Democratic Citizenship and Service Learning: Advancing the Caring Self.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhoads, Robert A.

2000-01-01

Discusses how service learning can promote the development of a "caring self" in college students by drawing on the ideas of John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, and contemporary critical theorists. Links this caring self to democratic citizenship and uses students' narratives to illustrate how it develops through service learning contexts.…

Further Democratizing Latin America: Broadening Access to Higher Education and Promoting Science Policies Focused on the Advanced Training of Human Resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Heitor

2014-08-01

Full Text Available We focus this paper on the conditions to build reliable science, technology and higher education systems in Latin America, based on international comparative studies, fieldwork and interviews conducted over the last three years. The analysis shows that science can have a major role in furthering the democratization of society through public policies that foster opportunities to access knowledge and the advanced training of human resources. Broadening the social basis for higher education promotes the qualification of the labour force and contributes to social and economic development. The need to guarantee higher education diversity, strengthening scientific institutions and investing in a strong science base, is deemed as critical, but goes far beyond policies centred on innovation and industry-science relationships. It requires adequate training and attraction of skilled people, as well as the social promotion of a scientific and technological culture.

Between the Managerial and the Democratic University: Governance Structure and Academic Freedom as Sites of Political Struggle

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Dalie Giroux

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this article we argue that the university cannot fully contribute to democratic life without being both an institution whose governance is collegial and based on principles of equality, equity, inclusion, transparency, and accountability, and a vector of critical thinking closely linked to academic freedom. Based on this understanding of the ‘democratic university,’ we seek to highlight some of the key tensions between the ‘managerial university’ and the democratic university, as reflected in institutional structures, regulations, legal frameworks, and principles. In order to achieve this objective, we identify two sites of political struggles from which it is possible to examine the interaction between a managerial and a democratic conception and practice of the university. The first of these sites is the bicameral governing structure, membership, rules, and regulations of the University of Ottawa. The second site is academic freedom in Canada, which we will discuss by comparing the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ (CAUT Statement on Academic Freedom (CAUT, 2011 with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s (AUCC Statement on Academic Freedom (AUCC, 2011. By stressing the necessary link and positive relationship between democratic governance and academic freedom, the article offers a normative evaluation of the impact the managerial reengineering of Canadian universities has had on the possibility and practice of a more democratic university.

Democratization and Transitional Justice in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Paula NASCIMENTO ARAUJO

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Brazil experienced a long process of political transition featured by an intense game of political and social forces, in which different actors with different democratization projects clashed. Despite the leadership of the transition process have been in the hands of conservative elites linked to the military dictatorship, broad sectors of the oposition and of the lefts, as well as representants of social movements, disputed the transitional space and expanded the initial design of the regime. This long transition —marked by negotiations, frustrations and resilience— reflected on the transitional justice model adopted by the country. Almost 30 years after the end of military dictatorship, the Truth Commission established by President Dilma Rousseff in 2012, drew attention to issues related to memory, justice and reparation and showed that the democratization process, in some respects, is still incloncluded. This article aims to restore this historical process highlighting some of its characteristics and specificities.

Linked Data: what does it offer Earth Sciences?

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Simon; Schade, Sven

2010-05-01

'Linked Data' is a current buzz-phrase promoting access to various forms of data on the internet. It starts from the two principles that have underpinned the architecture and scalability of the World Wide Web: 1. Universal Resource Identifiers - using the http protocol which is supported by the DNS system. 2. Hypertext - in which URIs of related resources are embedded within a document. Browsing is the key mode of interaction, with traversal of links between resources under control of the client. Linked Data also adds, or re-emphasizes: • Content negotiation - whereby the client uses http headers to tell the service what representation of a resource is acceptable, • Semantic Web principles - formal semantics for links, following the RDF data model and encoding, and • The 'mashup' effect - in which original and unexpected value may emerge from reuse of data, even if published in raw or unpolished form. Linked Data promotes typed links to all kinds of data, so is where the semantic web meets the 'deep web', i.e. resources which may be accessed using web protocols, but are in representations not indexed by search engines. Earth sciences are data rich, but with a strong legacy of specialized formats managed and processed by disconnected applications. However, most contemporary research problems require a cross-disciplinary approach, in which the heterogeneity resulting from that legacy is a significant challenge. In this context, Linked Data clearly has much to offer the earth sciences. But, there are some important questions to answer. What is a resource? Most earth science data is organized in arrays and databases. A subset useful for a particular study is usually identified by a parameterized query. The Linked Data paradigm emerged from the world of documents, and will often only resolve data-sets. It is impractical to create even nested navigation resources containing links to all potentially useful objects or subsets. From the viewpoint of human user

Missing Links: Gender Equity in Science and Technology for ...

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

Missing Links: Gender Equity in Science and Technology for Development. Book cover ... Gender Working Group of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development. Publisher(s): ... Knowledge. Innovation.

Laying the Foundations for Democratic Behavior - A Comparison of Two Different Approaches to Democratic Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viola HUANG

2014-07-01

Full Text Available A democracy is a society in which everyone has equal rights and is able to participate in decision-making processes. Consequently, in a democratic society, democratic behavior is essential. This work investigates the question: In what ways and to what extent can alternative models of education support the development of democratic skills in children? To explore this question, the author analyzes and compares two different approaches to democratic education: The Sudbury approach and the democratic free school approach. The study is based on qualitative research participant observation and open-ended interviews conducted at different Sudbury and democratic free schools in the US.

The Scientific & Democratic Revolution in Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramón Flecha

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The main issue dealt with in this theoretical paper is the explanation of the starting scientific and democratic revolution both in the educative field and in the educative research. In addition, evidence-based arguments are included to provide validity of some affirmations. The first section argues that the social sciences are the daughters and an essential part of democracy. A few historical arguments about the way in which the dominant classes have slowed down the scientific progress and the development of people that make it possible. In the second section, it is analyzed the opposition of feudal universities to this unstoppable beginning of what could be called the scientific and democratic revolution. At the same time, we deal with its ambivalent character requiring to be supported and to be criticized so that it can be improved. In the third section, we expound the way in which this progress has provide some conditions that makes it possible to overcome the strong gender-based violence happening in our institutions of higher education and makes it also possible that women who were persecuted are now transforming our universities. Influences and criticism to our university feudalism, made by social movements such as the named 'Spanish Revolution', appear in the fourth section. In the fifth and last section, we offer a proposal to promote the scientific, democratic, and revolutionary approach of the university.

Links in the Chain: Bringing Together Literacy and Science

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Neil; Hansford, Diane; Rizk, Nadya; Taylor, Subhashni

2017-01-01

In Australia, the Federal Government and the Australian Academy of Science have developed a programme entitled "Primary Connections" (primaryconnections.org. au), aimed at supporting the teaching of science in the primary sector. The programme makes strong and explicit links between science and literacy through the use of word walls,…

Democratic cultural policy : democratic forms and policy consequences

OpenAIRE

Gray, Clive

2012-01-01

The forms that are adopted to give practical meaning to democracy are assessed to identify what their implications are for the production of public policies in general and cultural policies in particular. A comparison of direct, representative, democratic elitist and deliberative versions of democracy identifies clear differences between them in terms of policy form and democratic practice. Further elaboration of these differences and their consequences are identified as areas for further res...

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.

Ancient Athenian Democratic Knowledge and Citizenship: Connectivity and Intercultural Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Gundara, Jagdish S.

2011-01-01

This paper explores the implications that ancient Athens had for modern representative democracies and the links that can be made to the philosophical principles that form the essence of intercultural education. Such an exploration shows that modern democratic societies have ignored many key aspects of the important legacy left to us by these…

Laying the Foundations for Democratic Behavior - A Comparison of Two Different Approaches to Democratic Education

OpenAIRE

Viola HUANG

2014-01-01

A democracy is a society in which everyone has equal rights and is able to participate in decision-making processes. Consequently, in a democratic society, democratic behavior is essential. This work investigates the question: In what ways and to what extent can alternative models of education support the development of democratic skills in children? To explore this question, the author analyzes and compares two different approaches to democratic education: The Sudbury approach and the democr...

The democratic role orientation by journalists

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svith, Flemming

This paper investigates the democratic role orientation in news media and the perception and preference in the population towards the democratic practice of these news media.......This paper investigates the democratic role orientation in news media and the perception and preference in the population towards the democratic practice of these news media....

Leadership in a Democratic School

Science.gov (United States)

McCormick, Paul R.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of a democratic school leader and understand how his conception of leadership is congruent or incongruent with notions of democracy and democratic leadership. This small, participant-observer case study follows a democratic school leader and his staff for a year and examines those challenges…

Articles and Links of Interest | Women in Science | Initiatives | Indian ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Initiatives; Women in Science; Articles and Links of Interest ... Tata Group dedicates second 'Career Opportunity' to women; Women and Science: Gender difference, gender ... Women in physics - Current Science journal ... at a young age of 52, after a valiant battle with cancer, today on 29th March 2016 in Delhi.

How democratic are Networks?- A framework for Assessing the Democratic Effects of Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agger, Annika; Löfgren, Karl

: How can we assess the democratic effects of formal network mobilisation?  The article will present a tentative framework deriving criteria from both traditional democratic theory, as well as new theories on democratic governance and collaborative planning, which can be deployed for empirical studies......There has, since the end of the 1980s, been a growing interest in western democracies for formally involving citizens in various local planning activities through network governance. The overarching goal has been to increase efficiency in local planning. Equally, it has also been accompanied...... by an underlying idea of enhancing public participation and mobilising the citizens, thereby strengthening local democracy. Even though much is written about these initiatives, the actual democratic effects of these activities have been notably overlooked in the literature. Both among scholars, as well...

An ethic for a politic of history in a democratic setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Warring, Anette Elisabeth

2013-01-01

The article argues that the point of departure for the societal role of historians and of the science of history should be an ethic for a politic of history in a democratic setting designed to increase the individual's autonomous power to take action. The article discusses what this implies...

[The democratic side of science-fiction].

Science.gov (United States)

Lecellier, Charles-Henri

2011-04-01

Suspicion towards technological advances has progressively grown during the xx(th) century. However, in the XXI(st) century, reading the NBIC (nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science) report of the National Science Foundation, we can note that science has caught up with science fiction. These changes in public mentality on one side and in scientific capacities on the other argue for an evolution of the debate on sciences. The recent example of the national debate on nanotechnology in France has clearly shown that the public is no longer waiting for additional sources of scientific knowledge but rather waiting for the recognition of its authority to participate in the definition of the national R&D priority and associated scientific strategies. This is all the more legitimate that these strategies will have profound impact on the future of our societies and therefore cannot be decided only by scientists. Hence, it is crucial to identify innovative tools promoting debate on sciences and their technological spin-off. Here, we contend that science fiction has major assets that could face this challenge and facilitate the dialogue between sciences and society.

Revisiting Liberal Democratic Universalism: A Critical Rhetoric of the Liberal Democratic World Order

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rose Joy E. Smith

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Liberal democracy has become the predominant political regime in the 21st century even in countries that have little or no history of ‘democratic structures and practices’. However, it seems as though setting up a functional, stable, and viable democratic state is harder than overthrowing autocratic rulers. This rhetorical criticism explores gridlocks that hamper the development of universal liberal democratic values by emphasizing the Western hegemonic status of defining what liberal democracy is. It is pertinent to look into this dominant role considering that it is through these values that actions, policies, and other values are to be construed and judged. This paper aims to (1 highlight the role of moral cosmopolitanism as the initial step of Western hegemony, (2 identify the paradox of defining liberal democracy as universal but treating it as a particular, and (3 discuss the ironies of democratic imperialism and its hindrance to self-determination. This paper hopes to shed some light in the importance of various interpretations, definitions, and adaptations of liberal democratic values depending on the context of the society incorporating, its culture, its values, and its identity, in order to find a more comprehensive definition of democracy.

Party policy position of Die Linke. A continuation of the PDS?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Coffé, H.R.; Plassa, R.

2010-01-01

In 2007, the German party Die Linke emerged as the result of the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism; the successor of the Communist Party) merging with the WASG (Wahlalternative Arbeit und Soziale Gerechtigkeit; a break away left wing of the Social Democrats). This article compares the policy

From Representation to Participation: A More Democratic European Union?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcela Monica Stoica

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The present paper analyzes the evolution and characteristics of the democratic process in theEuropean Union from the perspective of political science using the recent theories in this field. Following theentry into force, the Treaty of Lisbon establishes the principle of participatory democracy that puts the focusof the European citizen, a citizen who is actively involved in European Union life, strengthening EU - citizenrelationship. The essence of participatory democracy is the destruction of political apathy and the maximizingof active participation of citizens in the democratic tasks. So, the basic principle of the participatorydemocracy is solidarity. The results of this analysis show that although participatory democracy is establishedin the European law, citizens are less involved in the decision-making in EU and are more and moreindividual, contradicting thus the very foundations of this type of democracy.

Degrees of democraticity

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Lars Bergström

2011-05-01

Full Text Available People have tended to load their different conceptions of democracy with their own political ideals; in this paper it is argued that normative and definitional questions should rather be separated, so that political philosophers and political scientists may adopt the same concept of democracy, even if they disagree normatively or politically. Moreover, it is argued that we should replace an absolute notion of democracy by a relativized notion, which allows for different degrees of democraticity. This facilitates the separation of normative and conceptual issues and it is convenient in contexts in which “democratic deficits” are discussed – as e.g. when democracy is to be implemented on a supranational level. Moreover, it has the consequence that democratic deficits are not necessarily bad. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1837342

Democratic Leadership in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Woods, Philip A.

2005-01-01

In this book Philip Woods turns his attention to issues of democracy and leadership. He has provided an eloquent, intellectually compelling and sophisticated account of a new leadership label--democratic leadership. He argues that the purpose of "democratic" leadership is to create and help sustain an environment that enables everyone…

Science and Religion in Liberal Democracy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jønch-Clausen, Karin

The dissertation explores the role of scientific rationality and religious reasoning in democratic law and policymaking. How does legitimate law and policymaking proceed in light of disagreements on science and religion? This question is addressed within the framework of public reason. Roughly pu...... concerning the role science and religion in political deliberation challenge the public reason framework as viable vehicle for pursuing democratic legitimacy? The dissertation discusses these and other questions related to the special role of science and religion in liberal democracy....

