democracy is constructed in newspaper discourse. By using critical discourse analysis, this paper examines foreign news items about Venezuela, a country that under the presidency of Hugo Chávez has challenged the hegemonic global political and economic orders. The analysis section focuses on two main findings about the Venezuelan government: the constructions of populism and power concentration, which serve to mark deviance from what is perceived as legitimate democracy. This paper argues that a liberal perception of democracy constitutes a central framework for the construction of (illegitimate democracy, which is revealed not least by news discourse’s focus on what is morally unacceptable political conduct according to liberal democratic norms. In this sense, such constructions serve to denounce potential governmental power abuses but also to legitimize the hegemonic economic and political orders.

  8. Rethink! prototyping transdisciplinary concepts of prototyping

    CERN Document Server

    Nagy, Emilia; Stark, Rainer

    2016-01-01

    In this book, the authors describe the findings derived from interaction and cooperation between scientific actors employing diverse practices. They reflect on distinct prototyping concepts and examine the transformation of development culture in their fusion to hybrid approaches and solutions. The products of tomorrow are going to be multifunctional, interactive systems – and already are to some degree today. Collaboration across multiple disciplines is the only way to grasp their complexity in design concepts. This underscores the importance of reconsidering the prototyping process for the development of these systems, particularly in transdisciplinary research teams. “Rethinking Prototyping – new hybrid concepts for prototyping” was a transdisciplinary project that took up this challenge. The aim of this programmatic rethinking was to come up with a general concept of prototyping by combining innovative prototyping concepts, which had been researched and developed in three sub-projects: “Hybrid P...

  9. A Brief Survey of Democracy Promotion in U.S. Foreign Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-03-01

    highlight that economic and security concerns both pre-dated active democracy promotion efforts. 2 For its first centennial , the United States was...the troubles of the world. The 1930s brought the Great Depression and the perception that democracy and capitalism might not be such good ideas after...peacetime foreign policy on democracy was somewhat constrained by the Great Depression and World War II. As World War II raged, FDR eloquently

  10. The Rise of Direct Democracy in Croatia: Balancing or Challenging Parliamentary Representation?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Butković Hrvoje

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In 2010 the Croatian Constitution was changed to lower the requirements for the implementation of direct democracy at the national level, in order to save the referendum on Croatia’s EU membership from possible failure. Since then, Croatia has witnessed a sharp increase in people’s initiatives that have managed to block a number of the government’s reform proposals. Therefore, the newly discovered appeal of direct democracy in Croatia has created a new environment for the operation of its representative democracy. Starting from theoretical notions, this paper analyses the practice of direct democracy in selected transitional countries, which could be instructive for Croatia. In its central part, the paper explores the obstacles that stand in the way of the efficient implementation of direct democracy in Croatia.

  11. Deliberative democracy in health care: current challenges and future prospects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safaei, Jalil

    2015-01-01

    There is a vast body of literature on deliberative, participative, or engaged democracy. In the area of health care there is a rapidly expanding literature on deliberative democracy as embodied in various notions of public engagement, shared decision-making (SDM), patient-centered care, and patient/care provider autonomy over the past few decades. It is useful to review such literature to get a sense of the challenges and prospects of introducing deliberative democracy in health care. This paper reviews the key literature on deliberative democracy and SDM in health care settings with a focus on identifying the main challenges of promoting this approach in health care, and recognizing its progress so far for mapping out its future prospects in the context of advanced countries. Several databases were searched to identify the literature pertinent to the subject of this study. A total of 56 key studies in English were identified and reviewed carefully for indications and evidence of challenges and/or promising avenues of promoting deliberative democracy in health care. Time pressure, lack of financial motivation, entrenched professional interests, informational imbalance, practical feasibility, cost, diversity of decisions, and contextual factors are noted as the main challenges. As for the prospects, greater clarity on conception of public engagement and policy objectives, real commitment of the authorities to public input, documenting evidence of the effectiveness of public involvement, development of patient decision supports, training of health professionals in SDM, and use of multiple and flexible methods of engagement leadership suited to specific contexts are the main findings in the reviewed literature. Seeking deliberative democracy in health care is both challenging and rewarding. The challenges have been more or less identified. However, its prospects are potentially significant. Such prospects are more likely to materialize if deliberative democracy is

  12. Understanding the role of nationalism in "new democracies".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matić, D

    1999-06-01

    The transition from communism to democracy has raised numerous discussions regarding the nature of postcommunism in Eastern Europe. According to the author, the two main approaches used to explain the collapse of communism--one that claims that resurrected civil society triumphed over totalitarianism, and, the other that avers Eastern Europe's propensity for irrationalism and a political behaviour based on ethnic exclusion and hatred--overlook the unique nature of postcommunism. In order to properly grasp the nature of this phenomena, the author argues that one must first understand the intrinsic nature of Eastern Europe's transformation. To do this requires an analysis of the social structures that drive political change and identifying the social group that is the main bearer of transformation. The author believes that though her analysis focuses primarily on the case of former Yugoslavia, and Croatia in particular, the conclusions she draws from it are also valid for other East European countries: that the nation is regarded as the principal catalyst for political change and that nationalism is the main legitimizing principle of emerging states. This analysis rejects the common view according to which nationalism is casually discounted as an irrational political movement that is fundamentally hostile to democracy and freedom. Quite the contrary. Throughout Eastern Europe nationalism has had a positive role in bringing down communism and creating a space for democracy to take root. Still, tension exists between nationalism and the democracy it spawned. To understand this paradox requires an extensive sociological and historical study of the particular conditions within which a particular community defines the goals of nationalism and the specific content of its main undergirding concepts like nation and state. Identifying the circumstances within which nationalism begins to act as an obstacle to the establishment of full-fledge democracy is key to understanding

  13. Landscape democracy, three sets of values, and the connoisseur method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arler, Finn; Mellqvist, Helena

    2015-01-01

    for argument. It examines various methods that have been used to try to make landscape decisions more democratic. In the last part of the paper the connoisseur method is introduced. This method emphasises stakeholder participation in deliberative processes with a particular focus on place-based knowledge......The European Landscape Convention has brought up the question of democracy in relation to landscape transformation, but without a clear definition of democracy. This paper conceptualises democracy in relation to three main sets of values related to self-determination, co-determination and respect...

  14. Dewey's Ethical Justification for Public Deliberation Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shook, John

    2013-01-01

    Interpretations of John Dewey's political theory grasp his respect for public deliberation, but typically overlook his ethical justification for democracy. Dewey gave two primary reasons why democracy is superior to other forms of government. First, a public educated in the tools of social intelligence can be more effective at managing their…

  15. "A Liberation of Powers": Agency and Education for Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyte, Harry C.; Finders, Margaret J.

    2016-01-01

    In this essay Harry Boyte and Margaret Finders argue that addressing the "shrinkage" of education and democracy requires acting politically to reclaim and augment Deweyan agency-focused concepts of democracy and education. Looking at agency from the vantage of civic studies, which advances a politics of agency--a citizen politics that is…

  16. Evolution of democracy in Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oberoi, Mukesh K.

    The emphasis of this thesis is to build an intuitive and robust GIS (Geographic Information systems) Tool which will give a survey on the evolution of democracy in European countries. The user can know about the evolution of the democratic histories of these countries by just clicking on them on the map. The information is provided in separate HTML pages which will give information about start of revolution, transition to democracy, current legislature, women's status in the country etc. There are two separate web pages for each country- one shows the detailed explanation on how democracy evolved in diff. countries and another page contains a timeline which holds key events of the evolution. The tool has been developed in JAVA. For the European map MOJO (Map Objects Java Objects) is used. MOJO is developed by ESRI. The major features shown on the European map were designed using MOJO. MOJO made it easy to incorporate the statistical data with these features. The user interface, as well as the language was intentionally kept simple and easy to use, to broaden the potential audience. To keep the user engaged, key aspects are explained using HTML pages. The idea is that users can view the timeline to get a quick overview and can go through the other html page to learn about things in more detail.

  17. Enhancing policy innovation by redesigning representative democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Eva

    2016-01-01

    Policy innovation is a key aspect of public innovation, which has been largely overlooked. Political leadership, competition and collaboration are key drivers of policy innovation. It is a barrier in traditional models of representative democracy that they provide weak conditions for collaboration....... Two Danish case studies indicate that collaboration between politicians and relevant and affected stakeholders can promote policy innovation, but also that a redesign of representative democracy is needed in order to establish a productive combination of political leadership, competition...... and collaboration in political life....

  18. Democracy at the end of the History

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vicente Sanfélix Vidarte

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1677-2954.2013v12n2p289 This article analyzes the loss of legitimacy that the economic crisis brought upon representative democracy and the consequences that can be drawn for the thesis of the end of History. The thesis we defend here is that the deterioration of the welfare state, as a result, under very specific conditions, of the capitalism in certain parts of the world, runs parallel with the delegative degradation of democracy.

  19. Democracy, the Party, and Self-Emancipation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raekstad, P.

    2017-01-01

    The Party is once again the subject of sustained discussion among academics and popular movements. Jodi Dean’s most recent book, Crowds and Party, is an attempt to re-think the party form for contemporary politics after the experiences and lessons of Occupy. Crowds and Party is engaging and

  20. The Populist Conception of Democracy Beyond Popular Sovereignty

    OpenAIRE

    Corduwener, Pepijn

    2014-01-01

    With populist parties making electoral progress across the European continent, the question of what their electoral success means for contemporary democratic systems has gained increasing significance. This article investigates how two populist radical right parties, the Austrian FPÖ and the Dutch PVV, conceptualise democracy, based on a wide range of party documents released over recent decades. It builds upon recent academic consensus that the relationship between populism and democracy is ...

  1. E-democracy and public administrators: the Malaysian case

    OpenAIRE

    Abu Bakar, Abdul Gapar

    2017-01-01

    The thesis investigates public administrators’ use of interactive Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in the Malaysian Federal Public Service (MFPS). It describes qualitative research which identifies the nature of e-democracy practices in policy development in the MFPS. In-depth interviews and scholarly as well as government documents provide empirical evidence. Through a survey of literature, contextual features such as absence of policy in the MFPS for e-democracy, constitut...

  2. an a Fledgling Democracy take

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    process and the country's prospects for consolidating a democracy in the future. ... Mark Anstey is a Professor in Labour Relations, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan ... potentials for hydro-electric power it is shockingly underdeveloped, boasting.

  3. Science, expertise, and democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinberg, Justin; Elliott, Kevin C

    2012-06-01

    The combination of government's significant involvement in science, science's significant effects on the public, and public ignorance (of both politics and science) raise important challenges for reconciling scientific expertise with democratic governance. Nevertheless, there have recently been a variety of encouraging efforts to make scientific activity more responsive to social values and to develop citizens' capacity to engage in more effective democratic governance of science. This essay introduces a special issue of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, "Science, Expertise, and Democracy," consisting of five papers that developed from the inaugural Three Rivers Philosophy conference held at the University of South Carolina in April 2011. The pieces range from a general analysis of the in-principle compatibility of scientific expertise and democracy to much more concrete studies of the intersection between scientific practices and democratic values in areas such as weight-of-evidence analysis, climate science, and studies of locally undesirable land uses.

  4. Democracy and Women's Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safaei, Jalil

    2009-01-01

    New research on broader determinants of health has culminated into the new paradigm of social determinants of health. The fundamental view that underlies this new paradigm is that socioeconomic and political contexts in which people live have significant bearing upon their health and well-being. Unlike a wealth of research on socioeconomic determinants, few studies have focused on the role of political factors. Some of these studies examine the role of political determinants on health through their mediation with the labour environments and systems of welfare state. A few others study the relationship between polity regimes and population health more directly. However, none of them has a focus on women's health. This study explores the interactions, both direct and indirect, between democracy and women's health. In doing so, it identifies some of the main health vulnerabilities for women and explains, through a conceptual model, how democracy and respect for human rights interacts with women's health. PMID:21836777

  5. Rethinking Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jairo Munive

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available This article introduces the special issue on DDR and ‘Armed Non-Statutory Actors’ (ANSAs which we prefer to the less precise label of Armed Non-State Actors. The understanding that disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR programs are essential in helping to prevent the recurrence of war in post-conflict situations is at the heart of current peacebuilding practice and the academic literature on peacekeeping and stabilization. But the changing strategic context of DDR programs and in particular the proliferation of ANSAs presents new challenges, the responses to which have been characterized as ‘second generation’ DDR. The changing context poses new questions and forces us to rethink assumptions and templates of DDR as the concept is blurred and expanded. The question is if it makes sense to hold on to the concept or whether the assumptions associated with it will get in the way of rethinking templates for violence reduction in the future.

  6. Public Participation Guide: Electronic Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Electronic democracy describes a wide range of interactive tools that embrace existing and emergent media sources as a forum for allowing members of the public to express opinions and seek to influence decision-making.

  7. The Chavez Challenge: Venezuela, The United States and the Geo-Politics of Post-Cold War Inter-American Relations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-03-01

    the downtrodden, he stresses his own childhood experience with poverty to connect with followers...29 Cammack, “Democracy and Dictatorship in Latin America, 1930-1980,” 163. 30 Castañeda, Utopia Unarmed: The Latin American Left after the Cold War...46. 31 Cammack, “Democracy and Dictatorship in Latin America, 1930-1980,” 164. 32 Ibid., 165. 12 Nationalism is an integral part of his appeal. In

  8. The New Criticism and the Crisis of American Liberalism: The Poetics of the Cold War.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walhout, Mark

    1987-01-01

    Contends that arguments against New Criticism should place the movement in historical context. Suggests that historians of American criticism rethink the institutionalization of New Criticism as the work of both liberal intellectuals and pragmatic neoconservatives for whom both traditional liberalism and right-wing ideology were part of the…

  9. Lebanese Young Citizens’ Attitudes toward Peace and Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khayrazad Kari Jabbour

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Lebanon is a small democratic country with a population of less than four million and a range of diversity; there are at least 18 different religious sects and 19 different political parties. The diversity among ethnic, religious and/or political groups has created conflicts that severely impact the Lebanese economy, environment, politics and most importance our young citizens. The aim of this investigation is to capture students’ awareness and attitudes toward the accountability and mechanisms of peace and democracy. Data for the study was obtained from extensive literature reviews and questionnaire surveys of 70 high school students. The investigation was conducted in the fall of the year 2013. The results of the study showed that most Lebanese young citizen view peace and democracy process associated with the end of violence and conflict behaviors; very small percent of respondents believe that bringing peace and democracy process should be answered by the people or by themselves. Results also indicate a lack of a sense of security among young citizen. This raises the urgent need to put into practice an effective peace education program that inspires and motivates young citizens to be involved in the peace and the democracy building process.

  10. The new left and democracy in Latin America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Panizza

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Without embarking on a theoretical debate over the meaning of the term, it is obvious that the left is on the rise in Latin America. However, we should not ignore the fact that the coming to power of left-wing and centre-left parties and movements presents a certain amount of paradoxes and questions. One of the most important of the many paradoxes is the fact that, in spite of the leftwards electoral shift in the region, there is no evidence that the electorate of Latin America has moved to the left in a significant manner. As for the questions, these concern the connection between left-wing governments and democracy, and especially the future challenges that these governments must face to preserve and develop democracy. In an attempt to unravel the paradox and answer these questions, this article examines the roots, contexts and political challenges of left-wing governments in Latin America. To this end, the author analyses a number of issues, such as the tensions between different logics of political representation and their implications for democracy, in addition to discussing the conditions under which the tensions between the different logics of political representation can contribute (or not to the developing of democracy in the region.

  11. The Cure for Civiliter Mortuus: Complementary Values of Phenomenology and Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mindaugas Briedis

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The core of this article is the ancient question concerning the individual person in relation to his/her society. This fundamental question of ethics and political philosophy is approached from the perspective of phenomenological philosophy. Hence, this article is an attempt to conjoin two prima facie inconsistent (because of category mistake types of attitude towards reality and action, e.g. democracy and phenomenology. The thesis states that there is a common ground between the basic features of phenomenological method and the fundamental values of democracy. This paper explores the arguments that establish this parallelism between the values of democracy and phenomenology. One of the outcomes of this analysis will be the sketch of a new kind of virtue ethics and a new type of citizen, concerning new approaches to identity problem. In this respect method of phenomenology can be used as a technique (phronesis for a future citizenship. On the other hand, this perspective helps to re­evaluate the treasures of antique democracy and compare them with contemporary transformations of democracy in political, social and everyday spheres.  

  12. Technical democracy as a challenge to urban studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Farías, Ignacio; Blok, Anders

    2016-01-01

    What is technical democracy? And why does it matter for urban studies? As an introduction to this special feature, we address these questions by reflecting on To Our Friends, the 2014 manifesto of the Invisible Committee. We engage in particular its provocative diagnosis of the current situation......: power no longer resides in the modern institutions of representative democracy and the market economy; instead, power has become a matter of logistics, infrastructures and expertise. This diagnosis, we suggest, brings into view the challenge of technical democracy, that is, the democratization of techno......-scientific expertise and the instauration of forms of lasting collaboration among experts and laypeople. Urban politics, we claim, increasingly turns around socio-technical controversies and it is in terms of the politics of expertise that we should analyse and engage it. Building on Science and Technology Studies...

  13. Rethinking reproductive "tourism" as reproductive "exile".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inhorn, Marcia C; Patrizio, Pasquale

    2009-09-01

    Whereas reproductive "tourism" implies leisure travel, reproductive "exile" bespeaks the numerous difficulties and constraints faced by infertile patients who are "forced" to travel globally for assisted reproduction. Given this reality, it is time to rethink the language of "reproductive tourism," replacing it with more accurate and patient-centered terms.

  14. National Insecurity and Human Rights: Democracies Debate Counterterrorism

    OpenAIRE

    Brysk, Alison; Shafir, Gershon

    2007-01-01

    Human rights is all too often the first casualty of national insecurity. How can democracies cope with the threat of terror while protecting human rights? This timely volume compares the lessons of the United States and Israel with the "best-case scenarios" of the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, and Germany. It demonstrates that threatened democracies have important options, and democratic governance, the rule of law, and international cooperation are crucial foundations for counterterror policy.

  15. The State of the Art in the EU Democracy Promotion Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Simmons

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The literature on EU democracy promotion is fragmented into a number of sub-literatures, and this makes it difficult to gain a comprehensive understanding of this area of EU activity. Synthesising these literatures and the different theoretical approaches that have been taken is a necessary first step to a fuller understanding of what makes EU democracy promotion work most effectively, a task that is all the more vital given the increasingly challenging global environment that democracy promotion now faces.