Democratization of Science and Biotechnological Development ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

sulaiman.adebowale

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, 2008 ... tendant ideas of Science Communication and Public Understanding of Biotech- .... human development in the new South Africa – no matter how development.

Exploring the Links between Adult Education and Human Resource Development: Learning, Risk-Taking, and Democratic Discourse

Science.gov (United States)

Reio, Thomas G., Jr.

2013-01-01

Learning is indeed an integral component of adapting successfully to an ever-changing world, one full of intriguing possibilities and insidious barriers. Democratic societies establish educative systems where learning and development is promoted to advance a citizenry of skillful problem solvers, knowledgeable decision makers, incisive risk…

Linking Science Fiction and Physics Courses

Science.gov (United States)

McBride, Krista K.

2016-05-01

Generally, cohorts or learning communities enrich higher learning in students. Learning communities consist of conventionally separate groups of students that meet together with common academic purposes and goals. Types of learning communities include paired courses with concurrent student enrollment, living-learning communities, and faculty learning communities. This article discusses a learning community of 21 students that I created with a colleague in the English department. The community encompasses two general education courses: an algebra-based physics course entitled "Intro to Physics" and a literature course entitled "Science Fiction, Science Fact." Students must enroll in both of these courses during the same semester. Additionally, I highlight advantages to linking these courses through surveying the assignments and course materials that we used in our learning community. Figure 1 shows the topics that are covered in both physics and literature courses.

Individually Linked Household and Health Facility Vaccination Survey in 12 At-risk Districts in Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of Congo: Methods and Metadata.

Science.gov (United States)

Burnett, Eleanor; Wannemuehler, Kathleen; Ngoie Mwamba, Guillaume; Yolande, Masembe; Guylain, Kaya; Muriel, Nzazi Nsambu; Cathy, Nzuzi; Patrice, Tshekoya; Wilkins, Karen; Yoloyolo, Norbert

2017-07-01

Health facility (HF) and household (HH) data can complement each other to provide a better understanding of the factors that contribute to vaccination status. In 12 zones with low vaccination coverage within Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, we conducted 2 surveys: (1) a linked HH and HF survey among 6-11-month-old infants, and (2) a HH survey among 12-23-month-old children. Linked survey objectives were to identify factors associated with vaccination status and to explore methodological considerations for linked survey implementation. To provide linked HH and HF data, we enrolled 6-11-month-old infants in HH clusters in each zone and then surveyed HFs located within the 12 zones and cited by caregivers of the enrolled infants as the most recent HF visited for vaccination or curative care. To provide vaccination coverage estimates for the 12-zone area, we enrolled 12-23-month-old children in every fourth HH. Of the HHs with a child aged 6-23 months, 16% were ineligible because they had resided in the neighborhood for one of the 182 surveyed HFs. For the coverage survey, 710 children aged 12-23 months participated. Home-based vaccination cards were available for 1210 of 1934 children (63%) surveyed. The surveys were successful in assessing HH information for 2 age groups, documenting written vaccination history for a large proportion of 6-23-month-old children, linking the majority of infants with their most recently visited HF, and surveying identified HFs. The implementation of the individually linked survey also highlighted the need for a comprehensive list of HFs and an analysis plan that addresses cross-classified clusters with only 1 child. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

democratic approaches to environmental education: dream or ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

processes of democratic pedagogy are often antithetical to the processes of contemporary schooling. Based on a case study of an attempt at democratic pedagogy in an Australian primary school, this paper explores some of the factors that may ... individual citizens for participation in and commit- ment to democratic ...

Communicating Science: The Profile of Science Journalists in Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Cassany, Roger; Cortiñas, Sergi; Elduque, Albert

2018-01-01

Science journalists are mainly responsible for publicly communicating science, which, in turn, is a major indicator of the social development of democratic societies. The transmission of quality scientific information that is rigorously researched and understandable is therefore crucial, and demand for this kind of information from both…

The democratizing impact of governance networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Eva; Torfing, Jacob

2018-01-01

impact of governance networks. It claims that the initial celebration of the pluralization of public governance and the subsequent call for a democratic anchorage of governance networks should give way to a new concern for how governance networks can strengthen and democratize political leadership. Tying......Initially, governance networks were intended as tools for making public governance more effective. Yet, scholars have argued that governance networks also have the potential to democratize public governance. This article provides an overview of theoretical arguments pertaining to the democratizing...... political leadership to networked processes of collaborative governance fosters ‘interactive political leadership’. The article presents theoretical arguments in support of interactive political leadership, and provides an illustrative case study of a recent attempt to strengthen political leadership...

The science teacher as the organic link in science learning: Identity, motives, and capital transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Alexakos, Konstantinos

This life history study is based on in-depth interviews of five science teachers and explores themes of science teachers' experiences as science learners and how these experiences frame what I have come to call "the subjective aspects of teaching." These themes seem to imply that through such individual experiences individuals develop a personally unique lens through which they view and interpret science, science meanings, and science teaching and learning. Emerging themes created new questions to pursue and they in turn produced new themes. These were further investigated in an attempt to connect science learning and science teachers to broader issues in society. These themes include that of a dynamic, dialectical learning and understanding of science by the participants, developed and influenced through a combination of their families, their schools, and their professional experiences, and in which morals and passion play major roles. The theme of the "organic link" is also introduced and developed in this research. It includes these individuals' views of science and the scientific enterprise, their path to learning, their morals, passions, and choices, and their way of constructing knowledge and the transmission of such a process. As organic links, they are seen as a direct and necessary social connection between science and the science learner, and they foster educational experiences grounded in the social lives of their students. Not only are they seen as "transmitters" of science knowledge and the process of constructing knowledge, but they are also seen as correcting and adjusting perceived diversions of the students' thinking from that of their own. It is in this context that the concept of capital (human and cultural capital, as well as capital exchange) is also explored. These themes are seen as having immense impact on how these science teachers teach, where they teach, what is communicated to their students, and whether they become or remain science

The Digital Editions of Revista Estudos Feministas (and the Democratization of the Access to the Scientific and Scademic Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sônia Weidner Maluf

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In this article we describe the electronic editions of Revista Estudos Feministas and our contribution towards a politics of democratization of the access to scientific and academic production. After a brief description of the three spaces of electronic editions of REF (the Electronic Library Scielo, the Scielo Social Science Portal and the Feminist Portal, we discuss the contribution of gender and feminist studies for the democratization of the access to the scientific and academic production.

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...

The Science of Science Communication and Protecting the Science Communication Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Kahan, D.

2012-12-01

Promoting public comprehension of science is only one aim of the science of science communication and is likely not the most important one for the well-being of a democratic society. Ordinary citizens form quadrillions of correct beliefs on matters that turn on complicated scientific principles they cannot even identify much less understand. The reason they fail to converge on beliefs consistent with scientific evidence on certain other consequential matters—from climate change to genetically modified foods to compusory adolescent HPV vaccination—is not the failure of scientists or science communicators to speak clearly or the inability of ordinary citizens to understand what they are saying. Rather, the source of such conflict is the proliferation of antagonistic cultural meanings. When they become attached to particular facts that admit of scientific investigation, these meanings are a kind of pollution of the science communication environment that disables the faculties ordinary citizens use to reliably absorb collective knowledge from their everyday interactions. The quality of the science communication environment is thus just as critical for enlightened self-government as the quality of the natural environment is for the physical health and well-being of a society's members. Understanding how this science communication environment works, fashioning procedures to prevent it from becoming contaminated with antagonistic meanings, and formulating effective interventions to detoxify it when protective strategies fail—those are the most critical functions science communication can perform in a democratic society.

DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDES OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Müge TAÇMAN

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The primary aim of this study was to determine the democratic attitudes of the classroomteachers. This study is a descriptive research. In this research, democratic attitude scala which was developed by“published for the attitude research labaratory” and adapted to Turkish educational system by Gözütok (1995 wasused. Research group consisted fifty teachers from four private primary schools in Ankara. The data were analyzed byone way ANOVA. According of the results of the research, democratic attitudes of teachers have been discriminated onteachers’ sexuality, seniority and graduate level

Advancing Democratic Leadership through Critical Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Lees, Kimberly A.

1995-01-01

Examines how the concepts advanced by critical theorists exemplify democratic leadership. The concept of democratic leadership is explored as a moral imperative of human issues, and the implications of leadership behavior that emulate the principles of democracy are discussed. (SLD)

Towards Science for Democratic Sustainable Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Jonas Egmose

residents, sustainability resear- chers and practitioners in deliberating on how future research can meet societal challenges of urban sustainability. Based on the research project Citizen Science for Sustainability (SuScit) I analyse how orientations towards sustainability can be understood and challenged...... of urban everyday life, confronting academic concepts of sustainability. This process not at least calls for reflexivity among researchers facing the challenge how science can further sustainability through community engagement. To conceptualise this dynamic I propose the concept of creation and doubling...

Improving democratic governance through institutional design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torfing, Jacob; Skelcher, Chris

2010-01-01

the democratic governance of regulatory policies in Europe, and highlight the way in which civic participation and democratic ownership is given equal weight to economic competitiveness. We then discuss the potential for institutionalized participatory governance to develop and its prospects for improving...

Democratic management and architecture school

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvana Aparecida de Souza

2011-10-01

Full Text Available It is a conceptual and theoretical research on school organization and its democratization, focusing on one aspect of an objective nature: its architecture. The study was based on the academic literature on democratization and theoretical contribution of Michel Foucault, with regard to the analysis of space as a resourcecontrol, surveillance and training, going through a historical review of the modelconstruction of school buildings in Brazil. It is therefore a sociological analysis of the school environment, in relation to the democratization process of basic education, understood as ensuring that the conditions of access and permanence to a universalquality education, and conceived and gestated from collective interests of its users.We conclude that the architecture of public schools in Brazil do not provides democratic management, either by format controller of buildings constructed in the republican period, either by the current economic priority for the construction of public school buildings, which includes little or no space for collective activities. The character of the buildings remains controller, no more for its architecture, but made possible by technological development, which allows monitoring by video cameras, which is made with the permission and support of community.

The Democratic Vision of Carl Schmitt

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Søren Hviid

2013-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to justify two propositions. One, that Schmitt’s political vision is indeed democratic and second, that Schmitt’s democratic vision, plebiscitary or leadership democracy, is better adapted to our modern political condition and the challenges confronting modern...

Democratic Legitimacy and the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holzhacker, Ronald

2007-01-01

This is an introduction to a Special Issue that first considers representative and deliberative conceptions of democratic legitimacy in the EU, and then presents empirical research on how the institutions of the EU are attempting to increase the democratic legitimacy of the multi-level political

Conceptualizing Education Policy in Democratic Societies

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Laura B.

2009-01-01

Although theorists and policy makers agree that schooling should be democratic, what this exactly means often varies. This article establishes a conceptual model for analyzing education policy in democratic societies, based on the key concepts of equality, diversity, participation, choice, and cohesion. The model facilitates the design,…

Neoliberal Ideology and Democratic Learning. A Response to "Challenging Freedom: Neoliberalism and the Erosion of Democratic Education"

Science.gov (United States)

Hyslop-Margison, Emery James; Ramirez, Andres

2016-01-01

In "Challenging Freedom: Neoliberalism and the Erosion of Democratic Education," the author suggests that the presumed decline of democratic learning in public schooling follows from two primary forces: (a) the metaphysical implications of Cartesian psychophysical dualism that support an ontological understanding of the self as distinct…

BRICS Countries and Democratic Contagion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Bruno

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article explores whether the interstate dynamics of the BRICS can activate those processes of convergence of politicalregimes and practices known as “democratic contagion.” As this contagion was experienced during the “third wave” ofdemocratization, mainly because of homogeneity among states and structural conditions for democratic attraction, theBRICS are not likely to repeat these dynamics. On the contrary, the only real constitutional homogeneity among the BRICScountries is the standard of non-interference in the internal affairs of each member. Non-interference also means abstainingfrom any initiative to condition the transformation of political regimes in consideration of the same interstate cooperation. Thedynamics of the BRICS shows that different political regimes can promote institutionalized forms of interstate cooperationwithout any mutual contamination at the constitutional level. The theories of “transition” and “democratic contagion” areinsufficient to understand these dynamics in the context of the BRICS; for this reason, the theory of democratic transitioncannot provide an adequate analysis of BRICS. With its members “split in unity,” as an institution the BRICS suggests anevolution toward a model of “not eurocentric dependence” that can overcome the “peripheral realism” of the role of eachstate in its own foreign policy.

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND THE POOR: ADJUSTING TO ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

CIU

what actually constitute the fundamental challenges of the Nigerian democratic ... Democratic governance has inherent checks and balance principles that ..... billion on less than $2 a day globally (WDI, 2012), with Africa accounting for a large.

The Democratic Process: Promises and Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Bragaw, Donald, Ed.

When the Berlin Wall (East Germany) came down, it symbolically foretold the end of the Soviet Union domination of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This resource guide examines the process toward democratization occurring in those regions. The guide updates the available classroom material on the democratic process. It is divided into three…

Democratic Citizenship: European referents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María PUIG GUTIÉRREZ

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Let’s sense beforehand in this article a tour concerning the educational European policies that favors the development of a democratic citizenship. The aim that we chase is to understand the way in which nowadays it is being interpreted and stimulated the Citizenship education from European Union. for it we offer a conceptual delimiting of «Citizenship education» and later, we show an analysis of the principal documents and materials elaborated principally by the Council of Europe that mark the way followed by European Union as for education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC.

Measuring the democratic anchorage of governance networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fotel, Trine; Sørensen, Eva; Torfing, Jacob

There has been a growing debate about the democratic problems and potentials of governance networks among political scientists and public managers. While some claim that governance networks tend to undermine democracy, others argue that they have the potential to improve and strengthen democracy....... This debate is found wanting in two respects. First of all, there has been far too little discussion about what democracy means in relation to pluricentric governance networks. Second, the current debate builds on the assumption that it is possible to give a clear-cut answer to the question of the democratic...... problems and merits of governance networks. This assumption is highly questionable, and prevents a more nuanced assessment of the democratic performance of governance networks. As such, it diverts the focus of attention away from the fact that governance networks may be democratic in some respects...