  16. RELIGIOUS DEMOCRATIZATION IN INDONESIA: STRENGTHENING THE PRO-CEDURAL AND SUBSTANTIAL RELIGIOUS DEMOCRACY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eka Hendry AR.

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Inspired by the book of Michael Mann about the dark side of democracy that discusses the paradox between the ideality of democratic values and empirical realities of violence in the name of freedom (democracy, this paper begins with the exposure of the paradox, such as the rise of the violent conflict between groups of people (both ethnic and religious-based and the high prevalence of violence between religious groups in Indonesia. Even worse, a very wrenching violence involves state actors (rulers. This paper tries to understand the roots of the paradox, with a look at how the relationship between state and religion and the religious community trend of Indonesia (especially Muslims. The author argues that the democratization of religion is a solution to the issues. To answer what kind of religious democracy lives in Indonesia, the author analyzes through a religious procedural (or constitutional democratic dimension and religious substantial democratic dimension. The phenomenon of disobedience of law and system and the euphoria of law-making that reflects “intolerance” in several places in Indonesia display the fundamental issue in the religious procedural democracy. Whereas in the context of religious substantial democracy, the prevailing trend of religion that serves as a political and economic vehicle and ignores religion as a substantial aspect of the behavior of the Indonesian society has resulted in the marginalization of religious position and function. Then, the infiltration of the model of political Islam has also led to alienation of the character of the Islamic society of Indonesia, from a democratic pattern to a revival (radical one. In this light, the author needs to present a strategy to encourage religious democracy in Indonesia, structurally through formulating the ideal relation model between state and religion and culturally through a substantial pattern of religion embedded with the character of Indonesian religious

  17. Latin American Integration: Regionalism à la Carte in a Multipolar World?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cintia Quiliconi

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This article presents an analysis of the different approaches proposed by authors who have done research on Latin American integration and regionalism, and suggests that there are three competing initiatives of integration and regionalism in the third wave of Latin American integration: Post-Liberal Regionalism contained within UNASUR and ALBA, Open Regionalism Reloaded in the region through the Pacific Alliance, and Multilateralism or Diplomatic Regionalism with a Latin American flavor envisaged in the recently created CELAC. The study concludes that these new developments of a regionalism à la carte are a product of dislocation of the economic agenda of regionalism towards a set of diverse issues. Hence it demands a rethinking of the theorization of Latin American Regionalism.

  18. American Government. Nevada Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nevada Univ., Las Vegas. Coll. of Education.

    This document is one of ten curriculum guides developed by the Nevada Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma (CBAHSD) Project. This curriculum guide on American government is divided into fourteen topics. The topics included are: definition of "State"; left to right political spectrum; Dictatorship vs. Democracy; Capitalism,…

  19. The Problem of Citizens: E-Democracy for Actually Existing Democracy

    OpenAIRE

    Daniel Kreiss

    2015-01-01

    This article argues that many contemporary e-democracy projects, particularly in the United States, have at their heart a model of atomistic, independent, rational, and general-interest citizens. As such, these projects, variously grouped under the labels of e-governance, online deliberation, open government, and civic technology, often assume a broad shared consensus about collective definitions of “public problems” that both does not exist and sidesteps debates over what these problems are ...

  20. Is It Culture or Democracy? The Impact of Democracy and Culture on Happiness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorn, David; Fischer, Justina A. V.; Kirchgassner, Gebhard; Sousa-Poza, Alfonso

    2007-01-01

    We analyze the relation between democracy and perceived subjective well-being while controlling for other relevant determinants such as culture measured by languages. We conduct a cross-national analysis covering 28 countries using data from the 1998 International Social Survey Programme. Contrasting existing empirical evidence, we observe a…

  1. Talking about European Democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Besselink, L.; Reestman, J.H.

    This editorial comment asserts that, instead of merely conceiving of the challenges to the foundational values common to the Union and member states in terms of the Rule of Law, it is necessary to address democracy as the political founding quality of Union and member states. In doing so, we must

  2. E-democracy in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hoff, Jens Villiam

    Already in the 1970's and -80's high hopes for democracy were connected with the rise of technologies like cableTV and digital telephones. This outburst of 'utopian energy' was greatly accelerated with the breakthrough of the Internet in the beginning/middle of the 1990's, and both politicians...

  3. Deliberative democracy in health care: current challenges and future prospects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Safaei J

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Jalil Safaei Department of Economics, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, CanadaBackground: There is a vast body of literature on deliberative, participative, or engaged democracy. In the area of health care there is a rapidly expanding literature on deliberative democracy as embodied in various notions of public engagement, shared decision-making (SDM, patient-centered care, and patient/care provider autonomy over the past few decades. It is useful to review such literature to get a sense of the challenges and prospects of introducing deliberative democracy in health care.Objective: This paper reviews the key literature on deliberative democracy and SDM in health care settings with a focus on identifying the main challenges of promoting this approach in health care, and recognizing its progress so far for mapping out its future prospects in the context of advanced countries.Method: Several databases were searched to identify the literature pertinent to the subject of this study. A total of 56 key studies in English were identified and reviewed carefully for indications and evidence of challenges and/or promising avenues of promoting deliberative democracy in health care.Results: Time pressure, lack of financial motivation, entrenched professional interests, informational imbalance, practical feasibility, cost, diversity of decisions, and contextual factors are noted as the main challenges. As for the prospects, greater clarity on conception of public engagement and policy objectives, real commitment of the authorities to public input, documenting evidence of the effectiveness of public involvement, development of patient decision supports, training of health professionals in SDM, and use of multiple and flexible methods of engagement leadership suited to specific contexts are the main findings in the reviewed literature.Conclusion: Seeking deliberative democracy in health care is both challenging and rewarding. The

  4. Democracy and Environmental Integration in Decision-Making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Figueroa, Maria

    This dissertation presents an evaluation of the democratic qualities of decision-making processes for large transport infrastructure projects in two Scandinavian countries: Denmark and Sweden. The study uncovers criteria from aggregative and deliberative theories of democracy to create a qualitat......This dissertation presents an evaluation of the democratic qualities of decision-making processes for large transport infrastructure projects in two Scandinavian countries: Denmark and Sweden. The study uncovers criteria from aggregative and deliberative theories of democracy to create...... exemplify points of democratic strength and fragility in the decision processes. A robust system of participatory procedures exists, in both countries, as part of the planning tradition or as part of the legally mandatory environmental assessment procedures. This robust system shows fragility for government...... discourses to the state. While the role of civil society in deliberation is crucial, the study accepts that not all that goes on in civil society is conducive either to more democracy or greater environmental integration. The relevant discussion is then how to deal with differences that may have...

  5. Intelligence, democracy, and international environmental commitment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obydenkova, Anastassia; Salahodjaev, Raufhon

    2016-05-01

    This paper investigates the determinants of nations' commitment to environmental protection at the international level by focusing on the role of national intelligence and the level of democracy. The national intelligence is measured by nation's IQ scores. The findings based on a sample of 152 nations provide strong evidence that intelligence has statistically significant impact on ratification of international environmental agreements, and the countries with IQ 10-points above global average are 23% more likely to sign multilateral environmental agreements than others. The findings also demonstrate that it is the combination of high-level of intelligence of nations and democracy, that likely result in international environmental commitments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. University and Transitions to Democracy in Mediterranean Europe and Latin America (1970-1980. Presentation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara González Gómez

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Universities and periods of transition to democracy form the tandem analyzed in the monograph the journal Espacio, Tiempo y Educación presented in this issue. A total of eight studies –from Spain, Greece, Portugal, Brazil and Chile– makes up a volume approaching different question (student mobilization, models of university, claims of teachers, regulatory framework... and exploring changes, evolution or inertia experienced in some European and Latin American universities during what Huntington (1990 called the «third wave» of transition to democracy. This outline of studies aims at expanding the information available on the binomial formed by University and democratic transition, a topic rather limited investigated at present, and, above all, encouraging to develop new lines of research focused on a suggestive and critical issue to understand the history of our universities. How to reference this article González Gómez, S. (2015. Universidad y Transiciones a la Democracia en la Europa mediterránea e Iberoamérica (1970-1980. Presentación. Espacio, Tiempo y Educación, 2(2, 25-32. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14516/ete.2015.002.002.002

  7. Cognitive aspect of education for democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Đurišić-Bojanović Mirosava

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Education for democracy is of particular importance for a society undergoing democratization. The paper investigates a cognitive aspect of education for democracy, and identifies psychological predispositions for the acceptance of plurality of ideas as a central indicator of democratic thinking. The acceptance of plurality is defined as the ability of an individual to consider different arguments in controversial topics, to accept the existence of different ideas in a discussion as well as different explanations. This psychological phenomenon integrates certain cognitive affective and conative characteristics. The acceptance of plurality of ideas is a fundamental prerequisite for democratic communication, therefore a prerequisite for the creation of democratic climate in a society. The concept of cognitive style has been examined from the perspective of different research traditions in an attempt to identify a psychological profile of cognitive style, provisionally named pluralist profile, which would help an individual behave democratically. The paper also studies the connection between the manner of thinking, personality characteristics and cognitive style. It is the author’s conclusion that it is reasonable to assume that there are ways to encourage the development of pluralistic cognitive style by practicing the acceptance of different ideas through teaching process which would significantly improve the effectiveness of education for democracy.

  8. Participatory Democracy in Theory and Practice: A Case Study of Local Government in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ntsikelelo Breakfast

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The idea of democracy is a curious oneand puzzling. There is reason for this;everyone talks about democracy no matter whether their views are on the left, centreor right of the political spectrum. Various politicians, regimes, whether in Africa, Europe or America claim to be democratic;yet what each says and does is usuallydifferent. Democracy as a practice is supposed to bestow rules, laws and decisions that are justifiable on democraticgrounds. Democracy also has evolved through social struggles. This article examines the practice of democracy withinthe context of local government in South Africa, and is an attempt to explore the concept of democracy without escaping other historical aspects of the idea and practice. From a methodological standpoint, this article is based on a literature assessment. Lastly and most importantly, this paper has made a scholarly contribution to the scholarship of Political Science and Public Administration with regard to the nexus between democracy and public participation at local government level in South Africa.

  9. Measure and collapse of participatory democracy in a two-party system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sznajd, Jozef

    2015-10-01

    Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so (Galileo Galilei). According to the above sentence we do not ask why we need to measure democracy but if it is possible to measure something which is not unequivocally defined. Although, it is unlikely a final agreement on the definition of democracy, the idea that it is a form of governance based on collective decision making seems to be uncontested. On the premise that in the high-quality democracy citizens (agents) not only must have equal participation rights but must want to participate in shaping decision, as an effective measure of democracy in a two party political system we propose the percentage of the total population that actually voted in a given elections only for two major parties. Thus, we disregard not only nonvoters but also smaller parties voters whom votes will not have a substantial impact on the election and consequently they will not be in the loop, even theoretically. To describe such a system a sociophysics model based on the $S=1$ Ising model (Blume-Capel) is proposed. The measure of democracy, V_D index, as a function of inter-party conflict is analyzed.

  10. Rethinking the Space for Religion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    What happens to people’s sense of belonging when globalization meets with proclaimed regional identities resting heavily on conceptions of religion and ethnicity? Who are the actors stressing cultural heritage and authenticity as tools for self-understanding? In Rethinking the Space for Religion...... as a political and cultural argument. The approach makes a nuanced and fresh survey for researchers and other initiated readers to engage in....

  11. Re-thinking clinical research training in residency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer O'Brien

    2014-12-01

    Conclusions: We conclude that medical educators should critically re-think our programs to develop resident researchers. If it is worthwhile to require original research projects during residency, then we must consider the priorities of local settings to best serve the public interest.

  12. Rethinking e-learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bang, Jørgen; Dalsgaard, Christian

    2006-01-01

    “Technology alone does not deliver educational success. It only becomes valuable in education if learners and teachers can do something useful with it” (E-Learning: The Partnership Challenge, 2001, p. 24). This quotation could be used as a bon mot for this chapter. Our main goal is to rethink e-learning...... by shifting the focus of attention from learning resources (learning objects) to learning activities, which also implies a refocusing of the pedagogical discussion of the learning process.Firstly, we try to identify why e-learning has not been able to deliver the educational results as expected five years ago...

  13. Democracy, justice and state of exception: past present

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tásso Araújo Brito

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Violence against portions of society, disbelief in democratic institutions and agents of the state who inflict torture against those who are in their custody are elements that corrode the Brazilian democracy. Between the past of the military-civilian dictatorship and the current moment we realize how practices that have been considered exceptions have become rules that affect the life of many Brazilian citizens. The present paper investigates these political experiences to ask which democracy have we been living in.

  14. Globalization, Democracy, and Social Movements: The Educational Potential of Activism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hytten, Kathy

    2016-01-01

    In this essay, I explore the contemporary value of John Dewey's conception of democracy to addressing the challenges of neoliberal globalization. I begin by describing his vision of democracy as a way of life that requires habits of experimentalism, pluralism, and hope. I then suggest that contemporary forms of mobilization, resistance, and…

  15. An Appraisal of Mass Media Role in Consolidating Democracy in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study therefore critically assessed the performance of Nigerian mass media in consolidating democracy. The study is of the view that the mass contributed immensely to the return of democracy in Nigeria. This the media did through their critical criticism of the military juntas, mobilization of the citizens to participate in ...

  16. Tocqueville revisited. The meaning of American prosperity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Handy, C

    2001-01-01

    Why is business so admired in the United States and so often denigrated in Europe? How has America created 30 million new jobs in the last 20 years while the European Union, with a bigger population, only managed 5 million? What is feeding America's apparently inexhaustible appetite for growth and its recent dramatic improvements in productivity? In 1831, French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville came to America to examine its prison system and returned with a vision of democracy so profound it has become part of our cultural heritage. More than a century and a half later, renowned British business philosopher Charles Handy retraces Tocqueville's intellectual journey, this time focusing not on democracy but on capitalism. The result is an eye-opening look at some of the fundamental assumptions underpinning business in America today. It is America's optimism that Handy finds most striking, the unquestioned belief that tomorrow can--and should--be made better than today. He contrasts this with the Spaniards when they came to the New World: No haya novedades, those Spaniards would say, "Let nothing new arise." The energy engendered by American optimism, coupled with the Puritan belief in work and in the nobility of earned wealth (as opposed to Europe's furtive attitude toward its nobility's inherited wealth) lies, in Handy's view, at the heart of America's success. Will American capitalism, born as it was from a property-owning democracy, now adapt to a dematerialized world, where property is intellectual rather than physical? Handy draws no absolute conclusions, but rather lays out the challenges that must be overcome for tomorrow to indeed continue to be better than today in this still-young country.

  17. Delegated Democracy. The Siting of Swedish Nuclear Waste

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johansson, Hanna Sofia (Stockholm Univ., SCORE, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden))

    2009-12-15

    This paper aims to characterise Swedish democracy in connection with the disposal of Swedish nuclear waste. To this end, an analysis is performed to discern which democratic ideals that can be found within the nuclear waste issue. The study analyses various actors' views on democracy and expertise as well as their definitions of the nuclear waste issue, and discusses this from the perspective of democracy theory. Which definitions that become influential has democratic implications. In addition, various actors' possible attempts to help or hinder other actors from gaining influence over the nuclear waste issue in the four municipalities are studied. In connection with the case studies the aim of the paper can be narrowed to comprise the following questions: Which democratic ideals can be found within SKB's siting process during the feasibility studies and in the consultation process during the site investigations? Which democratic ideals were influential during the feasibility studies and in the consultation process?

  18. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis, reproductive freedom, and deliberative democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrelly, Colin

    2009-04-01

    In this paper I argue that the account of deliberative democracy advanced by Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson (1996, 2004) is a useful normative theory that can help enhance our deliberations about public policy in morally pluralistic societies. More specifically, I illustrate how the prescriptions of deliberative democracy can be applied to the issue of regulating non-medical uses of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), such as gender selection. Deliberative democracy does not aim to win a philosophical debate among rival first-order theories, such as libertarianism, egalitarianism or feminism. Rather, it advances a second-order analysis that strives to help us determine what would constitute a reasonable balance between the conflicting fundamental values that arise in the context of regulating PGD. I outline a theoretical model (called the Reasonable Genetic Intervention Model) that brings these issues to the fore. Such a model incorporates the concern for both procedural and substantive principles; and it does so in way that takes provisionality seriously.

  19. Delegated Democracy. The Siting of Swedish Nuclear Waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johansson, Hanna Sofia

    2009-12-01

    This paper aims to characterise Swedish democracy in connection with the disposal of Swedish nuclear waste. To this end, an analysis is performed to discern which democratic ideals that can be found within the nuclear waste issue. The study analyses various actors' views on democracy and expertise as well as their definitions of the nuclear waste issue, and discusses this from the perspective of democracy theory. Which definitions that become influential has democratic implications. In addition, various actors' possible attempts to help or hinder other actors from gaining influence over the nuclear waste issue in the four municipalities are studied. In connection with the case studies the aim of the paper can be narrowed to comprise the following questions: Which democratic ideals can be found within SKB's siting process during the feasibility studies and in the consultation process during the site investigations? Which democratic ideals were influential during the feasibility studies and in the consultation process?

  20. The role of the Courts sustaining democracy: An approach from transitional regimes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vicente F. Benítez R.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article explores the political factors that enable or prevent the consolidation of an effective judicial review in transitional democracies such as the Colombian and the Venezuelan ones. These democracies, in turn, are likely to be victims of abusive constitutionalism attempts by powerful executives, which is a phenomenon typical of young democracies. This paper analyzes key cases of successful and unsuccessful experiences in Central Europe, Asia and Latin America in order to identify what kind of factors allow or hinder a Tribunal’s effective judicial review in new democracies. I argue that factors as judicial independence, separation of powers, Courts’ reputation, and judicial deference to other branches, are key elements to determine whether a Tribunal will be a successful institution.

  1. Anmeldelse af Adam Przeworski: Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government og Guillermo O'Donnell: Democracy, Agency and the State

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seeberg, Michael

    2012-01-01

    One of the most prominent debates within the democratization literature has revolved around the question of how to conceptualize democracy. Recent contributions from two leading scholars in the field, Przeworski and O’Donnell, show that this is still a contentious topic. Przeworski and O’Donnell ......One of the most prominent debates within the democratization literature has revolved around the question of how to conceptualize democracy. Recent contributions from two leading scholars in the field, Przeworski and O’Donnell, show that this is still a contentious topic. Przeworski and O...