Science in the Trump era

Science.gov (United States)

Durrani, Matin

2017-04-01

US physicist Rush Holt, who spent 16 years as a Democrat in the US Congress and is now chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, talks to Matin Durrani about the prospects for science with Donald Trump as president

Is John Locke a democrat?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensson, Palle

  Over recent years there has been a tendency to present John Locke as an equalitarian democrat (Ashcraft) and being close to the political views of the levellers (Waldron). This is not a completely new interpretation (Kendall, 1941), but contrasts with the prevalent view presented in textbooks (......, criteria for a democratic process, and the institutions of polyarchy. The conclusion has implications for the relationship between political liberalism and constitutionalism on the one hand and democracy on the other....

Democratic Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Apple, Michael W., Ed.; Beane, James A., Ed.

This book illustrates how educators in four U.S. communities committed themselves to preparing students for the democratic way of life. In four narratives, educators directly involved in four different school-reform efforts describe how they initiated demographic practices in their educational settings. The four schools serve as reminders that…

Form Characteristics of Regional Security Organizations - The Missing Link in the Explanation of the Democratic Peace

OpenAIRE

Dembinski, Matthias; Freistein, Katja; Weiffen, Brigitte

2006-01-01

This paper contributes both to the debate on the effects of regional security organizations and to the debate on democratic peace. It argues that even if international organizations as such may not be able to influence the conflict behavior of their member states, the subgroup of interdemocratic institutions is well suited to do so. The form of interdemocratic institutions differs in two significant respects from the form of traditional institutions: they are more densely connected via transn...

Improving drug policy: The potential of broader democratic participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritter, Alison; Lancaster, Kari; Diprose, Rosalyn

2018-05-01

Policies concerned with illicit drugs vex governments. While the 'evidence-based policy' paradigm argues that governments should be informed by 'what works', in practice policy makers rarely operate this way. Moreover the evidence-based policy paradigm fails to account for democratic participatory processes, particularly how community members and people who use drugs might be included. The aim of this paper is to explore the political science thinking about democratic participation and the potential afforded in 'deliberative democracy' approaches, such as Citizens Juries and other mini-publics for improved drug policy processes. Deliberative democracy, through its focus on inclusion, equality and reasoned discussion, shows potential for drug policy reform and shifts the focus from reliance on and privileging of experts and scientific evidence. But the very nature of this kind of 'deliberation' may delimit participation, notably through its insistence on authorised modes of communication. Other forms of participation beyond reasoned deliberation aligned with the ontological view that participatory processes themselves are constitutive of subject positions and policy problems, may generate opportunities for considering how the deleterious effects of authorised modes of communication might be overcome. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Saving Democratic Education from Itself: Why We Need Homeschooling

Science.gov (United States)

Glanzer, Perry L.

2013-01-01

We need homeschooling to save education in a liberal democracy from taking a religious form--what I call Democratic Education. Democratic Education emerges when the democratic identity and narrative become elevated to the highest priority when thinking about educating human beings. This elevation becomes particularly dangerous when other…

Democratic Citizenship and the “Crisis in Humanities”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicki A. Spencer

2014-08-01

Full Text Available As a consequence of the recent global recession, a new “crisis in the humanities” has been declared, and ideas of how best to defend the humanities have been vigorously debated. Placing this “crisis” in the context of neoliberal reforms to higher education since the 1980s, I examine the argument expounded by Martha Nussbaum that the very foundation of democratic citizenship is at stake. I indicate a number of problems with Nussbaum’s case. First, to resist the neoliberal agenda that pits disciplines against one another, I maintain that we need to understand the humanities broadly to include the social sciences. Second, I indicate that the humanities are not just important to democracies, but are a vital aspect of any society because they form a crucial part of human existence. Third, I argue that the humanities are important to democratic societies not merely because they promote critical thinking about our political processes and sympathetic understanding as Nussbaum argues. More fundamentally, the diversity of the humanities in both their content and approaches to knowledge is central to freedom. Finally, I warn against framing the challenges facing the humanities in terms of a crisis discourse that deprecates freedom in accord with the neoliberal agenda.

Strengthening the link between science and society

CERN Multimedia

Katarina Anthony

2011-01-01

On Friday 8 July, the lifts in the Main Building filled with directors-general, assistant directors-general, chiefs of staff, and secretaries-general from a veritable alphabet soup of international organisations. They were heading to a round-table discussion about science and society, chaired by CERN Director-General, Rolf Heuer. “We need to get away from talking like the dense books we read, and start speaking in ‘normal’ language,” said one of the delegates during the round table. The 19 high-ranking delegates from UNESCO, DOE, WHO, WMO, and OECD – to name but a few – sat over coffee and a working lunch, sharing ideas and opinions in a deliberately informal setting. Are the benefits of science being appropriately communicated to decision makers? How will basic research cope during these tough economic times? How can the applications of scientific research be more firmly linked to basic scientific research? Delegates jumped from topic to topic: fr...

A Renormalization Group Like Model for a Democratic Dictatorship

Science.gov (United States)

Galam, Serge

2015-03-01

We review a model of sociophysics which deals with democratic voting in bottom up hierarchical systems. The connection to the original physical model and technics are outlined underlining both the similarities and the differences. Emphasis is put on the numerous novel and counterintuitive results obtained with respect to the associated social and political framework. Using this model a real political event was successfully predicted with the victory of the French extreme right party in the 2000 first round of French presidential elections. The perspectives and the challenges to make sociophysics a predictive solid field of science are discussed.

Democratic and Republican physicians provide different care on politicized health issues

Science.gov (United States)

Hersh, Eitan D.; Goldenberg, Matthew N.

2016-01-01

Physicians frequently interact with patients about politically salient health issues, such as drug use, firearm safety, and sexual behavior. We investigate whether physicians’ own political views affect their treatment decisions on these issues. We linked the records of over 20,000 primary care physicians in 29 US states to a voter registration database, obtaining the physicians’ political party affiliations. We then surveyed a sample of Democratic and Republican primary care physicians. Respondents evaluated nine patient vignettes, three of which addressed especially politicized health issues (marijuana, abortion, and firearm storage). Physicians rated the seriousness of the issue presented in each vignette and their likelihood of engaging in specific management options. On the politicized health issues—and only on such issues—Democratic and Republican physicians differed substantially in their expressed concern and their recommended treatment plan. We control for physician demographics (like age, gender, and religiosity), patient population, and geography. Physician partisan bias can lead to unwarranted variation in patient care. Awareness of how a physician’s political attitudes might affect patient care is important to physicians and patients alike. PMID:27698126

Meritocratic administration and democratic stability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cornell, Agnes; Lapuente, Victor

2014-01-01

, in democracies with meritocratic administrations, incumbents are credibly constrained from undertaking partial policies because their hands are tied in terms of managing the staff policy of the state apparatus. Consequently, countries with meritocratic bureaucracies have greater prospects for democratic...... stability. Empirically, we illustrate the mechanisms with two well-documented cases of democratic transitions that enshrined a politicized administration – Spain (1876–1936) and Venezuela (1958–1998) – and one transition that kept a meritocratic bureaucracy, Spain (1975–)....

Democratic learning in the Aalborg Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qvist, Palle

A democratic learning system can be defined as a system where decisions, processes and behaviour related to learning are established through argumentation (discussion) or negotiation (dialog), voting or consensus (alone or in combination) between those affected by the decision simultaneously...... reaching the learning outcomes, the technical and professional knowledge and insight. In principle the participants must be equal with equal rights and feel committed to the values of rationality and impartiality. The Aalborg Model is an example of a democratic learning system although not 100% democratic......, processes and behaviour related to learning can be established through argumentation (discussion) or negotiation (dialog), voting or consensus (alone or in combination) within the group simultaneously reaching the learning outcomes, the technical and professional knowledge and insight. This article...

The Arab Media: Localizing Its Democratic Potential

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-01

of others’” and therefore could be viewed as a legitimate function of the state. 32 Noam Chomsky , Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic...Social Movements.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 24, no. 1 (Winter 1999): 1–34. Chomsky , Noam. Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic

Democratic survival in Latin America (1945-2005

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aníbal PÉREZ-LIÑÁN

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Why do democracies survive or break down? In this paper, it returns to this classic question with an empirical focus on Latin America from 1945 to 2005. The argument deviates from the quantitative literature and a good part of the qualitative literature on democratic survival and breakdown. It is argued that structural variables such as the level of development and inequalities have not shaped prospects for democratic survival in Latin America. Nor, contrary to findings in some of the literature, has economic performance affected the survival of competitive regimes. Instead, it is focused on the regional political environment and on actors’ normative preferences about democracy and dictatorship and their policy radicalism or moderation. It is argued that 1 a higher level of development did not increase the likelihood of democratic survival in Latin America over this long time; 2 if actors have a normative preference for democracy, it is more likely to survive; and 3 policy moderation facilitates democratic survival.

Democratic design experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ehn, Pelle; Brandt, Eva; Halse, Joachim

2016-01-01

Designers and design researchers are increasingly exploring societal challenges through engagements with issues that call forward new publics and new modes of democratic citizenship. Whatever this is called design activism, social design, adversarial design, participatory design or something else...

Science Education for Democratic Citizenship through the Use of the History of Science

Science.gov (United States)

Kolsto, Stein Dankert

2008-01-01

Scholars have argued that the history of science might facilitate an understanding of processes of science. Focusing on science education for citizenship and active involvement in debates on socioscientific issues, one might argue that today's post-academic science differs from academic science in the past, making the history of academic science…

The abundant world: Paul Feyerabend's metaphysics of science.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Matthew J

2016-06-01

The goal of this paper is to provide an interpretation of Feyerabend's metaphysics of science as found in late works like Conquest of Abundance and Tyranny of Science. Feyerabend's late metaphysics consists of an attempt to criticize and provide a systematic alternative to traditional scientific realism, a package of views he sometimes referred to as "scientific materialism." Scientific materialism is objectionable not only on metaphysical grounds, nor because it provides a poor ground for understanding science, but because it implies problematic claims about the epistemic and cultural authority of science, claims incompatible with situating science properly in democratic societies. I show how Feyerabend's metaphysical view, which I call "the abundant world" or "abundant realism," constitute a sophisticated and challenging form of ontological pluralism that makes interesting connections with contemporary philosophy of science and issues of the political and policy role of science in a democratic society. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Democratic Surplus that Constitutionalised the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harste, Gorm

2015-01-01

This article questions the very foundation of the doctrine of a so-called “democratic deficit” in the EU. Yet in order to argue beyond nationalist myths, clear-cut concepts are necessary. Speaking about democracy in the EU, the article exposes four dimensions that constitute a “democratic surplus...... nation-state, the EU, secondly, is not build by nobles and monarchs, nor by war. Third, a separation of powers is obvious. And fourth, this article demonstrates how the EU rescued the democratic nation-state....

Social science that matters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flyvbjerg, Bent

2006-01-01

Social science is headed down a dead end toward mere scientism, becoming a second-rate version of the hard sciences. We neeed to recognise and support a different kind of social science research - and so should those who demand accountability from researchers. This paper asks what kind of social...... science we - scholars, policy makers, administrators - should and should not promote in democratic societies, and how we may hold social scientists accountable to deliver what we ask them for....

Do democratic institutions and foreign direct investment affect ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Do democratic institutions and foreign direct investment affect economic growth? Evidence from ... International Journal of Development and Management Review ... The importance of sound democratic institutional structures and foreign direct investment for enhancing economic growth is well documentedin literature.

Democratic values, emotions and emotivism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vranić Bojan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to explore the relation between democratic values and emotions. The author argues that democratic values and emotional judgments are inter-reducible: political agents use emotional judgments to reflexively evaluate normative paradigms of political life. In the first part of the paper, the author describes the state of emotions in contemporary political philosophy and identifies Charles Stevenson’s ethical conception of emotivism as the first comprehensive attempt to neutrally conceptualize emotions in moral and political thinking. The second part of the paper explores the shortcomings of emotivism and finds an adequate alternative in Martha Nussbaum’s concept of emotional judgment as the one that contains beliefs and values about social objects. In the final part of the paper, the author identifies that moral and political disagreements emerge in democracies from ranking of the importance of political objects. The evaluation criteria for this type of ranking is derived from democratic values which are reducible to agents’ emotional judgments. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179076

Democratic Leadership by Managing Meetings for Effective Group Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Mary; Forest, Robert

Instrumental to successful democratic leadership is the use of committees to solve management problems. In democratic leadership, a leader encourages participation and uses a guidance approach to direct a group toward consensus. This document offers leaders guidelines in effective democratic management of meetings. The authors first discuss the…

School education and democratic management of teaching: perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Máximo Augusto Campos Masson

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the management of education from the debate on the democratic management of social institutions, in particular, the school. It reflects on the changes that have occurred in the school due to the presence of new students belonging to the subaltern classes and the possibility of the democratic management of teaching being an important instrument for overcoming school failure. It discusses aspects of Brazilian legislation on the theme and the possibilities arising from the growth of political conservatism oppose initiatives to democratic management of education.

Between Democratic Security and Democratic Legality. Constitutional Politics and Presidential Re-election in Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Boesten

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an analysis of the political and legal debate of the declaration of unconstitutionality of the referendum that sought the re-election presidential second term in 2010. On the other hand, it exposes the debate between those who spoke of bias and political argument in the court ruling related to the idea of “democratic security”; while others speak of the persistence of “democratic legality” consisting of autonomy guaranteed legal reasoning from deliberative processes. Finally, it is noted that the degree of institutionalization of discourse of the Court is an important factor that speaks in favor of it’s independence.

Fields of Tension in a Boundary-Crossing World: Towards a Democratic Organization of the Self.

Science.gov (United States)

Hermans, Hubert J M; Konopka, Agnieszka; Oosterwegel, Annerieke; Zomer, Peter

2017-12-01

In their study of the relationship between self and society, scientists have proposed taking society as a metaphor for understanding the dynamics of the self, such as the analogy between the self and the functioning of a totalitarian state or the analogy between the self and the functioning of a bureaucratic organization. In addition to these models, the present article proposes a democratic society as a metaphor for understanding the workings of a dialogical self in a globalizing, boundary-crossing world. The article follows four steps. In the first step the self is depicted as extended to the social and societal environment and made up of fields of tension in which a multiplicity of self-positions are involved in processes of positioning and counter-positioning and in relationships of social power. In the second step, the fertility of the democratic metaphor is demonstrated by referring to theory and research from three identity perspectives: multicultural, multiracial, and transgender. In the fields of tension emerging between the multiplicity of self-positions, new, hybrid, and mixed identities have a chance to emerge as adaptive responses to the limitations of existing societal structures. In the third step, we place the democratic self in a broader societal context by linking three levels of inclusiveness, proposed by Self-Categorization Theory (personal, social, and human) to recent conceptions of a cosmopolitan democracy. In the fourth and final step, a model is presented which allows the formulation of a series of specific research questions for future studies of a democratically organized self.

Link Analysis of High Throughput Spacecraft Communication Systems for Future Science Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, Rainee N.

2015-01-01

NASA's plan to launch several spacecrafts into low Earth Orbit (LEO) to support science missions in the next ten years and beyond requires down link throughput on the order of several terabits per day. The ability to handle such a large volume of data far exceeds the capabilities of current systems. This paper proposes two solutions, first, a high data rate link between the LEO spacecraft and ground via relay satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO). Second, a high data rate direct to ground link from LEO. Next, the paper presents results from computer simulations carried out for both types of links taking into consideration spacecraft transmitter frequency, EIRP, and waveform; elevation angle dependent path loss through Earths atmosphere, and ground station receiver GT.

Democratization in Malawi

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Emmanuel, Nikolas G.

2013-01-01

a political conditionality approach. Few countries have felt the weight of conditionality as much as Malawi did in the 1990s. Here, donors were able to use aid sanctions to successfully encourage democratization, while strengthening the demands of domestic opposition forces. This paper argues that three...

Linking science and decision making to promote an ecology for the city: practices and opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan Grove; Daniel L. Childers; Michael Galvin; Sarah J. Hines; Tischa Munoz-Erickson; Erika S. Svendsen

2016-01-01

To promote urban sustainability and resilience, there is an increasing demand for actionable science that links science and decision making based on social–ecological knowledge. Approaches, frameworks, and practices for such actionable science are needed and have only begun to emerge. We propose that approaches based on the co- design and co- production of knowledge...

Democratic contract law

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hesselink, M.W.

2015-01-01

This article discusses the normative relationship between contract law and democracy. In particular, it argues that in order to be legitimate contract law needs to have a democratic basis. Private law is not different in this respect from public law. Thus, the first claim made in this article will

Ethiopia: A Democratic Developmental State?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fesseha Mulu Gebremariam

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The ruling Ethiopia People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF in its notable second reform appraisal held in the aftermath of the 2005 national election concluded that the utmost priority of the government should be realizing fastest and sustainable economic growth that fairly benefits its citizens’ unless the very existence of the country wouldn’t be guaranteed. Given the history of poverty reduction in developing countries, particularly in Africa, EPRDF realized that it is unthinkable to eradicate poverty from Ethiopia adopting neo-liberalism. Above all, the miraculous economic transformation of the South East Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong has proved that there is another way to development, not just neo-liberalism. Accordingly, EPRDF, after examining South Korea’s and Taiwan’s history of economic development in particular where both countries have had a large section of rural population unlike Hong Kong and Singapore where both are urban, found ‘developmental state’ relevant to Ethiopia. However, unlike these countries which were originally under non-democratic regimes where their leaders fear the rural peasant and external aggression from their communist rivals, EPRDF has had a great support of rural and urban population with no imminent foreign threat(s, and decided to execute the ideology rather under the umbrella of democracy. Therefore, employing secondary sources, this desk study aims to analyze whether Ethiopia is a ‘democratic developmental state?’ And, concludes that given the practices of the government vis-a-vis the principles of democracy and developmental state, Ethiopia couldn’t be taken as best model for democratic developmental state, rather emerging developmental state.

Democrats and republicans can be differentiated from their faces.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas O Rule

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Individuals' faces communicate a great deal of information about them. Although some of this information tends to be perceptually obvious (such as race and sex, much of it is perceptually ambiguous, without clear or obvious visual cues. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we found that individuals' political affiliations could be accurately discerned from their faces. In Study 1, perceivers were able to accurately distinguish whether U.S. Senate candidates were either Democrats or Republicans based on photos of their faces. Study 2 showed that these effects extended to Democrat and Republican college students, based on their senior yearbook photos. Study 3 then showed that these judgments were related to differences in perceived traits among the Democrat and Republican faces. Republicans were perceived as more powerful than Democrats. Moreover, as individual targets were perceived to be more powerful, they were more likely to be perceived as Republicans by others. Similarly, as individual targets were perceived to be warmer, they were more likely to be perceived as Democrats. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These data suggest that perceivers' beliefs about who is a Democrat and Republican may be based on perceptions of traits stereotypically associated with the two political parties and that, indeed, the guidance of these stereotypes may lead to categorizations of others' political affiliations at rates significantly more accurate than chance guessing.

The Media, Corruption and Democratic Accountability in Nigeria's ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Transparency and accountability are essential pillars of democratic government the world over. These virtues are significant in measuring the success or otherwise of any democratic system. Apart from the activities of anti-graft agencies in combating corruption in the society, the mass media are often looked upon as ...

Civil Society, Democratic Space, and Social Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neelmani Jaysawal

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Civil Society envisages the growth of civilization in a way that the society is in “civilized form.” It has been prominent in Social science since time immemorial. Till 18th century, it was synonymous with the state or political society. It was more or less direct translation of Cicero’s Societas’ Civilis and Aristotle’s Koinonia politike. According to Karl Marx, “Civil Society embraces the whole material intercourse of individuals within a definite stage of development of productive forces.” Civil Society is an arena where modern man legitimately gratifies his self-interest and develops his individuality, but also learns the value of group action, social solidarity which educates him for citizenship and equips him to participate in the political sphere of the state. It provides “networks of civic engagement” within which reciprocity is learned and enforced, trust is generated. An active and diverse civil society plays a valuable role in advancement of democracy. It seeks to ensure that citizen’s interests are taken seriously. The social work intervention may not be democratically envisaged until it is promulgated by civic engagement through Civil Society. Methodology: This is a descriptive study which consists of secondary source of data collection based on reports, books, periodic journals, web-based articles. There have been utilized three case studies for reaching the findings of study. This article will highlight on role of civil society in providing democratic space and assisting social workers to ensure inclusive growth through conglomeration of state and individuals.

Democratic Learning Processes: Conceptual and Historical Challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Ann-Dorte; Rasmussen, Palle

2009-01-01

In this article democratic learning is conceptualised with inspiration from two academic traditions, one being the conceptions of citizenship, political identities and deliberative democracy in political sociology; the other theories and research on social and lifelong learning. The first part......'s empowerment and inclusion in the Danish democratic model. On the background of these two analyses the authors finally discuss some current democratic problems with integrating the diversity represented by ethnic minority groups. The discussion emphasizes the learning theory perspective on the initiative...... of the article outlines the authors' understanding of the core concepts involved. In the second part these conceptual discussions are related to two themes: the question of public adaptation of historical experiences in connection with the German reunification and the learning perspectives related to women...

Media Literacy: A Central Component of Democratic Citizenship

Science.gov (United States)

Burroughs, Susie; Brocato, Kay; Hopper, Peggy F.; Sanders, Angela

2009-01-01

Educators from Europe, Latin America, and the United States convened to explore issues inherent in democratic citizenship. Media literacy, a central component of democratic citizenship, was studied in depth. Data from the camp were examined for evidence of the participants' understandings of media literacy and how it might be taught. Results…

Re-wilding Europe's traditional agricultural landscapes: Values and the link between science and practice

Science.gov (United States)

Paul H. Gobster

2014-01-01

Landscape and Urban Planning encourages multiple perspectives and approaches to help understand landscapes as social-ecological systems, with the goal that by building a robust science of landscape we can provide sustainable solutions for guiding its change. But the link between science and practice, or more simply put, between knowledge and action, is not always clear...

The social practice of psychology and the social sciences in a liberal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper explores the relevance of psychology and the social and human sciences in a changing South Africa. The new South Africa embraces a liberal democratic approach to government. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) is a policy document that articulates the goals of this liberal democratic ...

Educating for Participation: Democratic Life and Performative Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Radaelli, Eleonora

2015-01-01

A democratic life is a form of associated living that requires people to participate in a pluralistic dialogue in different spheres of the civic society: government, community, and work. Higher education classes have a leading role in preparing students for participation in a democratic society; however, more could be done, in particular focusing…

Why We Need to Question the Democratic Engagement of Adolescents in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isolde De Groot

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Since the beginning of the 21st century, academics in various disciplines have stressed the need to address democratic deficits in Europe as well as lacunae in the citizenship development of European youth. In this article we explore the value of various types of democratic engagement for strengthening the democratic character of local and international communities throughout Europe. To this end, we present our democratic engagement typology and its derivation from empirical and conceptual research, and discuss several strengths and limitations of each type of engagement. We also explain the additive value of our typology in relation to existing engagement typologies, and conclude that in order to vitalize democratic communities, local and (international communities and institutions also need to cultivate a thick type of democratic engagement among European youth.

Empowering pharmacoinformatics by linked life science data.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldmann, Daria; Zdrazil, Barbara; Digles, Daniela; Ecker, Gerhard F

2017-03-01

With the public availability of large data sources such as ChEMBLdb and the Open PHACTS Discovery Platform, retrieval of data sets for certain protein targets of interest with consistent assay conditions is no longer a time consuming process. Especially the use of workflow engines such as KNIME or Pipeline Pilot allows complex queries and enables to simultaneously search for several targets. Data can then directly be used as input to various ligand- and structure-based studies. In this contribution, using in-house projects on P-gp inhibition, transporter selectivity, and TRPV1 modulation we outline how the incorporation of linked life science data in the daily execution of projects allowed to expand our approaches from conventional Hansch analysis to complex, integrated multilayer models.

An Examination of Democratic Attitudes of Primary School Teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Gulec

2009-12-01

Full Text Available As democracy can develop better in a society of democratic people, democracy education can also get its intended goals better in a democratic school environment. As the most influential people in a school environment were teachers, this study, too, aimed to determine their levels of democratic attitudes. In the present study, 60 primary school teachers working in the schools attached to the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality were surveyed. The relationships between their attitudes and some variables were studied. These variables included school they work, age, gender, marital status, number of children they have, education level, teaching experience and number of broth-ers or sisters. The questionnaire used for this study was validated by Aydogan & Kukul (2003 based on previous studies made by Gomleksiz (1988, Yildirim (1994 and Atasoy (1997. For the validity of the questionnaire, Cronbach Alpha coefficient (0.829 was calculated. The results suggest that teachers show very positive attitude with a score of 103. When the items were examined individually, some significant relationships were found with the variables. Teachers should have positive democratic attitudes in order to give lessons of democracy to their students. An appropriate and encouraging environment should be prepared in order for students to gain desired democratic outcomes. In a democratic environment, teachers’ positive attitudes will help their students to gain critical thinking skills, effective discussion skills, capability for fighting against inequity, cooperation and collaboration skills, and showing empathy and respect for diversity.

Democratic Chaos: How Taiwanese Democracy Destabilized Cross-Strait Relations

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Newberry, David A

2005-01-01

Since 1988, democracy in Taiwan has evolved and developed a great deal. Experts argue whether this growth constitutes "democratic consolidation" but there is no contention of the idea that the ROC is more democratic now versus pre-1988...

Constitutional Politics, Constitutional Texts and Democratic Variety in Central and Eastern Europe

OpenAIRE

Blokker, Paul

2008-01-01

In the paper, it is argued that democratization in Central and Eastern Europe involves important forms of differentiation of democracy, rather than merely convergence to a singular – liberal-democratic, constitutional - model. One way of taking up democratic differentiation in post-communist societies is by analysing the constitutional documents of the new democratic orders, and the constitutional politics leading to the foundational documents. In a first step, the paper analyses constitution...

Openness, Web 2.0 Technology, and Open Science

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Michael A.

2010-01-01

Open science is a term that is being used in the literature to designate a form of science based on open source models or that utilizes principles of open access, open archiving and open publishing to promote scientific communication. Open science increasingly also refers to open governance and more democratized engagement and control of science…

Amateur knowledge: public art and citizen science.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Hannah

2011-01-01

The science studies literatures on amateurs and citizen science have remained largely unconnected despite similarities between the two categories. The essay connects amateur knowledge and citizen science through examples from public art. Through an analysis of the use of the term "amateur" by contemporary artists working to engage the public in critiques of science, connections in the ideals of democratic knowledge making by amateurs and citizen scientists are further explored.

A toolbox for democratic and parcticipatory methods in education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kolfschoten, G.L.

2012-01-01

With the trends in the use of social software and social media, a more informal and democratic online culture is developing, especially in younger generations. This culture is increasingly conflicting with traditional teaching styles. One of these trends involves the introduction of more democratic

Public Policies – Embodiments of Democratization Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorina Ţicu

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Public policies are the most practical part of the triad polity-politics-policy. Public policies are related to the practical areas of planning, implementation and evaluation of the governmental activities. From this perspective, to talk about a perfect public policy (or which aspires to perfection means to speak about an efficient institutional system of a state as a sign of its degree of democratization. This article aims to explore “the cuisine” of democratic systems taking into account the applied perspective of public policy functionality, a type of functionality which is determined by a particular decision, by a kind of rationality or motivation of the actors involved or by a type of an organizational culture. Thus, the study of democracies involves an analytical approach developed at a micro level (the types of parties, institutional designs, election systems, public policies becoming indices of democratization for every state system.

The Democratic Potential of Theatre Talks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Louise Ejgod

2014-01-01

approach to a target-oriented approach to audience development in which the content of the performance should be matched with certain audience segments. And fourth, the article points to an outcome of the experience related to the challenging of one own view point and thus expanding ones horizon....... of democratization of culture and the democracy theory by James S. Fishkin. The analysis is based on the empirical material of 31 theatre talks carried through as a part of an audience development project and is focused on four different aspects of the democratic potential of theatre: First, how the theatre talks...