  2. Reclaiming the American Dream. Washington's Community and Technical Colleges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, 2015

    2015-01-01

    Community and technical colleges are known as "Democracy's colleges." They are grounded in the core American value that all people deserve the opportunity to move up in the world, regardless of where they are from, what obstacles they face and where they need to start. At a time when college education is the ticket to a middle-class…

  3. Global value perceptions: The legitimising functions of Western representations of democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Staerklé, C.; Falomir-Pichastor, J.M.; Pereira, A.L.; Berent, J.; Butera, F.

    2015-01-01

    This paper argues that a fundamental antagonism between democracy and nondemocracy organises lay thinking on global issues. We review key findings of a long-standing experimental research programme that examined the "Democracy-as-value" hypothesis across a variety of political and social contexts.

  4. Cidadania e democracia Citizenship and democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Victoria de Mesquita Benevides

    1994-08-01

    Full Text Available Discute-se a importância da implementação dos mecanismos de democracia direta previstos na Constituição de 1988. O referendo, o plebiscito e a iniciativa popular, como formas de participação política que complementem os mecanismos de democracia representativa, podem contribuir significativamente para a educação política dos cidadãos.The significance of putting into effect the procedures of direct democracy recognized by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 is discussed. An important contribution to the political education of the citizens can be given by devices like the referendum, the plebiscite and the legislative initiative, provided they are seen as complements for representative democracy.

  5. Democracy, globalization and ethnic violence

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bezemer, D.J.; Jong-A-Pin, R.

    Bezemer, Dirk, and Jong-A-Pin, Richard Democracy, globalization and ethnic violence Do democratization and globalization processes combine to increase the incidence of violence in developing and emerging economies? The present paper examines this hypothesis by a study of internal violence in

  6. Understanding Democracy and Development Traps Using a Data-Driven Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranganathan, Shyam; Nicolis, Stamatios C.; Spaiser, Viktoria; Sumpter, David J.T.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Methods from machine learning and data science are becoming increasingly important in the social sciences, providing powerful new ways of identifying statistical relationships in large data sets. However, these relationships do not necessarily offer an understanding of the processes underlying the data. To address this problem, we have developed a method for fitting nonlinear dynamical systems models to data related to social change. Here, we use this method to investigate how countries become trapped at low levels of socioeconomic development. We identify two types of traps. The first is a democracy trap, where countries with low levels of economic growth and/or citizen education fail to develop democracy. The second trap is in terms of cultural values, where countries with low levels of democracy and/or life expectancy fail to develop emancipative values. We show that many key developing countries, including India and Egypt, lie near the border of these development traps, and we investigate the time taken for these nations to transition toward higher democracy and socioeconomic well-being. PMID:26487983

  7. Understanding Democracy and Development Traps Using a Data-Driven Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranganathan, Shyam; Nicolis, Stamatios C; Spaiser, Viktoria; Sumpter, David J T

    2015-03-01

    Methods from machine learning and data science are becoming increasingly important in the social sciences, providing powerful new ways of identifying statistical relationships in large data sets. However, these relationships do not necessarily offer an understanding of the processes underlying the data. To address this problem, we have developed a method for fitting nonlinear dynamical systems models to data related to social change. Here, we use this method to investigate how countries become trapped at low levels of socioeconomic development. We identify two types of traps. The first is a democracy trap, where countries with low levels of economic growth and/or citizen education fail to develop democracy. The second trap is in terms of cultural values, where countries with low levels of democracy and/or life expectancy fail to develop emancipative values. We show that many key developing countries, including India and Egypt, lie near the border of these development traps, and we investigate the time taken for these nations to transition toward higher democracy and socioeconomic well-being.

  8. More democracy through plebiscite?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evers, T.

    1986-01-01

    The author has the opinion, a plebiscite means only a limited enlargement of democracy. The plebiscite should be formed out as a right of veto, which prohibits concrete political measures of the government or legal projects (Kalkar, Wackersdorf). The winning of time to continue the discussion is an advantage. Finally a general change of consciousness is possible. (CW) [de

  9. Equality, Human Dignity and Minorities: A Social Democracy in Construction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacson Gross

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with equality, human dignity and the need to build a social democracy. Bringing equality concepts in a broad sense as foundation work, is set to develop writing by making some remarks on the dignity of the individual and minorities, often not heard, even within democratic scenarios since democracy is the voice the most by hiding voices and demands of sectors or groups excluded from the agenda. Minorities such as LGBT, black, residents of peripheral areas of large cities, among others, do not have their demands heard from this idea, we seek a concept of social democracy, which is wider than just the voice of the majority.

  10. Politics and population health: Testing the impact of electoral democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, Andrew C; Veenstra, Gerry

    2016-07-01

    This study addresses questions of whether and why electoral democracies have better health than other nations. After devising a replicable approach to missing data, we compare political, economic, and health-related data for 168 nations collected annually from 1960 through 2010. Regression models estimate that electoral democracies have 11 years of longer life expectancy on average and 62.5% lower rates of infant mortality. The association with life expectancy reduces markedly after controlling for GDP, while a combination of factors may explain the democratic advantage in infant health. Results suggest that income inequality associates independently with both health outcomes but does not mediate their associations with democracy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Designing For Democracy: Using Design Activism to Re-negotiate the Roles and Rights for Patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knutz, Eva; Markussen, Thomas; Mårbjerg Thomsen, Signe

    2014-01-01

    there are already a number of approaches available which in one way or the other address the relationship between design, democracy and power. We provide an account of participatory design, adversarial design and design activism thereby pointing towards design’s potential for re-distributing power and authority......In this paper we focus on ‘patient-democracy’ and ‘shared decision-making’ seen from the perspective of design practice and design research. In the research on democracy in healthcare it is rarely questioned what forms of democracy underlies these concepts. We have examined three different theories...... of democracy and the democratic practices that belong to each of these. For designers working to increase patient democracy it is of vital importance to be able to distinguish different structures underlying democratic practices and to work out methods for prototyping democracy. In design research...

  12. RETHINKING AN AFRICAN ETHICAL SYSTEM: BETWEEN ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... paper, to rethink an aspect of African Philosophy Morality (ethics), ancient and modern, among the Tiv of the lower Benue valley in Nigeria. This shall be done in the light of what has changed and what has remained unchanged, and the effects of the change on Tiv social system. (Humanities Review: 2002 2(1): 134-147) ...

  13. The Crisis of Democracy in Europe: Between National State and European Governance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damir Grubiša

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article the symptoms of the crises of democracy are analyzed. The author concentrates on three sets of symptoms: fi rst, on the symptoms emerged in transition, post-communist countries that joined the EU within the Fifth enlargement. One of the main indicators of such crises is the low turnout in the European Parliament elections in 2004, only one month after their joining the EU. The reasons for such a bad turnout are the disappointment in democracy and in transition, as well as the formal fulfi llment of the Copenhagen criteria for accession. The second symptom of the crises is the negative result of the European Constitutional referenda in France and in the Netherlands, which triggered the chain reaction of rejection in other European countries and a stalemate in the ratifi cation process. The third element of the crises is the democratic defi cit in the EU and the diff erent views on how to overcome it, either by strengthening federalist elements or by the domination of intergovernmentalist procedures. In conclusion, the author agrees with Larry Siedentop that three appeals of democracy exist in today’s Europe: democracy simpliciter, democratic government appeal and the appeal of a democratic society. However, most European countries are still on the fi rst or second step, and therefore the crisis of democracy is still potentially dangerous for the future development of European societies. The victory over communism did not bring about the expected triumph of democracy, and today democracy is exposed to diff erent forms of political pathology that corroborate the delusions and failed expectations of democratization.

  14. Transitional Democracy, Legitimacy and the European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia Kaplánová

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays the ongoing global crisis has triggered an issue how to set up a theoretical framework of global governance. The integration to a supranational level of governance has been a contemporary process of democratization in recent decades. To analyze the institutionalization of global governance means to recognize a normative idea of democracy. The theory of international relations demonstrates that there are four normative models of democracy at the supranational level of governance. In my opinion, a crucial difference of the institutionalization is a concept of legitimacy of global democratic regime. Because of a divided understanding of legitimacy at the transnational level of governance is difficult to find a consensus in which way should be a transnational democracy framed. A dual legitimacy in a supranational organization like the European Union also triggers a specific democratic deficit. My point of view corresponds with the division of transnational orders in normative way and its correspondence to legitimacy. Cla rifying the duality of legitimacy can help us not only to solve all globalizing problems but of course to decide in which way we want to make the supranational organizations work.

  15. Designing the Future of Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pichlmair, Martin

    2015-01-01

    Creating a simulation of Democracy and its future challenges is a fruitful exercise in design. This short paper describes a different use of a simulation that the traditional training via playing. Instead of playing, the creation of the simulation is at the center of attention....

  16. An American Dilemma. The Negro problem and Modern Democracy. Volume II.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myrdal, Gunnar

    This study, originally commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation in 1938, makes it clear that the root of the "Negro problem" is the conflict between American moral valuations preserved in the American ideal and the valuations existing on specific planes of individual and group living. There is a jarring discrepancy between the professed…

  17. Mass Media and Ideology Dissemination against Democracy in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Songyot Buaphuean

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The study on “Mass Media and Ideology Dissemination against Democracy in Thailand” is qualitative study with the method of documentary research from text books, books, newspapers and online newspapers to find the definition of democracy which was the system of forming the elected government with the principle of sovereignty, majority, equality, freedom and laws. However, some mass media had false consciousness of democracy which included: election brought bad quality politicians; recruitment of persons to form the government was better than election; promotion of superstition; one man one vote was not for Thai society; capitalism deteriorated the nation; The Armed Forces worked for the people. Another concept was the idea that believed Thai society was praising the elite groups. The ideology said the society should obey the senior citizen who had morals, and the Armed Forces forced people to obey.

  18. Security and Democracy in Southern Africa

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Liberal democracy has the following principal institutional features: .... The expectation, held by many donors, international financial institutions (IFIs), and ...... The Public Accounts Committee is led by an opposition member, and has become ...

  19. The Pitfalls of a "Democracy Promotion" Project for Women of Iraq

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Kassem, Nadeen

    2008-01-01

    "Democracy promotion" as part of a larger project of 'reconstruction' is hailed in mainstream academia and in policy circles as an essential component of rebuilding the state and civil society in post-conflict situations. Here "democracy promotion" refers exclusively to the promotion of political representation and…

  20. [Sociology of health, social ecology and media democracy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Julesz, Máté

    2012-05-27

    The correlation of the sociology of health, social ecology and media democracy is demonstrated in the study. In societies of today, the role of the media is unquestionable in disseminating information relating to health and the environment. According to Paragraph (1) of Article XXI of the Hungarian Constitution of 2011, everyone has the right to a healthy environment. An environmentalist media democracy may forward environmental justice, environmental education, and environmentalist economy, etc. All these are required in order to establish a society where the healthy environment is an objective value.

  1. The Global Crisis and the Assault on Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Juego, Bonn; Schmidt, Johannes Dragsbæk

    The paper argues that the current global capitalist crisis entails an assault on democracy. Since crisis connotes danger and opportunity, the recent crisis appears to be a danger to democracy but an opportunity to its antithetical ideals. At the international level, multilateral institutions have...... seized the moment to reaffirm the perpetuation of the discursive and structural hegemony of neoliberalism. In East and Southeast Asia, states and regional organisations have revived arguments for the institutional justification of authoritarian liberalism in the region. And in the US and Europe, attempts...

  2. Aggregate Democracyand Deliberative Democracy: An Inevitable Practical Circle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Macarena Marey

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper sets forth programmatically a series of conditions necessary for a deliberative theory of democracy to be able to account for the normative value of the two fundamental principles of democracy: human rights and popular sovereignty. The starting point is the question of whether aggregate conceptions are capable ofdesigning collective decision-making procedures in which those two principles are mutually entailed. The article emphasizes the importance for democratic procedures to include a reciprocal justification requirement that cannot be fully satisfied by aggregate or agonistic conceptions.

  3. Book Review: J. Kelly. Rethinking Industrial Relations: Mobilization ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Book Review: J. Kelly. Rethinking Industrial Relations: Mobilization, Collectivism and Long Waves. K. Moody. Workers in a Lean World: Unions in the International Economy. B. Nissen. Which Direction for Organized Labour? Essays on Organizing, Outreach and Internal Transformation.

  4. Democracy in a Post-Castro Cuba?

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Henry, Drew

    2004-01-01

    .... The theories of leading democracy and economic theorists are applied to the post-Castro conflict scenario as relevant issues to be addressed by a new Cuban government and the United States in a Cuban...

  5. Democracy and Representation in Paraguay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liliana Rocío Duarte-Recalde

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This article reviews the electoral accountability dimension as a constitutive mechanism of Paraguayan democracy since 1989, analyzing the factors that limit the representation contained in the administration of the Paraguayan government as a result of the electoral process. We provide an analytic contrast between the democratic principles that guide the Paraguayan electoral institutions and the way their designs are enforced, identifying the gap between formal and informal rules as determinants of political representation. We also describe the barriers that prevent effective access of the population to political participation and competition, the advantages possessed by traditional political parties and interest groups, as well as their implications for democracy. We also review the degree to which elected officials are representative of historically excluded social groups as a result, emphasizing the way women, indigenous and peasant communities have potentially limited power to exercise political influence due to limitations to participation by structural and institutional factors.

  6. Rethinking resistance : revolt and violence in African history

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abbink, G.J.; Bruijn, de M.E.; Walraven, van K.

    2003-01-01

    This collective volume reinterprets the genre of resistance studies, introduces recent conceptual perspectives and considers examples of African (civil) wars and insurgent movements. Contributions: Rethinking resistance in African history, an introduction, by Klaas van Walraven and Jon Abbink. Part

  7. Culture´Contribution to Democracy: Culture, nationalisme and Populism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Duelund, Peter

    2018-01-01

    Developments on culture, populism and democracy in Europe. Reasons to populism?   Is populism a new phenomenon? Populism as catch-all label? Common indicators of populism How to deal with populists? Proposal to a comparative COE study on populism......Developments on culture, populism and democracy in Europe. Reasons to populism?   Is populism a new phenomenon? Populism as catch-all label? Common indicators of populism How to deal with populists? Proposal to a comparative COE study on populism...

  8. Thomas Docherty. Culture and a New Experience of Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erik S. RORABACK

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Thomas Docherty’s freshly printed volume from Stanford University Press, Aesthetic Democracy, is requisite reading for all those thinking beings out there interested in the question of the inter-relation and even inter-articulation between culture and experience for a possible new encounter with the political that would inch toward a truer form of democracy for our current postmodern social spheres and spaces. Professor of English and Comparative Literature in the University of Warwick, long ...

  9. Rethinking schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Insel, Thomas R

    2010-11-11

    How will we view schizophrenia in 2030? Schizophrenia today is a chronic, frequently disabling mental disorder that affects about one per cent of the world's population. After a century of studying schizophrenia, the cause of the disorder remains unknown. Treatments, especially pharmacological treatments, have been in wide use for nearly half a century, yet there is little evidence that these treatments have substantially improved outcomes for most people with schizophrenia. These current unsatisfactory outcomes may change as we approach schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental disorder with psychosis as a late, potentially preventable stage of the illness. This 'rethinking' of schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is profoundly different from the way we have seen this illness for the past century, yields new hope for prevention and cure over the next two decades.

  10. Rethinking Creativity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Despite more than half a century of psychological research on creativity we are still far from a clear understanding of the creative process, its antecedents and consequences and, most of all, the ways in which we can effectively support creativity. This is primarily due to a narrow focus...... on creative individuals isolated from culture and society. Rethinking Creativity proposes a fundamental review of this position and argues that creativity is not only a psychological but a sociocultural phenomenon. This edited volume aims to relocate creativity from inside individual minds to the material......, symbolic and social world of culture. It brings together eminent social and cultural psychologists who study dynamic, transformative and emergent phenomena, and invites them to conceptualise creativity in ways that depart from mainstream definitions and theoretical models existing in past and present...

  11. Investigating Primary School Teachers' Perception about Democracy through Metaphor Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasirci, Hasan; Sadik, Fatma

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study is to examine democracy perception of classroom teachers via metaphor analysis. Study group for research is formed of 253 classroom teachers. "Democracy Metaphors Questionnaire" (DMQ) has been used in collecting data. Content analysis has been used on analysis of qualitative data of research and descriptive…

  12. Artistic Constitutions of the Civil Domain: On Art, Education and Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gielen, Pascal

    2017-01-01

    How can we understand the relationship between art, education and democracy in the contemporary Western political condition? The recent presidential elections in the USA showed that the classical model of liberal representative democracy is shaking on its foundations. The question is how can artists and education respond to this political…

  13. The influence of ICT on modern democracy. Selected dilemmas of electronic democracy

    OpenAIRE

    Musiał-Karg, Magdalena

    2016-01-01

    Due to rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies in all areas of public life, the influence of ICT on democracy has been becoming over the last years an increasingly popular research subject. Application of modern technologies influences work, education, trade, services and social relations on the professional, public and private space. ICTs are also applied to facilitate (and adapt technologically) processes that occur between political institutions, politic...

  14. Critical Viewing and Participatory Democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Jodi R.

    1994-01-01

    Illustrates ways that the work of some communication scholars with resistant, oppositional, and critical audiences does not, however, endorse active public life. Attempts to realign the language of critical viewing with the goals of participatory democracy by suggesting qualities of critical viewing that are conducive to achieving and maintaining…

  15. COMMUNITY POWER AND GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    8, Political Decentralization and Popular Alternatives: A View from the South ... Power and Grassroots Democracy, the result of a multi-country research project and .... Its roots also lie in the progressive decomposition of the two prevalent .... inequalities — inequalities based on sex, age, color, sexual orientation, and so forth.

  16. Ethnic diversity and knowledge synergies: Rethinking the interrelations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lauring, Jakob

    2005-01-01

    desire to see ethnical diversity as productive. Theoretical reviews and empirical research have indicated that the link between diversity and knowledge synergy cannot be taken for granted. This article argues that some theoretical rethinking of managerial strategies toward cultural diversity...