Assessing Political Dynamics in Contemporary Malaysia: Implications for Democratic Change

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Surain Subramaniam

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article examines political dynamics in Malaysia and assesses the prospects for change in the direction of greater political liberalization. It focuses on the 12th General Election of 2008 and its implications for opportunities and challenges for liberal democratic change in Malaysia. It discusses the role of the internet-based new media in shaping an emerging public sphere, and some factors affecting the changing role of non-Malay voters in the political process. This article argues that democratization in Malaysia is already occurring, albeit at a gradual pace; it is being pushed by the new political forces of civil society actors, newly empowered opposition parties, and the internet-based media. The boundaries of this emerging democratic space is simultaneously being shaped and contested by the political competition between status-quo and reformist forces in this society. Some institutional changes have expanded the parameters of democratic space, although the entrenched dominant institutions of the ruling regime continue to wield sufficient amounts of institutional capacity to subvert any consolidation of these democratic changes for now.

Right to resistance in the context of democratic processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

К. О. Павшук

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Problem setting. Right to resistance and especially right to rebellion should be considered as an element of constitutional order’s ensuring. It means the right of some Ukrainian citizen to realize civil disobedience as a resistance and a rebellion as to one kind of it. Rebellion against the power is the result of absence of stage-by-stage mutual discussion and consensus between power and people. It means that the absence of past democratic practices could be the reason of power usurpation and human rights violations. Recent research and publications analysis. Right of people to resistance and rebellion was considered by numerous scientists in the spheres of constitutional right, of political science and legal theory of past and modern times. Among them it could be named J. Lock, V.V. Rechitskij, S.Pogrebnjak etc. Paper objective. The main aim of the article is to find out the essence of the right to resistance and rebellion as an element of constitutional order’s ensuring, to review reasons of it, its forms and their realizations in a modern democratic state. Paper main body. In the article it is considered the direct and indirect form of the right’s realization. Directly the right to resistance takes is executed in the case of violations by bodies of a state power or in the case of citizen’s disagreement with their activity by means of unarmed meetings, campaigns and demonstrations, strikes for protection of their economic and social interests. One of the most democratic methods of resistance that has indirect character is a nationwide referendum against the solutions of a parliament. The alternative forms of resistance are civil hearings and people’s legislative initiatives, “people’s veto”, which can decrease the probability of a conflict aggravation.   Conclusions. Only participation of each citizen in the process of state rule should to prevent human and civil rights violations, abuses of state authority that can have as

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

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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.

What Can Funders Do to Better Link Science with Decisions? Case Studies of Coastal Communities and Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Matso, Kalle E.; Becker, Mimi L.

2014-12-01

Many reports and studies have noted that a significant portion of problem-oriented coastal science does not actually link to decisions. Here, three competitively funded project case studies are studied to determine what funders can and should do to better link science with decisions. The qualitative analysis used for this study indicates that the studied program was seen as being unusually attentive to the issue of linking science to decisions, as opposed to simply generating new knowledge. Nevertheless, much of the data indicate that funders can and should do more. Three ideas figured most prominently in the qualitative data: (1) funders should do more to ensure that the problem itself is defined more thoroughly with people who are envisioned as potential users of the science; (2) funders need to allocate more resources and attention to communicating effectively (with users) throughout the project; and (3) funders need to demand more engagement of users throughout the project. These findings have important implications for how funders review and support science, especially when competitive processes are used. Most importantly, funders should adjust what kind of science they ask for. Secondly, funders need to change who is involved in the review process. Currently, review processes focus on knowledge generation, which means that the reviewers themselves have expertise in that area. Instead, review panels should be balanced between those who focus on knowledge generation and those who focus on linking knowledge to decisions; this is a separate but critical discipline currently left out of the review process.

Internet Backbone in the Democratic Republic of Congo : Feasibility ...

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

Internet Backbone in the Democratic Republic of Congo : Feasibility Study and Advocacy. During 7-10 February 2005, representatives of five francophone African countries (Cameroon, Morocco, Niger, Sénégal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo - DRC) met to consider ways and means of galvanizing the appropriation ...

Finding Autonomy in Activity: Development and Validation of a Democratic Classroom Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Hur, Eun Hye; Glassman, Michael; Kim, Yunhwan

2013-01-01

This paper developed a Democratic Classroom Survey to measure students' perceived democratic environment of the classroom. Perceived democratic environment is one of the most important variables for understanding classroom activity and indeed any type of group activity, but actually measuring perceptions in an objective manner has been…

Learning Democratic Global Governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Haavelsrud, Magnus

1996-01-01

Outlines a model process of developing knowledge from within different groups and cultures to allow more equitable participation of all world societies in the definition of global governance. Reviews concepts relevant to education's contributions toward learning and creating democratic global governance. Discusses the educational utility of…

Nuclear Information Democratization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savić, Dobrica

2013-01-01

Nuclear information (Nl) interests people for many reasons, with energy supply, safety, and security being at the top of the list. Democratizing nuclear information has its roots in the growth of a knowledge-based economy, the knowledge worker as a user of nuclear information, developments in information and communication technologies (ICT), and the impact of internet growth. Results of democratization are apparent in the process of information creation, in how nuclear information is distributed and accessed, and in the conditions for using the information found. The International Nuclear Information System (INIS) both reflects and contributes to these trends. Nuclear information falls under the overall umbrella of scientific and technical information (STI). It is highly specialized, but it follows general principles and trends of STI. The world of STI has its own culture and its own long-established rules of use and existence. These have brought us many inventions and improvements, introduced important technological changes, and made our lives and work much easier and more pleasurable. However, the world is constantly changing, and the traditional closed STI environment, including the world of nuclear information, is not keeping up with today’s changes. (author)

Optical network democratization.

Science.gov (United States)

Nejabati, Reza; Peng, Shuping; Simeonidou, Dimitra

2016-03-06

The current Internet infrastructure is not able to support independent evolution and innovation at physical and network layer functionalities, protocols and services, while at same time supporting the increasing bandwidth demands of evolving and heterogeneous applications. This paper addresses this problem by proposing a completely democratized optical network infrastructure. It introduces the novel concepts of the optical white box and bare metal optical switch as key technology enablers for democratizing optical networks. These are programmable optical switches whose hardware is loosely connected internally and is completely separated from their control software. To alleviate their complexity, a multi-dimensional abstraction mechanism using software-defined network technology is proposed. It creates a universal model of the proposed switches without exposing their technological details. It also enables a conventional network programmer to develop network applications for control of the optical network without specific technical knowledge of the physical layer. Furthermore, a novel optical network virtualization mechanism is proposed, enabling the composition and operation of multiple coexisting and application-specific virtual optical networks sharing the same physical infrastructure. Finally, the optical white box and the abstraction mechanism are experimentally evaluated, while the virtualization mechanism is evaluated with simulation. © 2016 The Author(s).

Transforming participatory science into socioecological praxis: valuing marginalized environmental knowledges in the face of the neoliberalization of nature and science

Science.gov (United States)

Brian J. Burke; Nik Heynen

2014-01-01

Citizen science and sustainability science promise the more just and democratic production of environmental knowledge and politics. In this review, we evaluate these participatory traditions within the context of (a) our theorization of how the valuation and devaluation of nature, knowledge, and people help to produce socio-ecological hierarchies, the uneven...

Political Corruption, Democratic Theory, and Democracy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doron Navot

2014-09-01

Full Text Available According to recent conceptual proposals, institutional corruption should be understood within the boundaries of the institution and its purpose. Political corruption in democracies, prominent scholars suggest, is characterized by the violation of institutional ideals or behaviors that tend to harm democratic processes and institutions. This paper rejects the idea that compromises, preferences, political agreements, or consent can be the baseline of conceptualization of political corruption. In order to improve the identification of abuse of power, the concept of political corruption should not be related directly to democratic institutions and processes; rather, it should be related to ideals whose content is independent of citizens’ preferences, institutions and processes. More specifically, I articulate the relations between political corruption and the notion of subjection, and include powerful citizens in the category of political corruption. Yet, I also suggest redefining under what conditions agents are culpable for their motivations in promoting private gain. By doing this, we better realize how democratic institutions can be the source of corruption and not just its victims. Such a redefinition, I propose finally, is the basis for the distinction between individual and institutional corruption.

In Defense of Critical Democratic Pedagogy

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Tracey Isaacs

2018-04-01

Full Text Available A powerful positivist and neoliberal ideology in education masquerades more or less unharmed as the meritocratic myth promised under the cloak of democracy. Yet some students and teachers are beginning to interrogate the success-only orientations of neoliberalism in the face of crumbling school systems where many students fail. These students and teachers are not oblivious to the stark realities that characterize their daily existence, as they live under a dark cloud of mass unemployment and inequality where many struggle to “succeed”. Additionally, trained consciousness reveals the pockmarked version of democracy that admits only a few and is attendant with an authoritarian, disciplinary practice that breeds resistance towards education rather than the envisioned freedom it is purported to usher in. These inconsistent positions as an experience of education, by especially marginal students, is intensifying within a neoliberal discourse and invites the intense consideration of the place of critical democratic pedagogy as a more appropriate approach toward democratic teaching and learning practices. Within this context, I explore the theoretical and practical dimensions of critical pedagogy to provide an expanded view of teaching and learning in post-democratic South African education.

Red Brain, Blue Brain: Evaluative Processes Differ in Democrats and Republicans

Science.gov (United States)

Schreiber, Darren; Fonzo, Greg; Simmons, Alan N.; Dawes, Christopher T.; Flagan, Taru; Fowler, James H.; Paulus, Martin P.

2013-01-01

Liberals and conservatives exhibit different cognitive styles and converging lines of evidence suggest that biology influences differences in their political attitudes and beliefs. In particular, a recent study of young adults suggests that liberals and conservatives have significantly different brain structure, with liberals showing increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, and conservatives showing increased gray matter volume in the in the amygdala. Here, we explore differences in brain function in liberals and conservatives by matching publicly-available voter records to 82 subjects who performed a risk-taking task during functional imaging. Although the risk-taking behavior of Democrats (liberals) and Republicans (conservatives) did not differ, their brain activity did. Democrats showed significantly greater activity in the left insula, while Republicans showed significantly greater activity in the right amygdala. In fact, a two parameter model of partisanship based on amygdala and insula activations yields a better fitting model of partisanship than a well-established model based on parental socialization of party identification long thought to be one of the core findings of political science. These results suggest that liberals and conservatives engage different cognitive processes when they think about risk, and they support recent evidence that conservatives show greater sensitivity to threatening stimuli. PMID:23418419

A Linked Science Investigation: Enhancing Climate Change Data Discovery with Semantic Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Pouchard, Line C; Branstetter, Marcia L; Cook, Robert B; Devarakonda, Ranjeet; Green, Jim; Palanisamy, Giri; Alexander, Paul; Noy, Natalya F

2013-09-01

Linked Science is the practice of inter-connecting scientific assets by publishing, sharing and linking scientific data and processes in end-to-end loosely coupled workflows that allow the sharing and re-use of scientific data. Much of this data does not live in the cloud or on the Web, but rather in multi-institutional data centers that provide tools and add value through quality assurance, validation, curation, dissemination, and analysis of the data. In this paper, we make the case for the use of scientific scenarios in Linked Science. We propose a scenario in river-channel transport that requires biogeochemical experimental data and global climate-simulation model data from many sources. We focus on the use of ontologies-formal machine-readable descriptions of the domain-to facilitate search and discovery of this data. Mercury, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is a tool for distributed metadata harvesting, search and retrieval. Mercury currently provides uniform access to more than 100,000 metadata records; 30,000 scientists use it each month. We augmented search in Mercury with ontologies, such as the ontologies in the Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology (SWEET) collection by prototyping a component that provides access to the ontology terms from Mercury. We evaluate the coverage of SWEET for the ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC).

Democratic design experiments: between parliament and laboratory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Binder, Thomas; Brandt, Eva; Ehn, Pelle

2015-01-01

For more than four decades participatory design has provided exemplars and concepts for understanding the democratic potential of design participation. Despite important impacts on design methodology participatory design has however been stuck in a marginal position as it has wrestled with what has...... been performed and accomplished in participatory practices. In this article we discuss how participatory design may be reinvigorated as a design research programme for democratic design experiments in the light of the de-centring of human-centredness and the foregrounding of collaborative...

Self-esteem, authoritarianism, and democratic values in the face of threat.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaffer, Barbara A; Hastings, Brad M

2004-08-01

This study investigated the associations among terrorist threat, right-wing authoritarianism, self-esteem, and their relations in support for democratic values. Students (n = 140) completed Altemeyer's Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, and the Democratic Values Scale. The participants also read an editorial regarding the events of 9/11/01 and completed two mortality-salience questions to induce a sense of threat. Results showed that self-esteem was a significant contributor to the prediction of scores on the Democratic Values Scale. Furthermore, the interaction between self-esteem and right-wing authoritarianism explained significant variance in the Democratic Values Scale scores. The results are interpreted in light of theories addressing authoritarianism and self-esteem.

Democratic Schooling in Norway: Implications for Leadership in Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Moller, Jorunn

2006-01-01

This article explores the meaning of an education based on democratic values and the implications for school leadership in practice. Based on findings from a case study in a Norwegian upper secondary school, the study describes democratic school leadership in practice, with particular attention to the distribution of power and leadership in the…

Why We Need to Question the Democratic Engagement of Adolescents in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

de Groot, Isolde; Veugelers, Wiel

2015-01-01

Since the beginning of the 21st century, academics in various disciplines have stressed the need to address democratic deficits in Europe as well as lacunae in the citizenship development of European youth. In this article we explore the value of various types of democratic engagement for strengthening the democratic character of local and…

Experiments in engagement: Designing public engagement with science and technology for capacity building.

Science.gov (United States)

Selin, Cynthia; Rawlings, Kelly Campbell; de Ridder-Vignone, Kathryn; Sadowski, Jathan; Altamirano Allende, Carlo; Gano, Gretchen; Davies, Sarah R; Guston, David H

2017-08-01

Public engagement with science and technology is now widely used in science policy and communication. Touted as a means of enhancing democratic discussion of science and technology, analysis of public engagement with science and technology has shown that it is often weakly tied to scientific governance. In this article, we suggest that the notion of capacity building might be a way of reframing the democratic potential of public engagement with science and technology activities. Drawing on literatures from public policy and administration, we outline how public engagement with science and technology might build citizen capacity, before using the notion of capacity building to develop five principles for the design of public engagement with science and technology. We demonstrate the use of these principles through a discussion of the development and realization of the pilot for a large-scale public engagement with science and technology activity, the Futurescape City Tours, which was carried out in Arizona in 2012.