  17. Educating for What Kind of Democracy? Examining the Potential of Educating for Participatory Democracy with a Case Study of Drexel University's First-Year Civic Engagement Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartch, Catherine E. M.

    2016-01-01

    Youth today are participating in political and civic life in new and emerging ways--some positive and some negative--but there is scant evidence that these new forms of engagement spawn enduring forms of participation to enhance democratization at all levels in society. How, then, do we educate for democracy and for what type of democracy,…

  18. Latin America; Recent History; Democracy; Historical Memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillermo MIRA DELLI-ZOTTI

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available This article identifies the restoration of the democracy and its persistence as one of the most remarkable facts of the recent history of Latin America. Nevertheless, in the experience of the subcontinent, democracy does not appear like synonymous of democratization. Starting off with the transitions, this article is led toward a periodic analysis of the so-called democratic crossing of Latin America. At the same time, it studies the unequal incidence that the impact of the «historical memory» has had in the public sphere of countries like Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, El Salvador and Guatemala, contrasting with the case of Brazil.

  19. Democracy: Between the essentially contested concept and the agonistic practice: Connolly, Mouffe, Tully

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sladeček Michal

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The text considers points of view of theoreticians of the radical pluralism (democracy: Connolly (William Connolly, Mouffe (Chantal Mouffe and Tully (James Tully with regard to the status and the nature of concepts in the political discourse, as well as the consequences of these conceptual presumptions to understanding democracy. The three authors emphasize the essential contestability of political concepts, the paradox of liberal democracy and the need to revise standard rational consensus theories of democracy. Also, the three authors take over the specific interpretation of Vittgenstein to the direction of political theory the centre of which consists of everyday contingent practices of politics as well as dissent about their assessment. The text analyzes the extent to which this reading is compatible to Wittgenstein's position. The author defends the opinion that the essential contestability does not imply agonism and denial of the significance of rules and tries to indicate to the points of illegitimate transition from antiessentialism to unconsensus rules. Also, the text underlines the flaws of dissent conception of democracy and social integration.

  20. Candidate nomination, intra-party democracy, and election violence in Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seeberg, Merete Bech; Wahman, Michael; Skaaning, Svend-Erik

    2018-01-01

    This article introduces a special issue on candidate nomination, intra-party democracy, and election violence in Africa. Although a burgeoning literature on African democratization has focused on the topic of electoral violence, little attention has been given to violence during party nominations...... of the involvement of electoral management bodies and external monitors, and violence often results. Rather than developing an elaborate theoretical framework on the causes of nomination violence, our ambition in this introduction is to introduce the concept of nomination violence and situate it in the literatures...... on intra-party democracy and election violence. We also offer new descriptive data on nomination rules and nomination violence across parties on the African continent. The data show that nomination violence is a prevalent problem across both democracies and electoral autocracies. However, the level...

  1. Nuclear waste vs. democracy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Treichel, J.

    1999-01-01

    In the United States the storage and disposal of high-level nuclear waste is a highly contentious issue because under current plans the public is subjected to unaccepted, involuntary risks. The proposed federal policy includes the forced siting of a repository and interim storage facilities in Nevada, and the transport of waste across the entire nation through large cities and within 2 mile of over 50 million people. At its destination in Nevada, the residents would face coexistence with a facility housing highly radioactive wastes that remain dangerous for many thousands of years. Scientific predictions about the performance and safety of these facilities is highly uncertain and the people foresee possibly catastrophic threats to their health, safety and economic well-being for generations to come. The public sees this currently proposed plan as one that seeks to maximise the profits of the commercial nuclear industry through imposing risk and sacrifice to communities who reap no benefit. And there is no evidence that this plan is actually a solution to the problem. The American public has never had the opportunity to participate in the nuclear waste debate and government plans are presented to people as being necessary and inevitable. To allow democracy into the decisions could be costly to the nuclear industry and it might thwart the government program, but that is the nature of democracy. If the utilities are established to provide a public service, and the government is founded on the principle of public representation, then the nuclear waste debate must conform to those requirements. What we see in this case is a continuing change of rule and law to accommodate a corporate power and the subrogation of national principle. The result of this situation has been that the public exercises its only option - which is obstructing the federal plan. Because the odds are so heavily stacked in favour of government and industry and average citizens have so little access

  2. The Crypto-democracy and the Trustworthy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gambs, Sébastien; Ranellucci, Samuel; Tapp, Alain

    , our main objective is to show that cryptographic primitives, including in particular secure multiparty computation, offer a practical solution to protect privacy while minimizing the trust assumptions. In the crypto-democracy envisioned, individuals do not have to trust a single physical entity......, individuals have no choice but to blindly trust that these entities will respect their privacy and protect their personal data. In this position paper, we address this issue by proposing an utopian crypto-democracy model based on existing scientific achievements from the field of cryptography. More precisely...... with their personal data but rather their data is distributed among several institutions. Together these institutions form a virtual entity called the Trustworthy that is responsible for the storage of this data but which can also compute on it (provided first that all the institutions agree on this). Finally, we...

  3. Rethinking Canada's Higher Education Policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polster, Claire

    2002-01-01

    Rather than a public good that is freely shared, Canadian university research is increasingly privatized and commercialized and thus rendered accessible only to those who can pay for it. The effects include erosion of collegiality, institutional democracy, curiosity-driven basic research, objectivity, and consideration of disadvantaged groups. All…

  4. Youth of Today and the Democracy of Tomorrow. Polish Students' Attitudes toward Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marzecki, Radoslaw; Stach, Lukasz

    2016-01-01

    From the perspective of over 20 years into the transformation process in post-communist countries, it seems important to be able to pose questions about the future of democracy, and, in particular, its social foundations. These questions become all the more significant, when we come to realize that it is the attitudes of 'the young of today' that…

  5. Demography, Education, and Democracy: global trends and the case of Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lutz, Wolfgang; Cuaresma, Jesús Crespo; Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal

    2010-01-01

    Reconstructions and projections of populations by age, sex, and educational attainment for 120 countries since 1970 are used to assess the global relationship between improvements in human capital and democracy. Democracy is measured by the Freedom House indicator of political rights. Similar to an earlier study on the effects of improving educational attainment on economic growth, the greater age detail of this new dataset resolves earlier ambiguities about the effect of improving education as assessed using a global set of national time series. The results show consistently strong effects of improving overall levels of educational attainment, of a narrowing gender gap in education, and of fertility declines and the subsequent changes in age structure on improvements in the democracy indicator. This global relationship is then applied to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Over the past two decades Iran has experienced the world's most rapid fertility decline associated with massive increases in female education. The results show that based on the experience of 120 countries since 1970, Iran has a high chance of significant movement toward more democracy over the following two decades.

  6. The Genesis of Participatory Democracy in Brazil: a Scientific (ReConstruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie-Hélène Sa Vilas Boas

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The rise of participatory democracy has often been explained by the renewal of collective action in Europe and Latin America. This review essay questions the 'movement-based' genesis of Brazilian participatory democracy by analyzing the idea of the state upon which it rests. It argues that the focus on social movements falls short of explaining the spread of participatory experiments, and that it rests on a simplified understanding of the dynamics of the Brazilian State prior to the 1980s. The argument is developed along three axes. First, the essay analyses how the 'classics' of Brazilian political sociology framed the early studies on participatory democracy. Second, it shows that even if the unifying notion of the state has been challenged, progress has focussed on the study of the democratic period. Third, it presents evidence that participation, as a practical category, was an integral part of the military regime's discourse and practice. Finally, the essay defines lines of investigation to reconsider the origins of participatory democracy in Brazil.

  7. FEMINIST MOVEMENTS: OLD AND NEW PENDING. REFLECTIONS FROM DEMOCRACY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebeca Dolores Centeno Orozco

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Feminist struggles have gone through various processes and historical moments to achieve real equality between men and women. Since women exercised their right to vote it is believed that other social, economic and political rights would be resolved through state action. Citizenship in a democratic context was the key factor. Today, indicators show that women are at a disadvantage, institutions that shape Democracy not respond to the claims of old, women move between the daily survival and the struggle for full citizenship. Reflections on social movements in general and feminist movements in particular through the prism of democratic values are scarce in the Latin American context, so this article brings to this unfinished debate. It is based on a review of secondary sources which have been developed in the past decade, because just because the feminist debate has taken other axes of inequality in addition to gender, as it is obvious multiple discrimination of persons in the political and current socio-cultural system.

  8. Re-thinking instructional strategies for enhancing gender equity in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Re-thinking instructional strategies for enhancing gender equity in learning ... instructional mode on the cognitive achievement of boys and girls in primary science. ... Results revealed no statistically significant difference in the achievement of ...

  9. The notion of participatory democracy in relation to local ward committees: The distribution of power

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leepo J. Modise

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This article comprises four important parts: first, the two important components of democracy, namely participatory and non-participatory or representative democracy will be discussed with special reference to the distribution of powers. Second, it will address the roles and responsibilities of ward committees within the democratic society. Third, the ethical question of the basis of the committee members’ capacity to serve on the ward committees in relation to coercive leadership (tyranny of the majority will be investigated. Fourth, the theological standpoint on the distribution of powers or participatory democracy and the role of the church to improve participatory democracy will be discussed. The research question is the following: What can be done by the country to improve participatory democracy in South Africa, through engagement with ward committees?

  10. Democracy predicts sport and recreation membership: Insights from 52 countries

    OpenAIRE

    Balish, Shea M.

    2017-01-01

    Although evidence suggests sport and recreation are powerful contributors to worldwide public health, sizable gender differences persist. It is unknown whether country characteristics moderate gender differences across countries. The primary purpose of this study was to examine if countries’ levels of democracy and/or gender inequality moderate gender differences in sport and recreation membership across countries. The secondary purpose was to examine if democracy and/or gender inequality pre...

  11. Rethinking the Enlightenment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yehuda Elkana

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available In this introductory statement, given at the beginning of the Aboagora symposium in Turku in August 2011, Yehuda Elkana highlights the need, in accordance with the title of the conference, to rethink rather than unthink the Enlightenment. Indeed, the Enlightenment remained an unfinished project, but one should never forget that this era formed the basis for the greatest and most important creation of knowledge in all areas for 300 years. Over the last 100 or more years, however, cracks have started to appear in this edifice, Elkana argues: researchers have started to realise that one cannot really distinguish the rational from the irrational and that being contextual does not necessarily mean being relativist.

  12. Democracy, justice and the quest for socio-political order in Nigeria ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    With the attainment of democracy, some analysts have come to the conclusion that the much advocated justice and equality of all men will be a phenomenon that has come to stay. Hence, it is the aim of this paper to attempt an examination of the nexus between democracy and justice and the benefits accruable to the ...

  13. The End of Democracy and the Modes of Resistance in Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reis, Carlos Sousa; Formosinho, Dores; Del Dujo, Ágel García

    2017-01-01

    Our scope is to show how democracy has been trivialized as a concept and, more worryingly, as a mystified practice of consented servitude, which supposedly would bring to its very end. In fact, for the emblematic occidental societies, democracy has, at the best, been reduced to a consumerist way of life, under the capitalist liberal order, and the…

  14. Uncivil actors and violence systems in the Latin American urban domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dirk Kruijt

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The character and quality of Latin America’s democracy is in dispute. Uncertainties about its nature and future prevail in the development debate. In the early 2000s the UNDP (2004 coined the terms “low-intensity citizenship” and “low-intensity democracy” to describe the post-dictatorship democracy in the region. When in the 1980s the military establishment withdrew from the political arena and democracy was restored, a severe economic crisis affected the region, producing long lasting effects in terms of mass poverty, informality and social exclusion. In the urban domain, and especially in territories where the representatives of law and order are relatively absent, “uncivil” nonstate actors surfaced, including local drug lords and their small territorial armies; youth gangs; organised crime and the so-called “dark forces”, joined by former belligerent actors of the Andean and Central American civil wars. In this article, I will analyse and typify this erosion of formal social order and the emergence of parallel and informal structures and hierarchies throughout Latin America.

  15. Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banks, James A., Ed.

    2007-01-01

    The increasing ethnic, racial, cultural, religious, and language diversity in nations throughout the world is forcing educators and policymakers to rethink existing notions of citizenship and nationality. To experience cultural democracy and freedom, a nation must be unified around a set of democratic values such as justice and equality that…

  16. Libraries and Democracy: Information for All.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marston, Betsy

    1991-01-01

    Discusses libraries and democracy, one of three major themes for the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services. The roles of newspapers and journalists are considered and the censorship of textbooks, library materials, art, and movies is discussed. (LRW)

  17. The Relationship Between Organizational Democracy and Organizational Dissent: A Research on White Collar Workers

    OpenAIRE

    Oral Ataç, Lale; Köse, Sevinç

    2017-01-01

    Researchers of organisational democracy emphasize the importance of freedom of speech, while researchers of organizational dissent underline the necessity of dissent for democracy in the workplace. However, due to the difficulty of measuring organizational democracy, the number of empirical studies which contextualise these two concepts and reveal the relationship between them has been observed to be insufficient. Insufficiency of such empirical studies in the field results from difficulty of...

  18. Science in democracy: expertise, institutions, and representation

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Brown, Mark B

    2009-01-01

    ...? In Science in Democracy, Mark Brown draws on science and technology studies, democratic theory, and the history of political thought to show why an adequate response to politicized science depends...

  19. Democracy-based consensus in medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greco, Massimiliano; Zangrillo, Alberto; Mucchetti, Marta; Nobile, Leda; Landoni, Paolo; Bellomo, Rinaldo; Landoni, Giovanni

    2015-04-01

    High-quality evidence and derived guidelines, as typically published in major academic journals, are a major process that shapes physician decision-making worldwide. However, for many aspects of medical practice, there is a lack of High-quality evidence or an overload of somewhat contradictory low-quality information, which makes decision-making a difficult, uncertain, and unpredictable process. When the issues in question are important and evidence limited or controversial, the medical community seeks to establish common ground for "best practice" through consensus conferences and consensus statements or guidelines. Such consensus statements are seen as a useful tool to establish expert agreement, define the boundaries of acceptable practice, provide priorities for the research agenda, and obtain opinions from different countries and healthcare systems. This standard approach, however, can be criticized for being elitist, noninclusive, and poorly representative of the community of clinicians who will have to make decisions about the implementation of such recommendations. Accordingly, the authors propose a new model based on a combination of a local core meeting (detailed review and expert input) followed by a worldwide web-based network assessment (democracy-based consensus). The authors already have applied this approach to develop consensus on all nonsurgical interventions that increase or reduce perioperative mortality in critically ill patients and in those with acute kidney injury. The methodology was based on 5 sequential local and web-based steps. Both a panel of experts and a large number of professionals from all over the world were involved, giving birth to a new type of "democracy-based consensus." This new type of "democracy-based consensus" has the potential to increase grass-root clinician involvement, expand the reach to less-developed countries, provide a more global perspective on proposed interventions, and perhaps more importantly, increase

  20. Education for democracy in the Republic of Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minić Vesna Lj.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Considering to the fact that democracy, especially in the societies in transition, today has become the key question of their functioning and development, the discussion about this question have different reasons. The school as the educational institution in Serbia has numerous and responsible tasks in founding and developing of democratic relationships, mutual relations of the tolerance, respecting, peaceful solutions ect. By acquiring of needed knowledge and democratic values, students become competent for living with social differences, for taking responsibility and active functioning which is directed to the constructive way. Democracy is not just the form of political system, but also the mean for realizing of practical goals. Democratic consciousness and knowledge are mostly acquired in schools, in which the specific way of thinking, communication and readiness for practical acting are developing and that is the precondition for education for democracy. But, it is important to understand democracy in the proper way, because it is not meaning the absolute freedom, but respecting of rules and obligations which means harmonious living in the given social environment. Democratization in the Republic of Serbia is connected to the general process of globalization and appearing of new values such as tolerance, solidarity, personal rights ect. In school, it means learning about dialog and tolerance. Beside, it prepares students for living and working in democratic society, that is learning about democratic values, forming attitudes about and making the environment in which they can take participance in some social activities related to democratic relationships in school. By democratic knowledge and values, the student can learn about living in social, cultural and political differences, in conflict of interests, about taking of rights and obligations, taking of responsibility for decisions in which making one is taking part. Education for

  1. Interculturality and Intercultural Education: A Challenge for Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aikman, Sheila

    1997-09-01

    The paper examines the debate taking place in Peru, and also more generally in South and Central American countries with large indigenous populations, on the nature of interculturality and intercultural education. It investigates concepts fundamental to interculturality such as democracy and equality and asks what they mean in the context of the Peruvian state, civil society and the indigenous movement. It questions whether an interculturality based in apolitical calls for dialogue and respect for cultural and linguistic plurality can meet the needs of indigenous peoples and their daily confrontations with oppressive and unequal intercultural relations. Taking Peru as an example, it investigates the possibilities for the development of an interculturality that is characterised by equality and participation and which enables indigenous peoples to have greater control over their lives. It then briefly examines the nature of the intercultural lives of the Harakmbut of SE Peruvian Amazon and a new indigenous intercultural education programme which the Harakmbut hope will help them address the inequalities and exploitation which they face.

  2. Taxation and the American Revolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Passant

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This article looks at the interrelationship between revolution and tax in the context of the American Revolution. It examines the role of ordinary people in demanding, among other things, as part of wider demands for democracy and equality, no taxation without representation. The article aims to reintroduce the neglected notions of class and class struggle into current discussions and debates about tax and history, putting the people back into academic narratives about the history of taxation and to their place as political actors on history’s stage.

  3. Towards rethinking Project portfolio management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Lars Kristian; Svejvig, Per

    the last five years. Utilizing the theoretical lens proposed by Svejvig and Andersen (2015), we apply two complementary analytical perspectives to classify and analyze the stocks. One perspective, denoted as classical project management (CPM), highlights key characteristics of conventional research....... A second perspective, denoted as rethinking project management (RPM), highlights characteristics of progressive research. Not surprisingly, characteristics from CPM are very dominant in the stock of most cited publications of all years — instrumentality and controllability in particular. In the newest...

  4. Fighting Islamic Terrorists With Democracy: A Critique

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Stebbins, Jr, William E

    2007-01-01

    .... One key pillar of U.S. strategic response has been the active promotion of Western representative democracy in those regions of the Islamic world identified as jihadist centers of incubation (namely...

  5. The dynamics of democracy, development and cultural values.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spaiser, Viktoria; Ranganathan, Shyam; Mann, Richard P; Sumpter, David J T

    2014-01-01

    Over the past decades many countries have experienced rapid changes in their economies, their democratic institutions and the values of their citizens. Comprehensive data measuring these changes across very different countries has recently become openly available. Between country similarities suggest common underlying dynamics in how countries develop in terms of economy, democracy and cultural values. We apply a novel Bayesian dynamical systems approach to identify the model which best captures the complex, mainly non-linear dynamics that underlie these changes. We show that the level of Human Development Index (HDI) in a country drives first democracy and then higher emancipation of citizens. This change occurs once the countries pass a certain threshold in HDI. The data also suggests that there is a limit to the growth of wealth, set by higher emancipation. Having reached a high level of democracy and emancipation, societies tend towards equilibrium that does not support further economic growth. Our findings give strong empirical evidence against a popular political science theory, known as the Human Development Sequence. Contrary to this theory, we find that implementation of human-rights and democratisation precede increases in emancipative values.

  6. Rethinking I-94: Minnesota DOT: A TPCB Peer Exchange

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-12-01

    This report highlights key recommendations and noteworthy practices identified at Rethinking I-94: MnDOT Peer Exchange held on August 15-16, 2017 in St. Paul, Minnesota. This event was sponsored by the Transportation Planning Capacity Building ...

  7. Demanding Epistemic Democracy and Indirect Civics Pedagogy: The Performance-Oriented Music Ensemble

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pyrcz, Greg; MacLean, Tessa; Hopkins, Mark

    2017-01-01

    The participation of young adults in performance-oriented music ensembles can be seen to enhance democratic capacities and virtues. Much, however, turns on the particular conception of democracy at work. Although contemporary currents in music education tend towards models of liberal and participatory democracy to govern music ensembles, this…

  8. The Paramount Importance of Experience and Situations in Dewey's "Democracy and Education"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hildebrand, David L.

    2016-01-01

    In this essay, David Hildebrand connects "Democracy and Education" to Dewey's wider corpus. Hildebrand argues that "Democracy and Education's" central objective is to offer a practical and philosophical answer to the question, What is needed to live a meaningful life, and how can education contribute? He argues, further, that…

  9. DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE ARMED FORCES IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY CASE STUDIES OF NEW DEMOCRACIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florina Cristiana (Cris MATEI

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to contribute to a better understanding of thecontemporary value for democracy of the relationship between elected leadersand the armed forces. Hence, it focuses on the military effectiveness dimension ofthe CMR. It discusses why it is important and what newer democracies can do tosuccessfully develop effective armed forces. The article provides “lessons learned/best practices” of achieving effectiveness from three developing democracies - Chile,Hungary, and, Mongolia.

  10. Spirituality for democracy: Spiritual resources for democratic participation in the 21st century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roderick R. Hewitt

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The topic invites us to explore spirituality for democracy and to identify and critique the spiritual resources that are needed for democratic participation in the 21st century. The statement specifically focused on for and not of democracy. Modern expressions of democracy are in crisis. Every context is teething with challenges and conflicts between government sand their citizens concerning how much influence through participation should be allowed in the decision-making process of governance. This topic is of extreme importance for academic discourse because the malaise that has crept into contemporary forms of democratic governance calls for urgent attention. Democratic forms of governance are not set in stone. Rather, they are formed as a result of human deliberation and praxis and cultural developments and must therefore remain open for further reformation. It is this intrinsic capacity for renewal that opens democracy to converse with spirituality. This article begins with identifying the key terms that constitute the academic building blocks of this study. The inherent contradictions in the use of these terms are noted in order to arrive at a theoretical construct to converse with the key concepts of spirituality, democracy, spiritual resources and democratic participation.Through the use of the post colonial lenses of Rastafari hermeneutics, a theoretical framework will be employed to map a life-giving path for contemporary expressions of spirituality for democracy and to identify the resources needed for democratic participation.

  11. Cultural democracy: the way forward for primary care of hard to reach New Zealanders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finau, Sitaleki A; Finau, Eseta

    2007-09-01

    The use of cultural democracy, the freedom to practice one's culture without fear, as a framework for primary care service provision is essential for improved health service in a multi cultural society like New Zealand. It is an effective approach to attaining health equity for all. Many successful health ventures are ethnic specific and have gone past cultural competency to the practice of cultural democracy. That is, the services are freely taking on the realities of clients without and malice from those of other ethnicities. In New Zealand the scientific health service to improve the health of a multi cultural society are available but there is a need to improve access and utilization by hard to reach New Zealanders. This paper discusses cultural democracy and provide example of how successful health ventures that had embraced cultural democracy were implemented. It suggests that cultural democracy will provide the intellectual impetus and robust philosophy for moving from equality to equity in health service access and utilization. This paper would provide a way forward to improved primary care utilization, efficiency, effectiveness and equitable access especially for the hard to reach populations. use the realities of Pacificans in New Zealand illustrate the use of cultural democracy, and thus equity to address the "inverse care law" of New Zealand. The desire is for primary care providers to take cognizance and use cultural democracy and equity as the basis for the design and practice of primary health care for the hard to reach New Zealanders.

  12. Gap analysis: rethinking the conceptual foundations

    OpenAIRE

    Langford, Gary O.; Franck, Raymond; Huynh, Tom; Lewis, Ira A.

    2007-01-01

    Acquisition research (Graduate School of Business & Public Policy) Gap Analysis is widely regarded as a useful tool to facilitate commercial and defense system acquisitions. This paper is a rethinking of the theoretical foundations and systematics of Gap Analysis with practical extensions to illustrate its utility and limitations. It also provides a new perspective on those theoretical foundations from the perspectives of systems and value engineering. The growing sophistication and comple...

  13. A radical proposal for direct democracy in large societies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JOHN ASIMAKOPOULOS

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT It is argued direct democracy is attainable but only in ways that connect to the experiences of daily life. By modifying existing institutions of governance it is pragmatically possible to achieve a society resembling distant utopias. One proposal is based on the argument that all electoral systems are inherently fraudulent under any regime. Rather, direct democracy alone can provide substantive equality. Therefore it is suggested legislative and judicial branches be filled by lottery while leaving the demos as the executive through internet voting modeled on the principle of state propositions.

  14. Rethinking Game Based Learning: applying pedagogical standards to educational games

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schmitz, Birgit; Kelle, Sebastian

    2010-01-01

    Schmitz, B., & Kelle, S. (2010, 1-6 February). Rethinking Game Based Learning: applying pedagogical standards to educational games. Presentation at JTEL Winter School 2010 on Advanced Learning Technologies, Innsbruck, Austria.

  15. Rethinking Volks V Robinson: The Implications of Applying a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rethinking Volks V Robinson: The Implications of Applying a "Contextaulised Choice Model" to Prospective South African Domestic Partnerships Legislation. ... is enacted. Keywords: Life partnership; domestic partnership; Domestic Partnerships Bill; choice argument; contextualised choice model; reciprocal duty of support.

  16. Do the Media Undermine Democracy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorman, William A.

    This paper considers political reasoning within a democracy and how mass media may affect that process, as well as how the perspective and method of critical thinking may be brought to bear on the subject of media and politics. Specifically, the paper (1) discusses some ways in which the mass media may affect political reasoning; (2) offers a…

  17. What Democracy Means to Citizens – and Why It Matters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siddhartha Baviskar

    2004-04-01

    Full Text Available Recent survey research indicates that democracy  means different things to different people. For  some, democracy is a method of selecting leaders,  protecting civil liberties and political rights, and  upholding the rule of law. Other citizens have  more expansive views of democracy, viewing it as  a mechanism for promoting social equality and  economic growth, for example. While such studies provide strong evidence that the concept ‘democracy’ is multidimensional, to date scholars  have not explained why citizens think of democracy in myriad ways, and whether such differences matter. We aim to address these issues  using data gathered from field research in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Guatemala in 2001.  Through open-ended questions, we asked diverse groups of respondents what democracy meant to  them. Relying upon answers to these questions,  we attempt to explain why respondents had such  varying views of democracy, and examine the  implications these conceptualizations of democracy have for regime stability.  Resumen: Qué significa la  democracia para los ciudadanos y por qué es importanteRecientes investigaciones basadas en encuestas de  opinión pública revelan que la democracia significa diferentes cosas según de quién se trate. Para  algunos, la democracia es un método para elegir  líderes, proteger las libertades civiles y los derechos políticos, y mantener el estado de derecho.  Otros ciudadanos tienen visiones más amplias de  la democracia, y la ven, por ejemplo, como un  mecanismo para promover la igualdad social y el  crecimiento económico. Aunque estos estudios  ofrecen pruebas fuertes de que el concepto ‘democracia’ es multi-dimensional, hasta ahora los investigadores no han explicado por qué los ciudadanos piensan de maneras tan variadas, y si  estas diferencias importan. En este estudio, nuestra meta es abordar este tema utilizando datos  recogidos en el trabajo de campo realizado

  18. Envisioning Democracy: Participatory Filmmaking with Homeless Youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennelly, Jacqueline

    2018-05-01

    This paper explores the democratic potential for participatory filmmaking with homeless youth, as well as the constraints and dilemmas associated with this visual method. Theorizing democracy through the work of Hannah Arendt and Pierre Bourdieu, the paper approaches democracy not as an end, but rather as a process that seeks to lessen social injustice. Bourdieu's work helps us appreciate, however, that this process is constrained by structures of inequality that shape access to the political dispositions that enable such engagement. Consistent with other research on low-income and marginalized young people, this study found that homeless youth engage with democracy through forms of community participation and mutual support, and are disinclined to orient toward liberal democratic structures such as voting and political parties, which they see as harmful or problematic. With a focus on one particular dilemma faced by the research team-namely, the question of how to make sense of and represent the issue of legalizing marijuana, which had been signaled by the youth participants as of primary political importance to them-the paper uses Arendt and Bourdieu to discuss how participatory filmmaking can help to expand the space of appearances available to homeless youth in Canadian society, and create a space at a shared table of understanding with middle class power brokers. © 2018 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.

  19. The Hunt for Disability: The New Eugenics and the Normalization of School Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Bernadette

    2002-01-01

    Examines issues of sameness, difference, equality, and democracy in present public school systems, focusing on the question of (dis)ability and implications of rethinking (dis)ability as an ontological issue before its inscription as an educational one concerning the politics of inclusion. The paper analyzes old and new discourses of eugenics as…

  20. Democracy Project: Building Citizenship through Schools | IDRC ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Citizenship education in schools is a powerful tool to build people's ability to demand recognition of their ... and foster debate on strengthening democracy and citizenship through school education. ... Inclusive growth: Buzzword or innovation?

  1. Democracy, Development and Insurgency: The Nigerian Experience ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    democratisation would propel rapid socio-economic development in a country, ... in increasing spate of the phenomenon of unemployment and poverty in the ..... relationship between the failure of democracy to empower the people and.

  2. Breaking Male Dominance in Old Democracies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dahlerup, D.; Leyenaar, M.H.

    2013-01-01

    Has male dominance in political life been broken? Will gender balance in elected assemblies soon be reached? This book analyses the longitudinal development of women’s political representation in eight old democracies, in which women were enfranchised before and around World War I: Denmark, Iceland,

  3. Why Deliberative Democracy is (Still) Untenable

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ahlström, Kristoffer

    2012-01-01

    A common objection to deliberative democracy is that available evidence on public ignorance makes it unlikely that social deliberation among the public is a process likely to yield accurate outputs. The present paper considers—and ultimately rejects—two responses to this objection. The first...

  4. Democracia: velhas e novas controvérsias Democracy: old and new controversies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antônio Cabral Neto

    1997-12-01

    Full Text Available A discussão realizada neste artigo busca sistematizar elementos essenciais em torno do tema democracia. Sistematiza fragmentos da democracia dos antigos; analisa a origem e evolução da democracia dos modernos, explicitando a sua relação com o liberalismo e discute a relação democracia e bem-estar social em países de capitalismo avançado e no Brasil. A conclusão sinaliza para a necessidade de ampliação da democracia, articulando as suas dimensões política, econômica e cultural. Isso implicaria a incorporação organizada dos atores sociais aos processos políticos e administrativos e o acesso da população aos bens materiais, culturais e educacionais.In this article the author searches for clarification of essential elements around the theme democracy. He analyses fragments of old democracy, the origin and evolution of modern democracy, making clear its relationship with liberalism. He also discusses the relationship between democracy and social well being in countries of advanced capitalism and Brazil. The conclusion identifies the need for the expansion of democracy, articulating its political, economic and cultural dimensions. This would imply in an organised linking of the social actors to political and administrative processes, as well as the access of the population to goods, both cultural and educational.

  5. The African Mind and Globalization: Rethinking the Causes of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The African Mind and Globalization: Rethinking the Causes of Africa's ... which has become “the new bride” in building socio-economic, socio-cultural and ... Africa, the once touted “cradle of civilisation”, and indeed, the forerunner of science ...

  6. Objectivity and Subjectivity: an Argument for Rethinking the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objectivity and Subjectivity: an Argument for Rethinking the Philosophy Syllabus. ... South African Journal of Philosophy ... The aftermath of the rise of modern physics has been a picture of reality as alienated from our commonly experienced sense of purposes, aims, and intentions as defining our everyday lives, what we ...

  7. Crossing Linguistic Borders : Translating Democracy in the 2012 Egyptian Constitution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Quaranta

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The transfer of political concepts into different places and cultures happens first and foremost through translation. Far from being a simple transposition of meaning into a different language to facilitate border crossing, it also entails a process of adjustment to a different cultural context and a change in what is perceived to be the original meaning of the concept. Translation should also include the analysis of the social contexts that cause a political concept to be modified. Through Baker's social narrative theory, all these aspects can be integrated to analyse how the concept of democracy moves from place to place and from language to language leading to more complex understandings of it. I will examine the meaning of the concept of democracy in the 2012 Egyptian Constitution to outline the main features of an intercultural translational process of the concept of democracy.

  8. Community Power and Grassroots Democracy: The Transformation ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    1997-01-01

    Jan 1, 1997 ... Book cover Community Power and Grassroots Democracy ... But there are obstacles: the power of central bureaucracies, the lack of local skills and organizational experience, social divisions, and the impact of ... Knowledge.

  9. Adolescents' Conceptions of Democracy in Central/Eastern Europe and the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avery, Patricia G.; Levy, Sara A.; Simmons, Annette M. M.; Scarlett, Michael H.

    2012-01-01

    The term democracy has an overwhelmingly positive connotation for most people (Diamond & Plattner, 2008), yet it is a contested, fluid, and evolving concept that represents many different things to different people. This article presents our analysis of conceptions of democracy among groups of adolescents (n = 2,848, ages 13-19) in the Czech…

  10. [Participatory potential and deliberative function: a debate on broadening the scope of democracy through the health councils].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bispo Júnior, José Patrício; Gerschman, Sílvia

    2013-01-01

    This article reflects upon the relation between democracy and health councils. It seeks to analyze the councils as a space for broadening the scope of democracy. First, some characteristics and principles of the liberal democratic regime are presented, with an emphasis on the minimalist and procedural approach of decision-making. The fragilities of the representative model and the establishment of new relations between the Government and society are then discussed in light of the new social grammar and the complexity of the division between governmental and societal responsibilities. The principles of deliberative democracy and the idea of substantive democracy are subsequently presented. Broadening the scope of democracy is understood not only as the guarantee of civil and political rights, but also especially, of social rights. Lastly, based on discussion of the participation and deliberation categories, the health councils are analyzed as potential mechanisms for broadening the scope of democracy.

  11. Discrimination at Work: Comparing European, French, and American Law

    OpenAIRE

    Mercat-Bruns, Marie

    2016-01-01

    How do the United States and France differ in laws and attitudes concerning discrimination at work? Franco-American scholar Marie Mercat-Bruns interviews prominent legal scholars to demonstrate how these two post-industrial democracies have adopted divergent strategies. Whereas employers in the United States and France rarely discriminate openly, deep systemic discrimination exists in both countries, each with a unique history of dealing with difference. Powerful and incisive, the book examin...

  12. A Legitimacy Crisis of Representative Democracy?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thomassen, Jacques J.A.; van Ham, Carolien; van Ham, Carolien; Thomassen, Jacques; Aarts, Kees; Andeweg, Rudy

    2017-01-01

    This chapter presents the research questions and outline of the book, providing a brief review of the state of the art of legitimacy research in established democracies, and discusses the recurring theme of crisis throughout this literature since the 1960s. It includes a discussion of the

  13. Forms and terminology of Direct Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svensson, Palle

    It is apparent that some confusion exits both among researchers and political actors about the various forms of direct democracy. Various institutions such as IRI and IDEA, various countries such as Switzerland and California, and various authors such as Pier Vincenzo Uleri and David Altman present...

  14. Intimate Distance: Rethinking the Unthought God in Christianity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kate, L. ten

    2008-01-01

    The work of the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy shares with the thinkers of the ‘theological turn in phenomenology’ the programmatic desire to place the ‘theological’, in the broad sense of rethinking the religious traditions in our secular time, back on the agenda of critical thought. Like those

  15. The cultural evolution of democracy: saltational changes in a political regime landscape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindenfors, Patrik; Jansson, Fredrik; Sandberg, Mikael

    2011-01-01

    Transitions to democracy are most often considered the outcome of historical modernization processes. Socio-economic changes, such as increases in per capita GNP, education levels, urbanization and communication, have traditionally been found to be correlates or 'requisites' of democratic reform. However, transition times and the number of reform steps have not been studied comprehensively. Here we show that historically, transitions to democracy have mainly occurred through rapid leaps rather than slow and incremental transition steps, with a median time from autocracy to democracy of 2.4 years, and overnight in the reverse direction. Our results show that autocracy and democracy have acted as peaks in an evolutionary landscape of possible modes of institutional arrangements. Only scarcely have there been slow incremental transitions. We discuss our results in relation to the application of phylogenetic comparative methods in cultural evolution and point out that the evolving unit in this system is the institutional arrangement, not the individual country which is instead better regarded as the 'host' for the political system.

  16. Thucydides’ Description of Democracy (2.37.1 and the EU-Convention of 2003

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mogens Herman Hansen

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available The view that the term demokratia was pejorative, and that Pericles praises liberty at the expense of democracy and so was misunderstood by the EU-convention, misreads the Funeral Oration and is contradicted by instances of Athenian praise of democracy.