Peoples Democratic Party in the Fourth Republic of Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aliyu Mukhtar Katsina

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Their nature and functions make political parties central to democratic governance especially in the new democracies of Africa that face the challenge of building strong and enduring democratic institutions. It is accepted that the existing trend in most of these democracies of one big party dominating the political space weakens democracy and undermines its prospects for consolidation. Big parties—usually the ruling ones—exhibit tendencies such as absence of internal democracy that are antithetical to democratic governance. While observations such as these are incontestable, there is little understanding into the nature, character, ideology, and internal structure of big parties generally. In this article, I attempt to address this concern. Specifically, I examine the nature, structure, and ideology of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP, Nigeria’s ruling party at the federal level with considerable strength at local level between 1999 and 2015. Relying on data obtained from multiple sources, I investigate the process of its formation, the nature of its ideology, internal organization, its electoral strength, and how absence of internal democracy contributed significantly to its defeat in 2015 general elections.

Adult education for democratic citizenship in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Milana, Marcella

2009-01-01

In 2001 a new emphasis on learning for democratic citizenship has been championed by the European Commission's Communication on Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality.  The communication recognizes active citizenship as one of the four "broad and mutually supporting objectives....... The article introduces the core principles of a European study aiming at investigating, from a comparative perspective, ways in which adults can achieve competencies relevant for democratic citizenship. Furthermore it presents and discusses selected findings. The findings suggest that, in spite of the shift...

Is evidence-based medicine about democratizing medical practice?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorgård, Keld

2014-01-01

The authoritarian standpoint in medicine has been under challenge by various groups and researchers since the 1980s. The challenges have been ethical, political and medical, with patient movements at the forefront. Over the past decade, however, a deep challenge has been posed by evidence......-based medicine (EBM), which has challenged the entire strategy of medical treatment from the point of view of a self-critical, anti-authoritarian and hereby also (it has been claimed) a more democratic medical practice. Previously, the challenges arose out of the patient rights perspective. EBM, by contrast......, was taken to challenge the way doctors consider their medical practice as a whole. The present paper puts this claim of democratization into a historical context. Two dimensions of the democratization hypothesis are discussed and it is argued that they are insufficient to capture the substantial changes...

The ideology of science during the Nixon years: 1970-1976

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, Sylvia Doughty

1984-01-01

This paper examines the expert testimony given before the U.S. Congress during the legislative history of the National Science and Technology Policy Organization and Priorities Act of 1976, examining in particular the scientific witnesses' appeals for enlarged government funding for basic research and greater influence in the making of federal science policy. The author finds that in the process of arguing for increased support and influence, spokesmen for the nation's science establishment articulated an ideology of science which not only proclaimed the authority of scientific values over other forms of cognition but sought to advance the authority of scientists over the identification and resolution of societal and political issues. In so doing they challenged the viability of political values essential to the Anglo-American democratic-republican heritage. The paper thus documents not only cultural 'elitism,' which is not necessarily incompatible with democratic politics, but an antidemocratic ideology as well.

Democratic Capitalism and Philanthropy in a Global Economy

OpenAIRE

Zoltan J. Acs; Sameeksha Desai

2007-01-01

Democratic capitalism has become the popular paradigm in the modern world, and it is spreading further through globalization. It is a model based on growth, expansion and constant innovation. However, it is accompanied by social problems which may worsen despite overall gains in wealth. In this paper, we suggest that democratic capitalist societies may benefit from the application of what has been a primarily American institution: Philanthropy. We present the Entrepreneurship-Philanthropy Cyc...

The Social Democrats of Scholarship: Austrian Imperial Peripheries and the Making of a Progressive Science of Nationality, 1885–1903

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas R. Prendergast

2015-10-01

Full Text Available To what extent and in what ways did the intellectual climate of Austria’s often ethnolinguistically heterogeneous borderlands contribute to the formation, institutionalization and diffusion of emerging social scientific discourses during the final decades of the 19th century? Investigating the intellectual exchange between two early proponents of folklore studies (Volkskunde—the Slavonian-German-Jewish Friedrich Salomon Krauss (1859–1938 and Bukovinian-German Raimund Friedrich Kaindl (1866–1930—this paper argues that imperial peripheries, while traditionally overlooked as sites of knowledge production, in fact played a pivotal role in the development of an important brand of “progressive” social scientific research, one defined by a critical stance toward the prevailing historicist paradigms of the time. These self-described “social democrats of scholarship” collaborated, both formally and informally, on a number of related theoretical projects aimed at disrupting the exclusionary narratives of the academic establishment and re-focusing scholarly attention on the sociological, rather than historical, character of ethnonational difference. In this way, the nationalities question spurred, both in the center and at the margins of the monarchy, the development of new sciences of nationality intended to sustain Austria’s imperial structure.

Senator Fred Harris's National Social Science Foundation proposal: Reconsidering federal science policy, natural science-social science relations, and American liberalism during the 1960s.

Science.gov (United States)

Solovey, Mark

2012-03-01

During the 1960s, a growing contingent of left-leaning voices claimed that the social sciences suffered mistreatment and undue constraints within the natural science-dominated federal science establishment. According to these critics, the entrenched scientific pecking order in Washington had an unreasonable commitment to the unity of the sciences, which reinforced unacceptable inequalities between the social and the natural sciences. The most important political figure who advanced this critique, together with a substantial legislative proposal for reform, was the Oklahoma Democratic Senator Fred Harris. Yet histories of science and social science have told us surprisingly little about Harris. Moreover, existing accounts of his effort to create a National Social Science Foundation have misunderstood crucial features of this story. This essay argues that Harris's NSSF proposal developed into a robust, historically unique, and increasingly critical liberal challenge to the post-World War II federal science establishment's treatment of the social sciences as "second-class citizens."

Risk in social science

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Zinn, Jens; Taylor-Gooby, Peter

2006-01-01

... for control. Advances in social science improve understanding of how people perceive and prioritise risks, broaden awareness of the bearing of a range of other issues (trust, experience during the life course, democratic expectations) on people's capacity to manage risks, and facilitate exploration of the ways in which people communicate abo...

DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY

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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.

Does Controversial Science Call For Public Participation? The Case Of Gmo Skepticism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Christiansen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Many instances of new and emerging science and technology are controversial. Although a number of people, including scientific experts, welcome these developments, a considerable skepticism exists among members of the public. The use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs is a case in point. In science policy and in science communication, it is widely assumed that such controversial science and technology require public participation in the policy-making process. We examine this view, which we call the Public Participation Paradigm, using the case of GMOs as an example. We suggest that a prominent reason behind the call for public participation is the belief that such participation is required for democratic legitimacy. We then show that the most prominent accounts of democratic legitimacy do not, in fact, entail that public participation is required in cases of controversial science in general, or in the case of GMOs in particular.

Examining the Relationships Between Education, Social Networks and Democratic Support With ABM

Science.gov (United States)

Drucker, Nick; Campbell, Kenyth

2011-01-01

This paper introduces an agent-based model that explores the relationships between education, social networks, and support for democratic ideals. This study examines two factors thai affect democratic support, education, and social networks. Current theory concerning these two variables suggests that positive relationships exist between education and democratic support and between social networks and the spread of ideas. The model contains multiple variables of democratic support, two of which are evaluated through experimentation. The model allows individual entities within the system to make "decisions" about their democratic support independent of one another. The agent based approach also allows entities to utilize their social networks to spread ideas. Current theory supports experimentation results. In addion , these results show the model is capable of reproducing real world outcomes. This paper addresses the model creation process and the experimentation procedure, as well as future research avenues and potential shortcomings of the model

Strengthening Science-based Environmental Policy Development in ...

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

Strengthening Science-based Environmental Policy Development in Burma's Democratic ... IDRC is providing funding to Simon Fraser University to support a network of ... The project will also encourage and assist in the creation of a business ...

Democratic elements in group and project organized PBL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qvist, Palle

2006-01-01

beyond it to the school and the community” (Marris, 2003:274) then implementing democratic learning systems as The Aalborg Model are important for supporting and promote democratic bildung of students in higher education. This article defines at a – start - what should be understood by a democratic......, run processes and decide behaviour. It is what a pilot investigation referred in this article indicate. The meaning of this seems to be far behind the study itself and qualifications of the students to the labour marked. If it is true that ”the building of community begins in the classroom but extends...... learning system. It contrasts it to an authoritarian or elitist systems. Then it brings the results from an investigation of 9 process analyses’ written at the end of the second semester 2005 by project groups from The Technical Natural Scientific Basic Year at Aalborg University and concludes...

Linking vocabulary to imagery: Improving science knowledge through multimedia design

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Tracy R.

This qualitative study looked at the vocabulary development of four urban sixth-grade students as they used laser disk and computer technologies to view images and then connect those images to textual definitions through multimedia design. Focusing on three science content areas (the water cycle, the rock cycle, and the web of life), students worked in pairs to create their own multimedia stacks that focused on the prescribed vocabulary. Using a combination of text, images, and audio, students demonstrated their understanding of content vocabulary words and how these words are interconnects within a science topic. Further, the study examined the impact that linking images to vocabulary and textual definitions has on helping students memorize definitions of the science content words. It was found that the use of imagery had a positive affect on the students' ability to identify textual definitions and vocabulary words, though it did not have a great impact on their later recall of word/definition connections. In addition, by designing their own multimedia artifacts, students were able to connect the vocabulary and images within a specific content area and explain their function within a broader science concept. The results of this study were inconclusive as to the impact this activity had on the students' ability to transfer their knowledge to correctly answering questions similar to the ones they see on their state proficiency exam.

The Potential Perils of Praise in a Democratic Interactive Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Larrivee, Barbara

2002-01-01

Teacher praise can undermine the development of fundamental democratic values. This article presents styles of teacher talk in line with the principles and goals of democratic leadership and interactive teaching. Advocated discourse patterns encourage self-evaluation and self-reflection, enabling students to develop standards for judging their own…

Exposure to the American flag polarizes democratic-republican ideologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Eugene Y

2017-12-01

Some prior research has suggested that exposure to the American flag tilts Americans towards Republicanism, while others have proffered that it brings outs a common 'together' perspective instead. We explore a third possibility - that it may actually polarize Americans' political ideology. It is generally accepted that exposure to an environmental cue can shift attitudes and behaviours, at least partly or temporarily, in a manner that is consistent with that cue. Yet, the same cue can mean different things to different people. In the same vein, given how national identity and political ideology are intertwined in the United States, we hypothesize that the American flag should heighten different political beliefs depending on individuals' political ideology. To Democrats, being American is to support Democratic values, but to Republicans, being American is to support Republican values. The American flag thus should heighten Democrats of their Democratic identity, and it should heighten Republicans of their Republican one. The results of an experiment with 752 American respondents who were representative of the US population supported this polarizing effect of the American flag. The theoretical and policy implications of the findings are offered. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Thinking Differently about Guidance: Power, Children's Autonomy and Democratic Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Millei, Zsuzsa

2012-01-01

This article critiques guidance approaches to discipline, that are employed in early childhood environments with an aim to create democratic environments for children, and as part of "good" practices. Advocates of guidance claim that this is a more humane or democratic approach to discipline that empowers children, and therefore, power…

Authoritarianism and Intolerance Under Autocratic and Democratic Regimes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kris Dunn

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Based on findings indicating that authoritarians express greater intolerance in situations where diversity is more apparent, Stenner (2005 proposes that democracies may sabotage their stability by allowing the unbridled expression of societal pluralism. She therefore suggests that pluralism in democracies be suppressed in order to pacify authoritarians and the threat their unbridled intolerance may pose to the stability of these countries. Based on data from the World and European Values Surveys, I examined 75,478 individuals across 75 countries to determine if authoritarians are indeed more intolerant in more democratic societies; a key assumption upon which Stenner’s suggestion rests. While authoritarianism was more strongly and negatively related to tolerance in more democratic countries, authoritarians in more democratic countries were more tolerant than were authoritarians in more autocratic countries. I argue that Stenner’s concern may be valid if we strictly consider rapid pluralization within a single generation within consolidating democracies, but for established democracies, her concern appears unwarranted.

The Democratic Party of Córdoba before the November 1931 elections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desiree del Valle Osella

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzes the Cordoba Democratic leaders's actions for orchestrating an electoral solution to the uriburista dictatorship, considering the results of the elections; strategy to integrate a national electoral antiyrigoyenista coalition (The National Democratic Party and the reaction that it brought about within the group. How ever the Democrats triumphed comfortably in the provincial and municipal elections; the PDN victory was not very pronounced. Integrating meant to PD coalition the defection of the leaders who saw in it the loss of the progressivism that characterized the Cordoba party

Adult education for democratic citizenship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The report presents, in brief, the findings from the study of research literature on Adult Education for Democratic Citizenship, which was carried out in the nine EU member states represented by the project: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and United Kingdom...

A Developmental Model for Educational Planning: Democratic Rationalities and Dispositions

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, Michael; Johnson, Jerry; Reynolds, Sharon

2014-01-01

The Developmental Democratic Planning (DDP) model frames educational planning as a process that extends beyond the immediate focus of a particular planning effort to acknowledge and cultivate the potential of all members of the organization to fulfill their roles as active participants in the democratic life of the organization. The DDP model…

Where civics meets science: building science for the public good through Civic Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Garlick, J A; Levine, P

2017-09-01

Public understanding of science and civic engagement on science issues that impact contemporary life matter more today than ever. From the Planned Parenthood controversy, to the Flint water crisis and the fluoridation debate, societal polarization about science issues has reached dramatic levels that present significant obstacles to public discussion and problem solving. This is happening, in part, because systems built to support science do not often reward open-minded thinking, inclusive dialogue, and moral responsibility regarding science issues. As a result, public faith in science continues to erode. This review explores how the field of Civic Science can impact public work on science issues by building new understanding of the practices, influences, and cultures of science. Civic Science is defined as a discipline that considers science practice and knowledge as resources for civic engagement, democratic action, and political change. This review considers how Civic Science informs the roles that key participants-scientists, public citizens and institutions of higher education-play in our national science dialogue. Civic Science aspires to teach civic capacities, to inform the responsibilities of scientists engaged in public science issues and to inspire an open-minded, inclusive dialogue where all voices are heard and shared commitments are acknowledged. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Democratic Leadership Doesn't Just Happen

Science.gov (United States)

Hartman, Catherine L.