  17. Book Review: Jessica F Green, Rethinking Private Authority: Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keremis, Anestis

    2017-01-01

    Book review of "Rethinking Private Authority: Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance" by Jessica F Green. Princeton,NJ and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2014.215 pp., £16.95 (p/b), ISBN 9780691157597......Book review of "Rethinking Private Authority: Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance" by Jessica F Green. Princeton,NJ and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2014.215 pp., £16.95 (p/b), ISBN 9780691157597...

  18. Exportação de democracia na política externa norte-americana no pós-Guerra-Fria: doutrinas e o uso da força Exporting of democracy in American foreign policy in the post-Cold War period: the doctrine and the use of force

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Helena de Castro Santos

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available O artigo analisa os pilares da política externa americana no pós-guerra fria, mirando o lugar que ai ocupa democracia e sua relação com segurança. Busca-se mais especificamente as bases da doutrina da política externa que justificam a exportação de democracia pelo uso da força. Utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo quantitativa e qualitativa de 415 discursos dos Presidentes e Secretários de Estado entre 1989 e 2008.The article analyses the pillars of the American foreign policy in the post-cold war period, focusing on the importance democracy vis-à-vis security plays in it as well as their relationship. More specifically the work aims to define the bases of the doctrine of the foreign policy that justify exporting democracy by the use of force. It was used quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 414 speeches of the Presidents and Secretaries of States in the period 1989-2008.

  19. Direct and Representative Democracy - Supplementing, not Excluding Each Other

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svensson, Palle

    2007-01-01

    : and (4) more transparency and enlightened understanding versus less confidentiality. The arguments are discussed in relation to general political goals of good government such as legitimacy, efficiency and stability. The basic thesis of the paper is that direct and representative forms of democracy...... are not exclusive. Much of the disagreement among those in favour of and in opposition to the introduction of more elements of direct democracy is caused by arguments that could be tested empirically and on more or less implicit assumptions about an either-or rather than a more-or-less of these forms of government...

  20. The Freedom Schools, the Civil Rights Movement, and Refocusing the Goals of American Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hale, Jon N.

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the history of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools to illustrate how integrating the Civil Rights Movement into the social studies curriculum refocuses the aims of American education on participatory democracy. Teaching the Civil Rights Movement and employing the teaching strategies used in the Freedom Schools leads to the…

  1. Industrial democracy in South Africa's transition

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In comparison with traditional work practices, thus, increased flexibility in production .... the quality of working life but also the product, and productivity, of labour. The ways in which ... of change. There are other advantages also; for example, drawing on em- ...... INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY: A BALANCE SHEET. The most ...

  2. Democracy and Education in Postsecular Society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Shlomo; Hotam, Yotam; Wexler, Philip

    2012-01-01

    In this article, the authors attempt to show what it means to think about democracy and education "within" society, culture, and religion. They use the term religion to discuss both "religion" as a social phenomena and "religiosity" as a spiritual, aesthetic individual commitment to the transcendent, eternal, and…

  3. Rethinking Interaction in Creative Work

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dalsgaard, Peter

    The use of digital tools has become central in many creative practices. However, research into the design and use of such tools has thus far fallen in between the disciplinary cracks between HCI and Creativity Research. In this position paper, I offer a brief overview of our work on exploring...... and developing digital tools for collaborative creative work that integrates approaches and insights from these two disciplines. On this basis, I offer two theoretical perspectives for discussion at the the Rethinking Interactions workshop: shearing layers, building on studies of architecure in use [Brand 1994...

  4. Pop Culture in the Classroom: "American Idol," Karl Marx, and Alexis de Tocqueville

    Science.gov (United States)

    Centellas, Miguel

    2010-01-01

    This article discusses the use of pop culture in the classroom as a means to teach foundational political science authors and concepts. I focus on my experience using "American Idol" as a point of reference to discuss Marx and Engel's "The Communist Manifesto" and Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" in undergraduate comparative politics courses.…

  5. Climate science, truth, and democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Evelyn Fox

    2017-08-01

    This essay was written almost ten years ago when the urgency of America's failure as a nation to respond to the threats of climate change first came to preoccupy me. Although the essay was never published in full, I circulated it informally in an attempt to provoke a more public engagement among my colleagues in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. In particular, it was written in almost direct response to Philip Kitcher's own book, Science, Truth and Democracy (2001), in an attempt to clarify what was special about Climate Science in its relation to truth and democracy. Kitcher's response was immensely encouraging, and it led to an extended dialogue that resulted, first, in a course we co-taught at Columbia University, and later, to the book The Seasons Alter: How to Save Our Planet in Six Acts (W. W. Norton) published this spring. The book was finished just after the Paris Climate Accord, and it reflects the relative optimism of that moment. Unfortunately events since have begun to evoke, once again, the darker mood of this essay. I am grateful to Greg Radick for suggesting its publication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. 76 FR 34639 - Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance; Office of Food for Peace...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-14

    ... Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance; Office of Food for Peace, Announcement of Request for..., Policy and Technical Division, Office of Food for Peace, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian...

  7. Beating Social Democracy on Its Own Turf

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arndt, Christoph

    2014-01-01

    -right parties to flourish in contexts where welfare issues have a natural salience as in the case of universal welfare states. In contrast, Scandinavian universal welfare states ought to benefit social democracy when it comes to issue voting on welfare issues. It is argued in this article that centre......-right parties can beat social democrats by credibly converging to its social democratic opponent on issues of universal welfare. Issue ownership voting to the benefit of centre-right parties will then be strongest among voters perceiving the centre-right to have converged to social democracy and perceiving...... the centre-right as issue-owner. Using Danish National Election Studies, 1998–2007, the article shows that the Danish Liberal Party outperformed the Social Democrats on traditional welfare issues among those voters perceiving the Liberals to be ideologically close to the social democrats. The findings help...

  8. Energy Democracy and the City: Evaluating the Practice and Potential of Municipal Sustainability Planning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lemir Teron

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available While calls for, and work toward, energy democracy have been entrenched in social movements, and the concept has a burgeoning posture in academic discourse, perhaps the most significant implication for its development is the potential for its implementation at the local governance scale. In order for municipal efforts to be wholly democratic, energy policy must be accessible and responsive to the needs of all communities. This necessitates the convergence of an energy democracy paradigm with principles and practices of both energy justice and just sustainabilities that encourage communities and households’ entrée to the energy planning arena, as participants in policy making and with access to renewable innovations. By using a case study as its means of analysis, this paper will evaluate municipal-scale energy programming by considering the prospects of energy democracy on a sub-state scale. In our analysis of Washington, DC’s sustainable energy utility, we highlight challenges that limit the potential for energy democracy in the nation’s capital, along with practices that lead DC toward energy justice and democracy. We conclude by offering indicators for democratized urban energy planning.

  9. DEMOCRACY, LEADERSHIP AND NATION BUILDING IN NIGERIA ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    mycl

    modern philosophy, theories of democracy were manifest in the ... Lockean social contract thesis with its stipulations of the prevalent ... Your title makes you a manager; your people will decide if ... a learning opportunity, and strive to be a better.

  10. Making Trade-Offs Visible: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations about the Relationship between Dimensions and Institutions of Democracy and Empirical Findings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hans-Joachim Lauth

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Whereas the measurement of the quality of democracy focused on the rough differentiation of democracies and autocracies in the beginning (e.g. Vanhanen, Polity, Freedom House, the focal point of newer instruments is the assessment of the quality of established democracies. In this context, tensions resp. trade-offs between dimensions of democracy are discussed as well (e.g. Democracy Barometer, Varieties of Democracy. However, these approaches lack a systematic discussion of trade-offs and they are not able to show trade-offs empirically. We address this research desideratum in a three-step process: Firstly, we propose a new conceptual approach, which distinguishes between two different modes of relationships between dimensions: mutual reinforcing effects and a give-and-take relationship (trade-offs between dimensions. By introducing our measurement tool, Democracy Matrix, we finally locate mutually reinforcing effects as well as trade-offs. Secondly, we provide a new methodological approach to measure trade-offs. While one measuring strategy captures the mutual reinforcing effects, the other strategy employs indicators, which serve to gauge trade-offs. Thirdly, we demonstrate empirical findings of our measurement drawing on the Varieties of Democracy dataset. Incorporating trade-offs into the measurement enables us to identify various profiles of democracy (libertarian, egalitarian and control-focused democracy via the quality of its dimensions.

  11. The Republican Tragedy of the Commons: The Inefficiency of Democracy in the Light of Climate Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivo Wallimann-Helmer

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper argues that an analysis of the dissatisfactory outcomes of international negotiations concerning climate change must take into account procedures of political decision‐making in democracies. Although the normative ideal of republican democracy has means of dealing with such dissatisfactory results, political processes in republican democracies take too much time and risk becoming stuck in tragic or dilemmatic decision structures when facing challenges such as climate change. Consequently, this paper discusses possibilities for redesigning republican democratic institutions to counter‐act these negative forces. However, all possibilities discussed either call into question the normative ideal of republican democracy itself or would take too much time to be realized.

  12. Democracy, ethics and social justice: Implications for secondary ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... were interviewed to explore their perspectives on democratic school leadership and establish the ... Inclusion of democratic school leadership principles in teacher training ... Keywords: democracy; ethics; leadership practices; social justice ...

  13. Improving school governance through participative democracy and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    educational and political theory) perspective, with particular reference to undemocratic trends apparent in ... research democracy at the meso level of public school education. .... in decision-making processes within institutions, organisations, societal and government struc- tures. ..... of employment equity into consideration.

  14. Community Power and Grassroots Democracy : The Transformation ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    1997-01-01

    . Couverture du livre Community Power and Grassroots Democracy. Editor(s):. M. Kaufman et H. Dilla Alfonso. Publisher(s):. Zed, CRDI. January 1, 1997. ISBN: Épuisé. 300 pages. e-ISBN: 155250137X. Download PDF · Read the e-book.

  15. Democracy and the Symbolic Constitution of Society

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lindahl, H.K.

    1998-01-01

    Abstract. Building on Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms, this paper argues that the continuities and discontinuities characterizing the passage from medieval politics to modern democracy can best be understood by reference to political power's symbolic structure. For the one, political power,

  16. Participatory Democracy: Mechanism of Better Regulation in Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neliana RODEAN

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims at analyzing the concept of participatory democracy in the European context. In the era of globalization, tools such as Internet filled the gap between civil society and political institutions. The new information and communication technologies contribute to the involvement of citizens in decision-making process. The democratic deficit is bridged through increasingly active participation of civil society at various levels of policy. Through e-democracy tools is realized a direct action of citizens, or even certain categories, which for various reasons do not have the possibility to be informed or have voice on political decisions. In addition, the European institutions, through mechanisms of “better regulation”, promote processes of simplification rules to find a remedy for an excessive law-making.

  17. National constitutional courts in the European Constitutional Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Komárek, Jan

    2014-01-01

    This article critically assesses the transformation of national constitutional courts’ place in the law and politics of the EU and its member states. This process eliminates the difference between constitutional and ordinary national courts, which is crucial for the institutional implementation...... of the discourse theory of law and democracy. It also disrupts the symbiotic relationship between national constitutional democracies established after World War II and European integration. The article argues that maintaining the special place of national constitutional courts is in the vital interest of both...... the EU and its member states, understood together as the European Constitutional Democracy—the central notion developed in this article in order to support an argument that should speak to both EU lawyers and national constitutionalists....

  18. Calidad de la democracia en Venezuela Quality of democracy in Venezuela

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel H. LEVINE

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Los debates sobre la democracia en la Venezuela de hoy carecen de una definición común sobre el tema, sobre cómo estudiarlo, e incluso respecto a qué es democracia. El régimen ha sido descrito de muchas formas: democracia participativa, híbrido, mixto, personalista, populista, iliberal, autoritarismo competitivo. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar el nivel de calidad de la democracia en Venezuela, en el marco de una concepción procedimental de la democracia. La evaluación empírica de cinco dimensiones de calidad de la democracia (decisión electoral, participación, respuesta a la voluntad popular, rendición de cuentas y soberanía revela un nivel bajo en conjunto, con escasa variación entre 2005 y 2010. Los escenarios posibles luego de las elecciones de 2012 incluyen: reforzamiento de las tendencias autoritarias, militarización abierta, liberalización política con fortalecimiento institucional, o volatilidad duradera con conflicto polarizado y debilidad institucional. La salud del presidente Chávez afectará estos escenarios, dado su carácter de factor central unificador de su movimiento y del régimen.Discussions of democracy in contemporary Venezuela lack a settled definition of the subject, how to study it, or indeed of what counts as «democracy» in the first place. The regime has been described as everything from participatory democracy, hybrid, mixed, and personalist to populist, illiberal, or no longer democratic but rather competitive authoritarian. The goal of this article is to measure the quality of democracy in Venezuela, within the terms of a procedural concept of democracy as detailed in our earlier work. Empirical measurement of the quality of democracy on five dimensions (electoral choice, participation, responsiveness, accountability, sovereignty reveals a low level overall and deep institutional weakness under a personalist leadership, with little change from 2005 to 2010. Future scenarios, after the

  19. Evaluation of Human Rights, Citizenship and Democracy Course by Teacher's Vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahan, Gülsün; Tural, Aysegül

    2018-01-01

    Human Rights, Citizenship and Democracy Course draws attention to with topics such as human rights, effective citizenship. In terms of content, it has an important place in contemporary education concept. It is thought that the Human Rights, Citizenship and Democracy course will benefit the social structure because of its content and the outputs…

  20. Data Democracy and Decision Making: Enhancing the Use and Value of Geospatial Data and Scientific Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, C. D.

    2014-12-01

    Data democracy is a concept that has great relevance to the use and value of geospatial data and scientific information. Data democracy describes a world in which data and information are widely and broadly accessible, understandable, and useable. The concept operationalizes the public good nature of scientific information and provides a framework for increasing benefits from its use. Data democracy encompasses efforts to increase accessibility to geospatial data and to expand participation in its collection, analysis, and application. These two pillars are analogous to demand and supply relationships. Improved accessibility, or demand, includes increased knowledge about geospatial data and low barriers to retrieval and use. Expanded participation, or supply, encompasses a broader community involved in developing geospatial data and scientific information. This pillar of data democracy is characterized by methods such as citizen science or crowd sourcing.A framework is developed for advancing the use of data democracy. This includes efforts to assess the societal benefits (economic and social) of scientific information. This knowledge is critical to continued monitoring of the effectiveness of data democracy implementation and of potential impact on the use and value of scientific information. The framework also includes an assessment of opportunities for advancing data democracy both on the supply and demand sides. These opportunities include relatively inexpensive efforts to reduce barriers to use as well as the identification of situations in which participation can be expanded in scientific efforts to enhance the breadth of involvement as well as expanding participation to non-traditional communities. This framework provides an initial perspective on ways to expand the "scientific community" of data users and providers. It also describes a way forward for enhancing the societal benefits from geospatial data and scientific information. As a result, data

  1. Designing for democracy : Bulk data and authoritarianism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Robbins, S.A.; Henschke, A.H.

    2017-01-01

    Transparency is important for liberal democracies; however, the value of transparency is difficult to articulate. In this article we articulate transparency as an instrumental value for providing what we call ensurance and assurance to liberal democratic citizens. Ensurance refers to the property of

  2. Democracy, Citizenship and Youth: Towards Social and Political ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2009-10-12

    Oct 12, 2009 ... Democracy, Citizenship and Youth: Towards Social and Political ... the successful media-relations strategy, and the rewarding partnerships ... Birth registration is the basis for advancing gender equality and children's rights.

  3. The Public Library, Democracy and Rancière's Poetics of Politics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huzar, Timothy Jozef

    2013-01-01

    Introduction: This paper applies the thought of Jacques Rancière to the concept of democracy as it is traditionally understood in library studies literature. Methods: The paper reviews a cross-section of instances of the link between democracy and the public library in library studies literature. It offers a close textual analysis of Michael…

  4. On Collapse and the Next U.S. Democracy: Elements of Applied Systemic Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Greg

    2015-01-01

    While concern has been growing in recent years about the structural precursors to economic collapse in the United States, and a parallel decline in democracy, few have asked: (1) what moral and cultural foundations might be necessary as building blocks to launch a democratic renewal and (2) whether a different and "deep" democracy might…

  5. Protecting Democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galster, Kjeld

    2007-01-01

    of a democratic state as defence per se is to its government. Democratic governance rests on the mutual dependence and influence of leadership and led, and the practical function subsumes professional bureaucracies. Thus, defence debate is the exchange of views on matters important to national security amongst...... the democratically elected leadership, the public, and the defence bureaucracy’s professional experts. Defence debate is a decisive contributor to defence policy and it normally includes quantitative issues like the size of military forces and the proportion of the state’s resources devoted to the armed forces......ABSTRACT Galster, Kjeld Hald. Doctoral Student (History). Saxo Institute. May 2007. Protecting Democracy: Danish Defence Debate in Times of Change. Supervisor: Professor, Dr. Gunner Lind. Democratic debate on defence and democratic organisation of the forces are as central to the life...

  6. Translating democracy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Doerr, Nicole

    2012-01-01

    Linguistic barriers may pose problems for politicians trying to communicate delicate decisions to a European-wide public, as well as for citizens wishing to protest at the European level. In this article I present a counter-intuitive position on the language question, one that explores how...... Forum (ESF). I compare deliberative practices in the multilingual ESF preparatory meetings with those in monolingual national Social Forum meetings in three Western European countries. My comparison shows that multilingualism does not reduce the inclusivity of democratic deliberation as compared...... in institutionalized habits and norms of deliberation. Addressing democratic theorists, my findings suggest that translation could be a way to think about difference not as a hindrance but as a resource for democracy in linguistically heterogeneous societies and public spaces, without presupposing a shared language...

  7. Democracies restricting democratic rights: some classical sources and implications for ethics of biometrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leavitt, Frank J

    2011-03-01

    Ancient Greek and 17th century English philosophy are not usually discussed along with the ethics of biometrics and data sharing. Academic ethics today, however, suffers from a lack of background in classical texts. We may discuss whether biometrics and data sharing are consistent with democracy, but if we do not know what democracy is, then we cannot know what actions are consistent with it. I shall discuss how and why democracies have restricted the rights of their citizens. I will give the most attention to two paradigms that have most influenced modern democratic thinking: 17th century English democracy and ancient Athens. I do not accept the dogma that the Athenians were obviously wrong to try and then to condemn Socrates. His death-loving doctrine could not but have weakened the will of the youth to work and fight for the good of Athens. I will try to understand the Athenians' point of view and their need to defend their security. At the end, I will apply these lessons to biometrics and data sharing for security reasons.

  8. Democracies Restricting Democratic Rights: Some Classical Sources and Implications for Ethics of Biometrics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank J. Leavitt

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Ancient Greek and 17th century English philosophy are not usually discussed along with the ethics of biometrics and data sharing. Academic ethics today, however, suffers from a lack of background in classical texts. We may discuss whether biometrics and data sharing are consistent with democracy, but if we do not know what democracy is, then we cannot know what actions are consistent with it. I shall discuss how and why democracies have restricted the rights of their citizens. I will give the most attention to two paradigms that have most influenced modern democratic thinking: 17th century English democracy and ancient Athens. I do not accept the dogma that the Athenians were obviously wrong to try and then to condemn Socrates. His death-loving doctrine could not but have weakened the will of the youth to work and fight for the good of Athens. I will try to understand the Athenians' point of view and their need to defend their security. At the end, I will apply these lessons to biometrics and data sharing for security reasons.

  9. Comparing the Chinese Dream with the American Dream

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    David S.Pena

    2015-01-01

    Comparison of the Chinese Dream with the American Dream reveals that the Chinese Dream has four main themes:national rejuvenation,common prosperity,democracy,and the people's happiness;whereas,the American Dream emphasizes personal liberty,individual success,and upward social and economic mobility.Investigation of the historical origins and development of the two dreams,conjoined with an account of their aims and purposes,shows that full realization of the Chinese Dream is achieved by successfully building socialism with Chinese characteristics;the American Dream,by contrast,serves as an ideological prop for a particularly aggressive,predatory,and imperialistic form of capitalism.Furthermore,a comparison of each dream in actual practice shows that the Chinese Dream of fully developed socialism has been more successful at promoting common prosperity and peaceful,sustainable development,while the American Dream of unbridled capitalism encourages unsustainable development,growing poverty and inequality,and imperialist wars.Finally,an enumeration of the fundamental differences between the Chinese and American Dreams concludes that the Chinese Dream is fundamentally benign,whereas the American Dream is basically malignant.In order for the American Dream to shed its harmful characteristics,it must reject its capitalist underpinnings and adopt socialism as its ultimate goal.

  10. Security and Democracy in Southern Africa | IDRC - International ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2007-11-15

    operation initiatives, seeking to roll out the principles of the United Nations at regional levels. This book examines the triangular relationship between democratisation, the character of democracy and its deficits, and national ...

  11. Mathematics education, democracy and development: Exploring connections

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renuka Vithal

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Mathematics education and its links to democracy and development are explored in this article, with specific reference to the case of South Africa. This is done by engaging four key questions. Firstly, the question of whether mathematics education can be a preparation for democracy and include a concern for development, is discussed by drawing on conceptual tools of critical mathematics education and allied areas in a development context. Secondly, the question of how mathematics education is distributed in society and participates in shaping educational possibilities in addressing its development needs and goals is used to examine the issues emerging from mathematics performance in international studies and the national Grade 12 examination; the latter is explored specifically in respect of the South African mathematics curriculum reforms and teacher education challenges. Thirdly, the question of whether a mathematics classroom can be a space for democratic living and learning that equally recognises the importance of issues of development in contexts like South Africa, as a post-conflict society still healing from its apartheid wounds, continuing inequality and poverty, is explored through pedagogies of conflict, dialogue and forgiveness. Finally the question of whether democracy and development can have anything to do with mathematics content matters, is discussed by appropriating, as a metaphor, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s framework of multiple ‘truths’, to seek links within and across the various forms and movements in mathematics and mathematics education that have emerged in the past few decades.

  12. DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. S. Zakharchenko

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose. The article presents deep analyzes of legitimacy and the basics of the process of legitimization in democratic societies. The subject of article is to provide an understanding of deliberative democracy as the answer to the discussion about the essence of democratic legitimacy. The core element of deliberative democracy is a theory of discursive legitimating. Methodology. Taking into account Bourdieu’s theory about symbolic power author explains the processes of legitimization as well as the processes of institute’s delegitimization. Author points out that the form of bureaucratic institutes in the late capitalism may cause the delegitimazation of their power. Another problem of democratic legitimacy is the confusion of the voting as procedure of decision making and voting as legitimate principle. Addressing the theory of Pierre Rosanvallon author explains how the way of decision making mistakenly is taken as the core point of democratic legitimacy. Scientific novelty of received results consists of the approach of deliberative democracy in the light of the problems of democratic legitimacy. Conclusions. The author demonstrates that discursive legitimacy as the main idea of deliberative democracy may clarify the misconception of democratic legitimacy. It is not enough to explain the legitimating power of the state as based on the assumption of legal norms and moral principles. It is discursive principle that activates the legitimacy power of state decisions.

  13. Community Engagement for Big Epidemiology: Deliberative Democracy as a Tool

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebekah E. McWhirter

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Public trust is critical in any project requiring significant public support, both in monetary terms and to encourage participation. The research community has widely recognized the centrality of public trust, garnered through community consultation, to the success of large-scale epidemiology. This paper examines the potential utility of the deliberative democracy methodology within the public health research setting. A deliberative democracy event was undertaken in Tasmania, Australia, as part of a wider program of community consultation regarding the potential development of a Tasmanian Biobank. Twenty-five Tasmanians of diverse backgrounds participated in two weekends of deliberation; involving elements of information gathering; discussion; identification of issues and formation of group resolutions. Participants demonstrated strong support for a Tasmanian Biobank and their deliberations resulted in specific proposals in relation to consent; privacy; return of results; governance; funding; and, commercialization and benefit sharing. They exhibited a high degree of satisfaction with the event, and confidence in the outcomes. Deliberative democracy methodology is a useful tool for community engagement that addresses some of the limitations of traditional consultation methods.

  14. Community Engagement for Big Epidemiology: Deliberative Democracy as a Tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    McWhirter, Rebekah E.; Critchley, Christine R.; Nicol, Dianne; Chalmers, Don; Whitton, Tess; Otlowski, Margaret; Burgess, Michael M.; Dickinson, Joanne L.

    2014-01-01

    Public trust is critical in any project requiring significant public support, both in monetary terms and to encourage participation. The research community has widely recognized the centrality of public trust, garnered through community consultation, to the success of large-scale epidemiology. This paper examines the potential utility of the deliberative democracy methodology within the public health research setting. A deliberative democracy event was undertaken in Tasmania, Australia, as part of a wider program of community consultation regarding the potential development of a Tasmanian Biobank. Twenty-five Tasmanians of diverse backgrounds participated in two weekends of deliberation; involving elements of information gathering; discussion; identification of issues and formation of group resolutions. Participants demonstrated strong support for a Tasmanian Biobank and their deliberations resulted in specific proposals in relation to consent; privacy; return of results; governance; funding; and, commercialization and benefit sharing. They exhibited a high degree of satisfaction with the event, and confidence in the outcomes. Deliberative democracy methodology is a useful tool for community engagement that addresses some of the limitations of traditional consultation methods. PMID:25563457

  15. In the maw of the Ouroboros: an analysis of scientific literacy and democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bang, Lars

    2017-10-01

    This paper explores the concept of scientific literacy through its relation to democracy and citizenship. Scientific literacy has received international attention in the twenty-first century as demonstrated by the Programme for International Student Assessment survey of 2006. It is no longer just a concept but has become a stated and testable outcome in the science education research community. This paper problematizes the `marriage' between scientific literacy and democracy, particularly the idea that scientific literacy is a presupposed necessity to proper citizenship and awareness of the role of science in modern society. A perusal of the science education literature can provide a history of scientific literacy, as it exists as a research category. Through Gilles Deleuze's notion of the Dogmatic Image of Thought and its relation to a Spinozist understanding of individuation/Becoming, it is argued that scientific literacy is not a recent invention and is problematic in its relation to democracy. This article is thus intended to act more as vehicle to move, stimulate and dramatize thought and potentially reconceptualise scientific literacy, than a comprehensive historical analysis. The concept of scientific literacy has undergone specific transformations in the last two centuries and has been enacted in different manifestations throughout modernity. Here the analysis draws upon Deleuze's reading of Michel Foucault and the notion of the Diagram related to Foucault's oeuvre, and is specifically using Foucault's notion of rationalities as actualized threads or clusters of discourse. The obvious link between science and democracy is an effect of specific rationalities within the epistemological field of science, rather than intrinsic, essential characteristics of science or scientific literacy. There is nothing intrinsic in its function for democracy. Through a case study of the work of Charles W. Eliot and Herbert Spencer and the modern enactment of scientific

  16. Democracy and Development – A Disputed Pair1

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... rising incomes. (based on economic growth), but also longer lives, higher levels of literacy .... the integrated human development measure (HDI) as a valid or meaningful ... Just like the minimalist, the substantialist definition holds democracy.

  17. Free Press in a Constitutional Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucianek, Christine

    2014-01-01

    This article describes a lesson in which students will examine several views expressed by the founders to understand the context for including freedom of the press in the First Amendment. Students will be asked to think about the role that the news media and the need to be an informed citizen continue to play in our democracy. Students will…

  18. Quark-lepton flavor democracy and the nonexistence of the fourth generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cvetic, G.; Kim, C.S.

    1995-01-01

    In the standard model with two Higgs doublets (type II), which has a consistent trend to a flavor gauge theory and its related flavor democracy in the quark and the leptonic sectors (unlike the minimal standard model) when the energy of the probes increases, we impose the mixed quark-lepton flavor democracy at high ''transition'' energy and assume the usual seesaw mechanism, and consequently find out that the existence of the fourth generation of fermions in this framework is practically ruled out

  19. 75 FR 74678 - Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance; Office of Food for Peace Announcement...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-01

    ... Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance; Office of Food for Peace Announcement of Request for... Majernik, Grants Manager, Policy and Technical Division, Office of Food for Peace, Bureau for Democracy...

  20. Energy Democracies and Publics in the Making: A Relational Agenda for Research and Practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jason Chilvers

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Mainstream approaches to energy democracy and public engagement with energy transitions tend to adopt specific, pre-given meanings of both “democracy” and “publics.” Different approaches impose prescriptive assumptions about the model of participation, the identity of public participants, and what it means to participate well. The rigidity of many existing approaches to energy participation is increasingly being challenged by the ever-multiplying diversity of ways in which citizens participate in energy systems, as consumers in energy markets, protesters against new infrastructures and technologies, as initiators of community energy projects, and as subjects of behavior change interventions, amongst others. This paper is concerned with growing areas of scholarship which seek to understand and explore these emerging energy publics and forms of energy democracy from a relational perspective. Such work, grounded in constructivist and relational ontologies, views forms of participatory democracy and publics as being co-produced, constructed, and emergent through the performance of collective practices. It pays closer attention to power relations, politics, materiality, exclusions, and effects in both understanding and intervening in the making of energy democracy. This in turn shifts the focus from studying discrete unitary forms of “energy democracy” to one of understanding interrelations between multiple diverse energy democracies in wider systems. In this paper, we chart these developments and explore the significant challenges and potential contributions of relational approaches to furthering the theories, methods, and practices of energy democracy and energy public engagement. The paper draws on an expert workshop, and an accompanying review, which brought together leading proponents of contending relational approaches to energy participation in direct conversation for the first time. We use this as a basis to explore tensions

  1. Entertaining Democracy in the Era of Neo-Liberalism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Curran

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available James Curran’s article “Entertaining democracy in the Era of Neo-liberalism” is an essay written from the 13th SBPJor Conference Meeting in Campo Grande in 2015; a conference in which he was the opening speaker. The article was approved for publication in the BJR at the end of 2015, but we have decided to publish it in a special edition of Journalism and Democracy as it deals precisely with this issue. Curran begins the article by questioning the current state of democracy as it pertains to the decline of the nation state and the emergence of transnational institutions of deliberation which he calls “multilevel governance” but “is not matched by the development of a multilevel sense of citizenship”. As almost a prelude to the Brexit, Curran draws attention to the fact that the English do not consider themselves European despite being a part of the European Union. He tied this nationalist ideal not only to the British, but to other country populations in general. In a world dominated by transnational corporations and the presence and constancy of national media “supporting a national identity” he predicted that “Attempts at new institutional building are out of step with media development”. His analysis highlights several problems that are weakening modern democracy like “the increasing centralization of power by political leaders” and the “increasingly unrepresentative nature of the political class  rendering them in some countries almost a ‘separate caste’”. Reading Curran’s text allows us to reflect on the situation in Brazil. At first, it is pessimistic and places meanings that we have lobbied for outside of our borders: “Governments are less able to govern; political power is becoming more centralized; and the unelected influence of big business is becoming greater”. The media also has a hand in contributing towards a “growing sense of disconnection from politics”, making reference to politics as

  2. El papel de la "Demopedia" en la democracia participativa || The Role of “Demopedia” in Participatory Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jose María Seco Martínez

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available RESUMEN. La democracia participativa es una concepción contra-hegemónica, porque no acepta la prevalencia del capitalismo sobre la democracia, como en el caso de la democracia representativa. No busca tanto la gobernabilidad como la justicia social y la distribución del poder entre la gente. En el tránsito hacia la misma juega un papel decisivo la formación crítica de los ciudadanos. Por eso, la regeneración de la democracia, con sus contenidos reales de participación política, pasa necesariamente por la demopedia participativa.   ABSTRACT. Participatory democracy is an idea opposed to hegemony because it does not accept Capitalism superiority over democracy, as it happens in representative democracy. Its aim is mainly to achieve social justice and power distribution among people, more than governability. However, in its transition, a critical community training would play an important part. Education and democracy are closely related, that is why, the regeneration of democracy, with its real contents of political participation, depends on education. Teaching democracy means serving the community.

  3. Cyber Space and Digital Democracy in South Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jin Ro

    2017-03-01

    Korea is a very interesting case. Korea shows rapid growth of the Internet users, and largertrade surplus in telecommunication industry with the help of government’s successful information technology policy. And Koreans also made their country more democratic with active participation. This paper analyzed the growth of the Internet and SNS in South Korea. The Internet and SNS created cyber space. They have several advantages as an effective means of communication. Cyber space is influenced by three subjects such as the government [state], the market [capital], and citizens [people]. There are two research questions. First question is how the Korean CMC industry can grow fast after its birth. Three main subjects were dealt with in this research. They are the State, the Market, and the Citizen. I divided the history of Korean CMC industry into three periods. The first formation stage is from the birth of CMC in Korea between from 1980 and1990. The government initiated the monopolistic CMC market. Several conglomerates participated to co-operate the government. But the users are very small. The second growthstage is between from 1990 to 1995. The government also deregulated the Market with changing policy from ‘appointment’ to ‘registration’. The companies increased investment for the possibility of wide diffusion of CMC use. The third prosperity stage is between 1995 and 2010. The government promoted the CMC market’s competition with ‘notice’ policy. And citizens actively enjoy and apply CMC services. However, the fourth shift stage to smart phone faced several problems such as less democracy and one way communication which will weaken the creativity of the content. Second question is what the roles of three subjects are. I examined the cyber space by the uses of digital media with three subjects. Even though the state and the market have limits to promote democracy, the citizens are expected to make the digital society moredemocratic. If the state

  4. E-democracy a group decision and negotiation perspective

    CERN Document Server

    Rios Insua, David

    2010-01-01

    E-Democracy presents the ways in which the Internet could transform both politics and government. Topics include foundations, basic methodologies, potential implementation and applications, in addition to a thorough discussion of the underlying challenges involved.

  5. Defending Democracy: Citizen Participation in Election Monitoring in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dini Suryani

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The collapse of the authoritarian regime in 1998 has made Indonesia as one of the most democratic country in Southeast Asia. To ensure the quality of democracy, in particular electoral democracy, supervision and monitoring of elections has a veryimportant role. Although the Badan Pengawas Pemilu (Bawaslu or Election Supervisory Body of Indonesiahas experienced institutional strengthening, this institution has not yet become effective in supervisingand monitoring the elections. Therefore, electionmonitoring conducted by non-state agencies, particularly the citizens become important to complement the performance of Bawaslu. This article aimsto explore how the election monitoring conducted by citizens in the aftermath of post authoritarian era,affect the quality of Indonesian democracy. This article argues that although the citizen participation in monitoring the elections is likely to decline, but thecrowd sourced method that appeared in the 2014election has succeeded in improving the quality of the electoral process as well as defending the democratic regime in Indonesia.

  6. Rethinking School Finance. A Policy Issues Paper Prepared for the Chief State School Officers of the Northwest and Pacific.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Kenneth H.; And Others

    Ways of rethinking school financial policy issues are examined in this report. This rethinking has evolved from growing recognition of two related principles: school finance as part of public finance; and policy formation as a product of commitments and constraints. Principles of public finance, commitments and constraints are described. Five…

  7. Success nonetheless : Making public utilities work in small-scale democracies despite difficult capital conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Douglas, Scott

    2011-01-01

    A large part of the study of politics is dedicated to identifying the circumstances under which democracy will flourish. Putnam made a major contribution to this field through his concept of social capital as developed in Making Democracy Work. Putnam found that communities with a high number of

  8. Gender difference in support for democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Konte, M.

    2014-01-01

    Little investigation has been made to explain why women are less likely than are men to support democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa. This gender difference in politics has been found in numerous studies and may hinder the much needed legitimation of democracy in this region. This paper addresses the

  9. A Democracy of All Learners: Ethical Rationality and the Affective Roots of Democratic Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woods, Philip A.

    2006-01-01

    This article contends that it is important for educational leaders to understand and reown the historical roots of modern democracy. In particular, it highlights a foundational human capacity for shared ethical insight which characterizes the rich conception of democracy that can be traced in this historical development. Implications for…

  10. The atom and democracy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Remond, Rene.

    1977-01-01

    Analyzing the relations established between public opinion and nuclear energy, it is considered that it will be impossible to develop the use of this type of energy without the approval of the citizens. This approval, which assumes that the definition of the energetic choices is not seized by 'technicians' whatever their authority, is a basic condition for democracy. It involves a huge informational and public education effort so that everyone is able to have an objective opinion on a type of energy which now rises more passioned than reasoned reactions [fr

  11. A Narrative Approach to Both Teaching and Learning About Democracy with Young Children: A Theoretical Exploration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    maila dinia husni rahim

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available As adults, we often believe that children are only interested with games and children’s ‘stuff’. However research has shown that children do indeed show a greater interest in the world around them, including about politics, elections, and democracy. If we need to teach children about democracy, what are the best methods of teaching democracy to young children? Narrative is considered as an effective medium to convey messages to children and discuss hard subjects. This paper is a theoretical exploration that looks at the narrative approach to teaching and learning about democracy with young children. The researchers has used a literature review to look at why narratives should be used, what narratives should be used and how to use narratives.