1977-01-01

The research cited and the inservice experiences with teachers described suggest that attitude screening criteria and a training program show promise for producing administrators and teachers with democratic leadership abilities. (Author/IRT)

The Refugee Crisis as a European Democratic Crisis

OpenAIRE

Chryssoula Kapartziani; Katerini Papathanasiou

2016-01-01

The institutional European Union is facing two types of crisis. On the one hand, it needs to manage the current refugee’s influx efficiently and on the other hand it needs to deal with the democratic deficit that emerged by Europe’s incapacity to make the required decisions and gain the justification of its actions from its own people. This article aims firstly to highlight the legal framework (rule of law) that governs the asylum and migration procedures as well as the democratic gap that th...

Freed to Learn: Five Fundamental Concepts of Democratic Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leo J. FAHEY

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Children are natural learners each with distinct interests, abilities and rates of cognitive, emotional and social growth. Democratic Education institutionalizes five key concepts to free these natural instincts and individual differences to drive community self-governance and individual self-directed learning within a formal schooling environment. This paper summarizes the five concepts fundamental to Democratic Education and suggests how they can be applied within a school setting.

New Center Links Earth, Space, and Information Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Aswathanarayana, U.

2004-05-01

Broad-based geoscience instruction melding the Earth, space, and information technology sciences has been identified as an effective way to take advantage of the new jobs created by technological innovations in natural resources management. Based on this paradigm, the University of Hyderabad in India is developing a Centre of Earth and Space Sciences that will be linked to the university's super-computing facility. The proposed center will provide the basic science underpinnings for the Earth, space, and information technology sciences; develop new methodologies for the utilization of natural resources such as water, soils, sediments, minerals, and biota; mitigate the adverse consequences of natural hazards; and design innovative ways of incorporating scientific information into the legislative and administrative processes. For these reasons, the ethos and the innovatively designed management structure of the center would be of particular relevance to the developing countries. India holds 17% of the world's human population, and 30% of its farm animals, but only about 2% of the planet's water resources. Water will hence constitute the core concern of the center, because ecologically sustainable, socially equitable, and economically viable management of water resources of the country holds the key to the quality of life (drinking water, sanitation, and health), food security, and industrial development of the country. The center will be focused on interdisciplinary basic and pure applied research that is relevant to the practical needs of India as a developing country. These include, for example, climate prediction, since India is heavily dependent on the monsoon system, and satellite remote sensing of soil moisture, since agriculture is still a principal source of livelihood in India. The center will perform research and development in areas such as data assimilation and validation, and identification of new sensors to be mounted on the Indian meteorological

Supporting open collaboration in science through explicit and linked semantic description of processes

Science.gov (United States)

Gil, Yolanda; Michel, Felix; Ratnakar, Varun; Read, Jordan S.; Hauder, Matheus; Duffy, Christopher; Hanson, Paul C.; Dugan, Hilary

2015-01-01

The Web was originally developed to support collaboration in science. Although scientists benefit from many forms of collaboration on the Web (e.g., blogs, wikis, forums, code sharing, etc.), most collaborative projects are coordinated over email, phone calls, and in-person meetings. Our goal is to develop a collaborative infrastructure for scientists to work on complex science questions that require multi-disciplinary contributions to gather and analyze data, that cannot occur without significant coordination to synthesize findings, and that grow organically to accommodate new contributors as needed as the work evolves over time. Our approach is to develop an organic data science framework based on a task-centered organization of the collaboration, includes principles from social sciences for successful on-line communities, and exposes an open science process. Our approach is implemented as an extension of a semantic wiki platform, and captures formal representations of task decomposition structures, relations between tasks and users, and other properties of tasks, data, and other relevant science objects. All these entities are captured through the semantic wiki user interface, represented as semantic web objects, and exported as linked data.

(Un)taming Citizen Science – Policies, Practices, People

OpenAIRE

Van Oudheusden, Michiel; Van Hoyweghen, Ine

2017-01-01

We are presently witnessing a global explosion of citizen science initiatives covering a wide range of topics, from counting hummingbirds to actively researching new medical treatments, to the use of smartphones to measuring radioactivity in the environment. European policymakers and societal stakeholders hail citizen science as a means of (re)building trust in science, which may in turn lead to “more democratic research based on evidence and informed decision-making” and more responsible inn...

Ignoring Ignorance: Notes on Pedagogical Relationships in Citizen Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Scroggins

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Theoretically, this article seeks to broaden the conceptualization of ignorance within STS by drawing on a line of theory developed in the philosophy and anthropology of education to argue that ignorance can be productively conceptualized as a state of possibility and that doing so can enable more democratic forms of citizen science. In contrast to conceptualizations of ignorance as a lack, lag, or manufactured product, ignorance is developed here as both the opening move in scientific inquiry and the common ground over which that inquiry proceeds. Empirically, the argument is developed through an ethnographic description of Scroggins' participation in a failed citizen science project at a DIYbio laboratory. Supporting the empirical case are a review of the STS literature on expertise and a critical examination of the structures of participation within two canonical citizen science projects. Though onerous, through close attention to how people transform one another during inquiry, increasingly democratic forms of citizen science, grounded in the commonness of ignorance, can be put into practice.

Democratic Leadership Theory in Late Modernity: An Oxymoron or Ironic Possibility?

Science.gov (United States)

Starrat, Robert J.

2001-01-01

Discuses five premises for a qualified theory of democratic leadership. Discusses the essential characteristics of American pragmatism, especially that of John Dewey. Describes concept of constructivism and results of constructivist research. Lists givens of postmodern theory of democratic leadership. Posits a reconstructed theory of democratic…

Democratic Leadership and Students with Disabilities: Discordant Conversations but Not Incompatible.

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, Lynn H.

2003-01-01

Investigates perceptions about democratic leadership as they relate to serving students with disabilities. Qualitative data were collected through 15 interviews with both administrative and nonadministrative school staff. Discussion focuses on how democratic leaders share decisions and use tensions in the administration of special education.…

Democratically Binding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert E. Goodin

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The 'democracy unbound' project aspires to extend democracy in two dimensions: range and scope. The former would give a wider range of people the vote. The latter would give people a wider scope of things to vote on. In practice, no doubt there is room to do much more of both. But whereas it would be democratically justifiable in an ideal world for democracy to be completely unbounded as regards range, even in an ideal world democracy ought be subject to some limits internal to the logic of democracy itself as regards its scope. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1837428

A "Democratization" of Markets? Online Consumer Reviews in the Restaurant Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin Mellet

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This article examines the promise of market democratization conveyed by consumer rating and review websites in the restaurant industry. Based on interviews with website administrators and data from the main French platforms, we show that review websites contribute to the democratization of restaurant criticism, which first started in the 1970s, both by including a greater variety of restaurants in the reviews, and by broadening participation, opening restaurant reviewing to all. However, this twofold democratic ambition conflicts with the need to produce fair and helpful recommendations, leading review websites to seek compromises between these two dimensions.

Deliberative Democratic Evaluation in Preschools

Science.gov (United States)

Hreinsdottir, Anna Magnea; Davidsdottir, Sigurlina

2012-01-01

In this study, the merit of using deliberative democratic evaluations is studied in light of ten questions asked by House and Howe, which defined the approach and raise issues of interests, representation, and choice of stakeholders, power balances and procedures for controlling them, participation, reflection and deliberation. Suggestions by…

Introducing Children to Democratic Government

Science.gov (United States)

Alleman, Janet; Brophy, Jere

2006-01-01

Researchers have been studying children's knowledge, thinking, and attitudes about government for several decades. However, the studies focusing on elementary students, and especially primary students, have little or nothing to say about children's ideas about democracy or democratic government. That is because children at these ages have not yet…

Can the EU’s constitutional framework accommodate democratic politics?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scicluna Nicole

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The robustness of the EU’s constitutional framework – and its ability to accommodate democratic politics – is challenged as never before. The growing disconnect between formally democratic procedures and substantive choice is well illustrated by the Greek crisis. Since its first bailout in May 2010, Greece has held four general elections and a referendum. Yet, the anti-austerity preferences of the Greek electorate have not been effectively translated into policy.

The democratizing potential of the Internet in Southeast Asia

OpenAIRE

Parker, Kevin J

1997-01-01

This thesis argues that the Internet is likely to he a strong, positive facilitating factor for the transition to and consolidation of democracy for states in Southeast Asia. U.S. policy makers intent on promoting democracy in Southeast Asia should consider the Internet's potential as a tool for promoting democratization. A review of the existing democratization literature, coupled with quantitative analysis of the societal impact of computer networking technologies, suggests that the level o...

the socio-cultural animator in a science based society

OpenAIRE

Maurício, Paulo; Teodoro, Ana

2011-01-01

An education promoting scientific literacy (SL) that prepares the citizens to a responsible citizenship has persisted as an argument across discussions on curricula design. The ubiquity of science and technology on contemporary societies and the ideological requirement of informed democratic participation led to the identification of relevant categories that drive curriculum reforms towards a humanistic approach of school science. The category ‘Science as culture’ acquires in the current work...

Linking Formal and Informal Science Education: A Successful Model using Libraries, Volunteers and NASA Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Race, M. S.; Lafayette Library; Learning Center Foundation (Lllcf)

2011-12-01

In these times of budget cuts, tight school schedules, and limited opportunities for student field trips and teacher professional development, it is especially difficult to expose elementary and middle school students to the latest STEM information-particularly in the space sciences. Using our library as a facilitator and catalyst, we built a volunteer-based, multi-faceted, curriculum-linked program for students and teachers in local middle schools (Grade 8) and showcased new astronomical and planetary science information using mainly NASA resources and volunteer effort. The project began with the idea of bringing free NASA photo exhibits (FETTU) to the Lafayette and Antioch Libraries for public display. Subsequently, the effort expanded by adding layers of activities that brought space and science information to teachers, students and the pubic at 5 libraries and schools in the 2 cities, one of which serves a diverse, underserved community. Overall, the effort (supported by a pilot grant from the Bechtel Foundation) included school and library based teacher workshops with resource materials; travelling space museum visits with hands-on activities (Chabot-to-Go); separate powerpoint presentations for students and adults at the library; and concurrent ancillary space-related themes for young children's programs at the library. This pilot project, based largely on the use of free government resources and online materials, demonstrated that volunteer-based, standards-linked STEM efforts can enhance curriculum at the middle school, with libraries serving a special role. Using this model, we subsequently also obtained a small NASA-Space Grant award to bring star parties and hand-on science activities to three libraries this Fall, linking with numerous Grade 5 teachers and students in two additional underserved areas of our county. It's not necessary to reinvent the wheel, you just collect the pieces and build on what you already have.

PARRHESIA, PHAEDRA, AND THE POLIS: ANTICIPATING PSYCHOANALYTIC FREE ASSOCIATION AS DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE.

Science.gov (United States)

Gentile, Jill

2015-07-01

This essay explores the mostly unexamined analogy of psychoanalytic free association to democratic free speech. The author turns back to a time when free speech was a matter of considerable discussion: the classical period of the Athenian constitution and its experiment with parrhesia. Ordinarily translated into English as "free speech," parrhesia is startlingly relevant to psychoanalysis. The Athenian stage-in particular, Hippolytus (Euripides, 5th century BCE)-illustrates this point. Euripides's tragic tale anticipates Freud's inquiries, exploring the fundamental link between free speech and female embodiment. The author suggests that psychoanalysis should claim its own conception of a polis as a mediated and ethical space between private and public spheres, between body and mind, and between speaking and listening communities. © 2015 The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Inc.

The Democratic Citizen. A Rational Utopia of Post-Modern Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel de la Torre Gamboa

2000-11-01

Full Text Available The article states that Mexico is currently undergoing a profound social crisis which sprang from the fact that public affairs are managed not taking into account the people's interests. That makes us think about the possibility of a more democratic society. To suggest an alternative to antidemocratic practice implies an effort to design an educational project, a sensible utopia, which is viable because it is not a hopeless criticism, but it gathers those elements from reality aiming to social transformation. A democratic society would be one which keeps a true symmetry among individual's interaction, and whose starting point is the universal principle of mutual respect and personal autonomy. Educators should work towards that sort of society through the image of the democratic citizen.

Explaining the democratic anchorage of governance networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skelcher, Chris; Klijn, Erik-Hans; Kübler, Daniel

2011-01-01

Advances in understanding the democratic anchorage of governance networks require carefully designed and contextually grounded empirical analysis that take into account contextual factors. The article uses a conjectural framework to study the impact of the national democratic milieu...... on the relationship between network governance and representative institutions in four European countries: the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The article shows that the distinction between majoritarian and consensus democracy as well as the varying strength of voluntary associations...... are important contextual factors that help explain cross-national differences in the relationship between governance networks and representative institutions. We conclude that a context of weak associationalism in majoritarian democracies facilitates the instrumentalization of networks by government actors...

The School's Democratic Mission and Conflict Resolution: Voices of Swedish Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Hakvoort, Ilse; Olsson, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Swedish educational policy mandates have given schools a double mission: the development of content-based knowledge as well as the promotion of democratic values and competencies. While detailed learning outcomes are specified for content domains, the democratic mission is imprecisely described and unsupported by practical measures. This leaves…

Challenges and Choices: A Multidistrict Analysis of Statewide Mandated Democratic Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Marsh, Julie A.; Hall, Michelle

2018-01-01

This article seeks to deepen our understanding of the nature and quality of democratic participation in educational reform by examining the first-year implementation of California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) mandating civic engagement in district decision-making. Drawing on democratic theory, empirical literature, and data from 10…

The Types of Argument Structure Used by Hillary Clinton in the CNN Democratic Presidential Debate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anggie Angeline

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This qualitative research was conducted to examine the types of argument structure by Hillary Clinton in part one of the CNN Democratic Presidential Debate since Hillary, who had a great deal of experiences in political parties, was supposed to be able to construct convincing arguments that had good argument structures. The theories used to analyze were Bierman and Assali’s (1996, King’s (n.d. and Stanlick’s (2003. The findings showed that there were five types of argument structure used: serial, linked, convergent, divergent, and hybrid argument structures. The linked argument structure was the argument structure used the most frequently in Hillary’s utterances in the debate, while the divergent was the least one. Thus, it could be concluded that Hillary’s speech in the Presidential Debate was quite interesting since she could combine all the five types of argument structure, though the frequency of using them was not the same and it seems that linked argument structure was the most effective strategy for her in arguing about the politic, economy, and social issues.