  12. Issues of Political Development: Fragile Democracies in Latin America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Armando Albuquerque

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The political development, as research field, had its origins in the second half of the last century. From the 60s, when he began to flourish, now constitutes a conceptual border with comparative politics. In subsequent decades there were many advances in the analysis of problems related to the political institutions, state structures, the rule of law, civil society, stability and crises of democratic regimes, among others. From this issue, will be made to this article, supported by the Democracy Index, analyzing the causes of one of the main shortcomings of the political development in Latin America, namely, the low quality of their democracies and the consequent non-consolidation of the same.

  13. Nietzsche, Democracy and Transcendence | von Tongeren | South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Socialism, utilitarianism and democracy are, according to Nietzsche, secularised versions of Christianity. They have continued the monomaniac onesidedness of the Christian idea of what a human being is and should be, and they have even strengthened this monomania through its 'immanentisation'. The article shows that ...

  14. Reinvigorating the role of science in democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenberg, Andrew A; Halpern, Michael; Shulman, Seth; Wexler, Celia; Phartiyal, Pallavi

    2013-01-01

    Private and political interests routinely conspire to sideline and misrepresent science and evidence in the public policy process. The Center for Science and Democracy, a new initiative at the Union of Concerned Scientists, endeavors to change this dynamic to strengthen the role of science in decision making.

  15. Knowledge for democracy in Myanmar | IDRC - International ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar is an IDRC and Global Affairs Canada partnership that seeks to support democratic transition in Myanmar through policy ... As Myanmar transitions to a democratic government, it is crucial to nurture meaningful dialogue about the process and to promote economic growth that benefits ...

  16. U.S.-India Relations: Partners in Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-02-01

    2011. (JQ 629 .A58 N53 2011) Oldenburg , Philip. India, Pakistan, and Democracy: Solving the Puzzle of Divergent Paths. New York: Routledge, 2010. (JQ...Power, Ambition, and the Ultimate Weapon. Washington: Georgetown UP, 2012. (U 263 .S773 2012) Journals Acheson, Ray . "Modernization of

  17. Laboratory for a New Form of Democracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heelan, Cynthia; Redwine, Judith A.; Black, Antonia

    2000-01-01

    Demonstrates how community colleges create a laboratory for the metamorphosis of democracy into synocracy, which is associated with participative leadership and a capacity to form and sustain synergistic partnership. The community college, through its leadership, student and service learning, and by involving its communities in dialogues of…

  18. Inventing Democracy: Future Alternatives for Social Action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deethardt, John F.

    1983-01-01

    Considers the rational basis for participatory democracy and six ideas designed to embody that conceptual basis. Contends that the mission of speech communication scholars to the civic culture should be an activation of civic competencies and an invention of new places to practice free speech skills. (PD)

  19. Community Power and Grassroots Democracy: The Transformation ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    But there are obstacles: the power of central bureaucracies, the lack of local skills and organizational experience, social divisions, and the impact of national and transnational structures. Community Power and Grassroots Democracy is a groundbreaking and insighful book that examines a collection of community initiatives ...

  20. Middle Class and Democracy in Latin America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaime Fierro

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The consolidation of the middle class has been interpreted by modernization and postmodernization theories as a key factor for the functioning and stability of the democratic system. However, in Latin America the middle class has tended to be associated with two contradictory positions. On the one hand, it is emphasized that it plays a stabilizing and democratic role while, on the other hand, it is linked to supporting military coups. With the purpose of elucidate such a dilemma, the relationship that can be established between the socioeconomic status and the degree of support for democracy will be examined. In order to do this, an empirical analysis from Latinbarometer surveys databases will be conducted, covering seventeen countries in the region for the period from 1996 to 2011. It will be concluded that the middle class in Latin America does not have particularly more favorable attitudes toward democracy than other social segments.

  1. Rethinking Information Systems in the Public Sector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Medaglia, Rony

    2014-01-01

    This section of Information Polity consists of papers presented during the workshop “Rethinking Information Systems in the Public Sector: Bridging Academia and Public Service”. The workshop was held on 8 June 2014 in Tel Aviv, Israel, in conjunction with the European Conference on Information...... Systems (ECIS 2014), and it is part of the activities of the Special Interest Group for eGovernment (SIGeGov) of the Association for Information Systems (AIS)....

  2. Do Elites Benefit from Democracy and Foreign Aid in Developing Countries?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjørnskov, Christian

    indicating how foreign aid and democracy can be associated with a more, not less, skewed income distribution. By using data on income quintiles derived from the World Income Inequality Database for 88 developing countries, the results indicate that foreign aid and democracy in conjunction are associated...... with a higher share of income held by the upper quintile. It thus appears that foreign aid, contrary to popular beliefs, leads to a more skewed income distribution in democratic developing countries while the effects are negligible in autocratic countries....

  3. The value of political parties to representative democracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kölln, Ann-Kristin

    2015-01-01

    Political parties play a major role in democratic processes around the world. Recent empirical research suggests that parties are increasingly less important to citizens. Simultaneously, classic and contemporary theories of representative democracy specifically still minimally incorporate accounts

  4. FORMS OF DEMOCRACY IN EDUCATION: Open Access and Distance Education–Athens, Greece

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reviewed by Antonis LIONARAKIS

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The 4th International Conference in Open and Distance Learning - Forms of Democracy in Education: Open Access and Distance Education (ICODL 2007 had a special role to play this time: it was focused on the relationship between distance education and democratic principles which are connected and interrelated to eachother. These principles identify a new social role of distance education. Educational applications can be more flexible and effective when they follow some basic From the early beginning open universities and alternative forms of education have defined e democratic framework for educational systems. Their connection with the conventional educational system has influenced to a great extend new innovations in the system. With this approach we can realize that distance learning may become a bridge between these innovations and the initial ideals of democracy and human ICODL 2007 took place in Athens, Greece, from 23 to 25 of November 2007. There were 160 papers presented from 36 countries: Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Spain, Iran,Canada, Turkey, South Africa, Italy, Palestine, France, Ireland, Japan, Nigeria,Bulgaria, USA, Austria, Finland, Pakistan, Great Britain, Ukraine, Egypt, Lithuania, Israel, India, Czech Republic, Brazil, Portugal, Botswana, Barbados–West Indies,The key–note speakers of ICODL 2007 were Professor Alan Tait, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, The Open University/UK, with the title ―What are Open Universities for?‖, Professor Michael Grahame Moore, the Pennsylvania State University and Editor of the American Journal of Distance Education with the title ―The scholarship of distance education: a review of the 40 years of growth and achievement‖ and Professor Paul Clark, Senior Research Fellow in the IET at the UK Open University with the title

  5. "It Is Like Putting Fire in the Children's Hands": A Comparative Case Study of Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge of and Beliefs about Education for Democracy in an Established and Emerging Post-Conflict Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanahan, Brian K.; Phillips, Michele S.

    2014-01-01

    This report documents and compares two cases of pre-service elementary teachers' beliefs about democracy and education for democracy in the USA and Bosnia and Herzegovina along with contextual factors influencing the similarities and differences among these beliefs. Findings suggest that US pre-service elementary teachers have a self-proclaimed…

  6. Rethinking the mathematics curriculum

    CERN Document Server

    Hoyles, Celia; Woodhouse, Geoffrey

    1998-01-01

    At a time when political interest in mathematics education is at its highest, this book demonstrates that the issues are far from straightforward. A wide range of international contributors address such questions as: What is mathematics, and what is it for? What skills does mathematics education need to provide as technology advances? What are the implications for teacher education? What can we learn from past attempts to change the mathematics curriculum? Rethinking the Mathematics Curriculum offers stimulating discussions, showing much is to be learnt from the differences in culture, national expectations, and political restraints revealed in the book. This accessible book will be of particular interest to policy makers, curriculum developers, educators, researchers and employers as well as the general reader.

  7. American Nations, Latin States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Nelson Ahumada

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The nation, as artifact of modernity, assumes particularities in America such as the colonization and genocide of original peoples which still weighs as a never ending comeback. Nevertheless, capital, with its overwhelming force, destroyed peoples, cultures, traditions and landscapes. Latin America faces the challenge of uniting beyond the necessities of capital, and beyond two languages, spanish and portuguese. All of which has full validity at present with the blocks UNASUR and ALBA. Ethnocentricity is postulated as the exclusive condition of all possible humanity and, as programme, racism without races; Latin American miscegenation, as the potential for unity and the strength of emancipation as a project. Our intellectuals, who constructed a unique and superlative literature, are the lighthouses in the development of a nationalism without races. Anthropology in debate with psychoanalysis can become a compass in rethinking our America.

  8. DEMOCRACY AND AUTONOMY TRANSFORMATION IN THE GOVERNANCE OF MENGWI VILLAGE IN THE TRANSITION ERA: A CULTURAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I Wayan Gede Suacana

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This study discusses “Democra cy and Autonomy Transformation in theGovernance of Mengwi Village in the Transition Era: A Cultural StudiesPerspective”. The problem investigated was the shift in the nation’s approach to thepolicy of villages after the reign of New Order. In this era, the policy ofdemocratization and decentralization appeared till the village level. However, thepolicy was not totally implemented in the villages. The aims of this study are: todescribe democracy transformation in the village governance in the transition era, toclarify autonomy transformation in the village governance in the transition era, and toanalyze the implication and the sense of democracy and autonomy transfor mation tothe development of village governance.This study was conducted employing qualitative method. Various forms ofdemocracy and autonomy transformation in the village governance took place duringthe transition era. In the first stage, the primary and secondary data were collected. Inthe second stage, the theory applied for examining the data was chosen, and in thethird stage, the collected and classified data were analyzed and interpreted. In thefourth stage the results of the study were reported and constructed. The theoriesapplied in this study include; democracy, political democracy, substantial democracy,decentrali zation and political culture. The approaches applied were Tranpolitic andpost-structuralism.The results of the study showed that; first, the village democracy in the firsttransition era (1998-1999 was mostly still uniform, and there were not many choicesin the implementation of the village democracy. The village autonomy was stillblocked in centralistic pattern, homogeneous with hierarchical structure. Second, inthe second transition era (2000-2004 the role of the village representatives became sodemocratic accompanied by the extended village autonomy. Third, in the thirdtransition era (2005-2008 democracy became retransformed to

  9. Pesantren Responses to Religious Tolerance, Pluralism and Democracy in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nurrohman Nurrohman

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Pesantren (Islamic boarding school is the oldest Islamic institution in Indonesia that often affiliated to the largest mass Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama. This organization is well known for its stance to uphold moderate, tolerance Islam and accepting pluralistic state based on Pancasila. Pesantren also often referred as the barometer to understand the way of thinking of Muslims grass root in Indonesia because many Islamic figures in Indonesian village are alumni of pesantren.  There are debates among scholars on whether religious violence has a root in religious doctrine or it is caused by factors outside religion such as poverty or injustice. By assuming that both inside and outside factors have significant contribution to violence or radicalism this study will discuss the doctrine that potentially can be used to justify violence and intolerance by reviewing the opinion of pesantren leaders in West Java on jihad, violence or intolerance and power. This study is aimed to examine whether the commitment of Muslim leaders in national level on democracy and plurality is supported by grass root particularly from pesantren leaders.  Overall the study found that although they agree that democracy is compatible with Islam, this study reveals that their acceptance to pluralism still be questioned as evidenced by almost half of them supported theocratic caliphate carry out by radical group. Although many argued that pesantren promotes tolerance and pluralism, nevertheless this  study shows that some of their teaching tacitly supported violence act in the name of religion that will tarnished the effort of Indonesia to synchronize Islam, democracy and modernity. It means that many of them actually not wholeheartedly accepted democracy and pluralism.

  10. Demystifying democracy in the digital age: Determining the democratic potential of participatory journalism in Zimbabwe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mutsvairo, Bruce

    2013-01-01

    It has been repeatedly claimed that freedom of expression is the lifeblood of democracy (See Fog, 2004; Wahl-Jorgensen & Hanitzsch, 2009; Bhattacharyya & Hodler, 2012). We are made to believe that media and democracy are inseparable, which perhaps explains why the two words are often used

  11. 75 FR 4526 - Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance; Office of Food for Peace...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-28

    ... AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance; Office of Food for Peace; Announcement of FFP Response to Zimbabwe Country Specific Guidance Comments..., Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. [FR Doc. 2010-1777 Filed 1-27-10; 8:45 am...

  12. Technocracy and Democracy: The Challenges to Development in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Reginald M. J. Oduor

    from the vantage point of appropriate knowledge and experience. They seek ... Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held by the .... This analysis to some, rightly or otherwise, implies that technocrats are anti- ...

  13. Socialization and Political Regimes: the Impact of Generation on Support for Democracy in Latin America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Fuks

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Studies on democratic attitudes in Latin America indicate that older citizens are more likely to express a preference for democracy. This contradicts part of the literature, which suggests that the greatest support should come from younger generations, who were socialized under democratic regimes. One possible explanation for the greater support for democracy among the older generation is that they experienced the repression of political and civil rights under authoritarian rule, thus creating an aversion to such regimes. In this article, we replicate tests conducted by other studies in evaluating the effect of generation on support for democracy, using data from the 2012 Americas Barometer. In addition, we add a new factor to the analysis: the country's authoritarian legacy, measured as to the duration and intensity with which individual and political rights were curtailed in the past. The results show a complex picture. First, they confirm that the generations that have lived under authoritarian regimes are more likely to support democracy. However, we find no evidence of an increase in the difference in support between generations in countries where the authoritarian legacy is stronger. Finally, the data indicate that countries with stronger authoritarian legacies exhibit less support for democracy, while stronger democratic legacies have the opposite effect.

  14. Democracy in Kazakhstan: Historical Fiction or Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adilzhanov, Nurlykhan B.; Kozhirova, Svetlana B.; Azizian, Rouben

    2016-01-01

    An important issue in the development of transitional societies at the present stage of historical development is the impact of "global democracy" system of government. Trends of such influence in the post-Soviet space, in particular, are becoming more tangible in the context of globalization and especially after the so-called…

  15. Democracy, Education and the Need for Politics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straume, Ingerid S.

    2016-01-01

    Even though the interrelationship between education and democratic politics is as old as democracy itself, it is seldom explicitly formulated in the literature. Most of the time, the political system is taken as a given, and education conceptualized as an instrument for stability and social integration. Many contemporary discussions about…

  16. Teaching for Toleration in Pluralist Liberal Democracies

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Waarden, Betto

    2017-01-01

    This article determines which education enables the perpetuation of diverse ways of life and the liberal democracy that accommodates this diversity. Liberals like John Rawls, Stephen Macedo, and William Galston have disagreed about the scope of civic education. Based on an analysis of toleration--the primary means for maintaining a pluralist…

  17. Egalitarian Democracy between Elitism and Populism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Cerovac

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In his influential book Disagreement: Politics and Philosophy Jacques Ranciere builds a substantial critique of liberal regimes present in most Western countries. He finds them defective because: (1 they allow wealth and economic power of groups and individuals to influence public decision-making, making those with economic power an elite group; (2 they allow knowledge and expertise of groups and individuals to influence public decision-making, making those with epistemic power an elite group; (3 they allow and encourage social and economic conditions that make people inappropriate for decision-making on important issues, making those with certain characteristics thus acquired an inferior group. We focus on the Ranciere’s second objection by relying on Estlund’s epistemic proceduralis approach and claim that one does not have to embrace postmodernist idea of reducing reason to relations of power in order to present a substantial critique of our contemporary society. Furthermore, we argue that one does not have to base egalitarian democracy on postmodernist ideas that reject the truth-tracking potential of democratic procedures – egalitarian democracy is perfectly compatible with the idea of truth in politics. Key words: , , , , ,

  18. Recurrence: A Filmosophic Re-thinking of A Long Story/ Uzun Hikaye

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Basak Goksel Demiray

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This study will re-think A Long Story under the guidance of Daniel Frampton’s perspective of “filmosophy” which theorises film as a ‘being’ independent from any external effect, and acknowledges that film  has a ‘mind’ and is ‘able to think’ in its own way. To be clear on re-thinking how A Long Story ‘thinks’ of the concept of ‘recurrence’ in its dramatic structure, this study first will give a detailed explanation of “filmosophy”. Then, it will elaborate the particular ‘intentions’ and ‘choices’ that the film is responsible of whilst constructing itself upon the idea of ‘recurrence’. Finally, this study will focus on a particular scene and explain its significance on locating ‘recurrence’ as the ‘whole knowledge’ the film keeps in mind.

  19. The breaking of flavor democracy in the quark sector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fritzsch, Harald; Xing, Zhi-Zhong; Zhang, Di

    2017-09-01

    The democracy of quark flavors is a well-motivated flavor symmetry, but it must be properly broken in order to explain the observed quark mass spectrum and flavor mixing pattern. We reconstruct the texture of flavor democracy breaking and evaluate its strength in a novel way, by assuming a parallelism between the Q=+2/3 and Q=-1/3 quark sectors and using a nontrivial parametrization of the flavor mixing matrix. Some phenomenological implications of such democratic quark mass matrices, including their variations in the hierarchy basis and their evolution from the electroweak scale to a super-high energy scale, are also discussed. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11375207) and National Basic Research Program of China (2013CB834300)

  20. Theater of "bóias-frias": rethinking anthropology of performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John C. Dawsey

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The anthropology of performance, as understood by Victor Turner, provides interesting perspectives for the analysis of what may be referred to as the "theater of bóias-frias". Conversely, this theater may be of special interest for purposes of rethinking some of the main propositions which have arisen on the borders between anthropology and performance. Considering the specificity of "the practice which calculates the place from which one views things" of this theater, several topics present themselves as guidelines for the text which follows: 1 social dramas, 2 relations between social and aesthetic dramas, 3 symbols and montage, and 4 theater paradigms in anthropology. In this exercise to rethink some of the "classic" contributions of Victor Turner, Erving Goffman, and Richard Schechner, "elective affinities" have been found between, on the one hand, the writings of Walter Benjamin and Brechtian theater, and, on the other, the dramaturgical principles of the bóias-frias.