Ethical principles and the environment in a democratic society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahearne, J.F.

1994-01-01

This work deals with ethical principles and the environment in a democratic society and more particularly, it refers to spent fuels : commercial wastes in Usa. After having given the positions for the permanent solution of high-level wastes of the official government, the atomic energy commission, the national academy of sciences, the nuclear regulatory commission, the nuclear waste policy act and the U.S. environmental protection agency different views concerning the nuclear waste disposal are indicated. Then, the author answers to the questions : can risk or responsibility for essential action be imposed (on future generations) when the benefits are perceived to be incurred by others ( the current generations) and if so under what conditions? do current generations have the right to make decisions today which would foreclose options of future generations? and gives the legal, administrative and financial procedures taken for the long-term management of radioactive wastes. (O.L.)

The agricultural and the democratic transitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gundlach, Erich; Paldam, Martin

Long-run development (in income) causes a large fall in the share of agriculture commonly known as the agricultural transition. We confirm that this conventional wisdom is strongly supported by the data. Long-run development (in income) also causes a large increase in democracy known...... as the democratic transition. Elsewhere we have shown that it is almost as strong as the agricultural transition. Recently, a method has been presented to weed out spuriousness. It makes the democratic transition go away by turning income insignificant, when it is supplemented by a set of formal controls. We show...... that the same method makes the agricultural transition go away as well. Hence, it seems to be a method that kills far too much, as suggested by the subtitle. This suggestion leads to a discussion of the very meaning of long-run causality....

Evaluating the democratic accountability of governance networks: Analysing two Nordic Megaprojects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aarsæther, Nils; Bjørnå, Hilde; Fotel, Trine

2009-01-01

There is currently a need to analyse and measure the democratic accountability of governance networks. This kind of analysis and measurement calls for the development of an interactive conceptualisation of democratic accountability that makes it possible to measure the level of democratic...... accountability of concrete governance networks with reference to the extent to which they interact with (1) relevant politicians appointed through the institutions of representative democracy, (2) the relevant and affected stakeholders, and (3) the wider citizenry. A case study of two governance networks...... involved in two Nordic megaprojects illustrates how this measurement device can be brought into use and what the insights are that can be gained from it....

The Role of Romanian NGOs in Democratization Process of the SOCIETY After 1990

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marton BALOGH

2006-06-01

Full Text Available This paper strives to critically discuss the role that NGOs1 played in the democratization process of the Romanian society after the changes from 1990. In the transition process from a dictatorial system to a democratic one, NGOs functioning is absolutely necessary. There is a variety of ways in which the civil society can contribute to the democratization of a country. To some, the very proliferation of civil society organizations - no matter what their type, agenda, or influence are - builds the infrastructure of democracy, because according to the supporters of this view an active associational life is a precursor of democracy. The right to free elections, the freedoms of speech, and citizen’s participation to governance (including free access to public interest information are only few aspects whose evolution is worth studying in this paper. Also, the existence of a strong NGO sector provides a great opportunity in a society, mainly because its involvement in community development is thought to build skills and foster democratic values and attitudes in individuals that will eventually spread to the broader society. They also enhance the prospects for democratization because they foster associational life, empower individuals, and provide them with the skills and attitudes that are useful for democratization.

Deployment of the Military in Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Implication for Democratization in Sri Lanka

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-01

political leadership , interparty alliances, and legislatures by which society constitutes itself politically to select and monitor democratic government... democratically elected civilian leadership .” Matei, “New Conceptualization,” 31. Young posits expertise, essential duties, responsibility, and corporateness as...CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION: IMPLICATION FOR DEMOCRATIZATION IN SRI LANKA by Don Kapila Sarath Kumara Dolage December 2016 Thesis Advisor: Anshu

What Do We Mean by Science Education for Civic Engagement?

Science.gov (United States)

Rudolph, John L.; Horibe, Shusaku

2016-01-01

One of the most frequently cited goals for science education over the years has been to provide students with the understanding and skills necessary to engage in science-related civic issues. Despite the repeated insistence on the importance of this kind of democratic participation, there has been little effort in the research community either to…

An analysis on the contribution of civil society to democratic consolidation in Turkey

OpenAIRE

Torus, Emre

2007-01-01

Cataloged from PDF version of article. This is an analysis on the contribution of civil society to democratic consolidation in Turkey. This thesis will try to understand this problematic by assessing the civil society’s formal structure, legal framework, internal values and its impact during the consolidation process. The key aim here is to understand the civil society’s role as a contributor to democratic consolidation by mapping the civil society and democratic consolidati...

Securitization against Democratization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juego, Bonn

2008-01-01

paved the way either to the strengthening or resurgence of the hegemony, both in policy and discourse, of:   [a] “global war on terrorism” over historically sensitive conflict resolution mechanisms; [b] “authoritarian liberalism” over democratization; and [c] neo-liberalism over developmental statism.......   Each of these phenomena is inherently unstable and conflict-ridden. Hence, the securitization of social life in the region is not resulting in the reproduction of security-development agenda patterned after the US, but in the reproduction of social antagonisms that spring from the very contradictions...

Implementing Democratic Equality in Political Parties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bolleyer, Nicole; von Nostitz, Felix-Christopher; Little, Conor

2015-01-01

This article theorises and empirically assesses some important intra-organisational implications of maximising democratic equality in political parties both between followers and members and between members and elites. They include weak member commitment, passivity of the rank-and-file membership...

What do we know about adult education for democratic citizenship?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Milana, Marcella

2006-01-01

This article presents the findings from the study of research literature on Adult Education for Democratic Citizenship, carried out in nine EU memner states. The literature review was designed as the building block for a European Stocktaking study on lifelong learning for democratic citizenship...... through adult education. This article begins by describing the context of the study, and introducing the study aims and core principles. This is done in section 1 and 2. In section 3, the article introduces and discusses substantive features which emerged from scholarly investigation at national level....... Implications for further research are discussed in the concluding section, which presents the main argument of this paper. Despite countries unique characterizations, there is a general concern on citizens´conduct in democratic societeies in Europe, but relative limited attention on the specific contribution...

Linking Classroom Environment with At-Risk Engagement in Science: A Mixed Method Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Stephen Craig

This explanatory sequential mixed-method study analyzed how the teacher created learning environment links to student engagement for students at-risk across five science classroom settings. The learning environment includes instructional strategies, differentiated instruction, positive learning environment, and an academically challenging environment. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered in the form of self-reporting surveys and a follow-up interview. The researcher aimed to use the qualitative results to explain the quantitative data. The general research question was "What are the factors of the teacher-created learning environment that were best suited to maximize engagement of students at-risk?" Specifically explaining, (1) How do the measured level of teacher created learning environment link to the engagement level of students at-risk in science class? and (2) What relationship exists between the student perception of the science classroom environment and the level of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement for students at-risk in science class? This study took place within a large school system with more than 20 high schools, most having 2000-3000 students. Participating students were sent to a panel hearing that determined them unfit for the regular educational setting, and were given the option of attending one of the two alternative schools within the county. Students in this alternative school were considered at-risk due to the fact that 98% received free and reduced lunch, 97% were minority population, and all have been suspended from the regular educational setting. Pairwise comparisons of the SPS questions between teachers using t-test from 107 students at-risk and 40 interviews suggest that each category of the learning environment affects the level of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement in science class for students at-risk in an alternative school setting. Teachers with higher student perceptions of

Debate on science and technology promotion for overcoming economic crisis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-05-01

This book records debate point and topic presentation of debate on science and technology promotion for overcoming economic difficulties which lists opening greeting, topic presentation such as innovation of national science technology system, sufficient supply and demand of science and engineering personnel, invigoration of technology research of corporation and general debate. This debate was held by the Policy Board of democratic and liberal party on 22 May 1990 in Press center.

NPPCI - topics in the German Democratic Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ziegenbein, D.

1986-01-01

This paper summarizes research and development activities in the field of computerized operator support systems, self-powered detectors, boiling diagnostic and loose part detection systems in the German Democratic Republic

Democratic innovations: designing institutions for citizen participation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Smith, Graham

2009-01-01

At a time when there is growing disillusionment with the institutions of advanced industrial democracies, there is also increasing interest in new ways of involving citizens in the democratic process...

Strengthening the integrity of local leadership and its relevance to run democratic governance

OpenAIRE

Maulana Mukhlis; Idil Akbar

2018-01-01

Abstract   Even though many aspects that shows how to run a democratic government, but the most important aspect is related to the leadership of integrity. The leadership of integrity put the perspective of power in the orientation of partisanship on the people. In addition, democratic governance at the local level can be run effectively and constructively if in his leadership held with integrity. In other words the leadership of integrity is a requirement to run a democratic governme...

Implementation of linked data in the life sciences at BioHackathon 2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoki-Kinoshita, Kiyoko F; Kinjo, Akira R; Morita, Mizuki; Igarashi, Yoshinobu; Chen, Yi-An; Shigemoto, Yasumasa; Fujisawa, Takatomo; Akune, Yukie; Katoda, Takeo; Kokubu, Anna; Mori, Takaaki; Nakao, Mitsuteru; Kawashima, Shuichi; Okamoto, Shinobu; Katayama, Toshiaki; Ogishima, Soichi

2015-01-01

Linked Data has gained some attention recently in the life sciences as an effective way to provide and share data. As a part of the Semantic Web, data are linked so that a person or machine can explore the web of data. Resource Description Framework (RDF) is the standard means of implementing Linked Data. In the process of generating RDF data, not only are data simply linked to one another, the links themselves are characterized by ontologies, thereby allowing the types of links to be distinguished. Although there is a high labor cost to define an ontology for data providers, the merit lies in the higher level of interoperability with data analysis and visualization software. This increase in interoperability facilitates the multi-faceted retrieval of data, and the appropriate data can be quickly extracted and visualized. Such retrieval is usually performed using the SPARQL (SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language) query language, which is used to query RDF data stores. For the database provider, such interoperability will surely lead to an increase in the number of users. This manuscript describes the experiences and discussions shared among participants of the week-long BioHackathon 2011 who went through the development of RDF representations of their own data and developed specific RDF and SPARQL use cases. Advice regarding considerations to take when developing RDF representations of their data are provided for bioinformaticians considering making data available and interoperable. Participants of the BioHackathon 2011 were able to produce RDF representations of their data and gain a better understanding of the requirements for producing such data in a period of just five days. We summarize the work accomplished with the hope that it will be useful for researchers involved in developing laboratory databases or data analysis, and those who are considering such technologies as RDF and Linked Data.

Science youth action research: Promoting critical science literacy through relevance and agency

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, Elizabeth R.

This three-article dissertation presents complementary perspectives on Science Youth Action Research (Sci-YAR), a K-12 curriculum designed to emphasize relevance and agency to promote youth's science learning. In Sci-YAR, youth conduct action research projects to better understand science-related issues in their lives, schools, or communities, while they simultaneously document, analyze, and reflect upon their own practices as researchers. The first article defines Sci-YAR and argues for its potential to enhance youth's participation as citizens in a democratic society. The second article details findings from a case study of youth engaged in Sci-YAR, describing how the curriculum enabled and constrained youth's identity work in service of critical science agency. The third article provides guidance to science teachers in implementing student-driven curriculum and instruction by emphasizing Sci-YAR's key features as a way to promote student agency and relevance in school science.

Informing, involving or engaging? Science communication, in the ages of atom-, bio- and nanotechnology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurath, Monika; Gisler, Priska

2009-09-01

Science communication has shifted considerably in Europe over the last decades. Three technology controversies on atoms, genes, and nanoscale sciences and nanotechnologies (NST) turned the style of communication from one-way information, participation and dialogues to the idea of an early and more democratic engagement of the public. Analyzing science communication developing over the three controversies, this article shows that what happened in one technology field fed forward to and contributed to shaping the subsequent field and that communication was initiated at a progressively earlier stage of technology development. The article concludes with an empirical analysis of six public engagement projects in NST, saying that the shift towards more democratic engagement of the public hasn't been as profound and complete as has been thought. This is particularly due to the continuing adoption of a simplistic contrast structure that opposes science and the public as two self-contained, antagonistic social entities.

Trade unions and liberal values: struggle or complementarity in a democratic society?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. I. Tupitzya

2014-02-01

Thus, viewing the political position of trade unions in a modern democratic society suggests that the trade union units are fully capable to absorb some elements of liberal doctrines. This indicates a broad base complementarity and mutual conceptual foundations of trade unionism and democratic society.

Institutions and Cultural Diversity: Effects of Democratic and Propaganda Processes on Local Convergence and Global Diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulloa, Roberto; Kacperski, Celina; Sancho, Fernando

2016-01-01

In a connected world where people influence each other, what can cause a globalized monoculture, and which measures help to preserve the coexistence of cultures? Previous research has shown that factors such as homophily, population size, geography, mass media, and type of social influence play important roles. In the present paper, we investigate for the first time the impact that institutions have on cultural diversity. In our first three studies, we extend existing agent-based models and explore the effects of institutional influence and agent loyalty. We find that higher institutional influence increases cultural diversity, while individuals' loyalty to their institutions has a small, preserving effect. In three further studies, we test how bottom-up and top-down processes of institutional influence impact our model. We find that bottom-up democratic practices, such as referenda, tend to produce convergence towards homogeneity, while top-down information dissemination practices, such as propaganda, further increase diversity. In our last model--an integration of bottom-up and top-down processes into a feedback loop of information--we find that when democratic processes are rare, the effects of propaganda are amplified, i.e., more diversity emerges; however, when democratic processes are common, they are able to neutralize or reverse this propaganda effect. Importantly, our models allow for control over the full spectrum of diversity, so that a manipulation of our parameters can result in preferred levels of diversity, which will be useful for the study of other factors in the future. We discuss possible mechanisms behind our results, applications, and implications for political and social sciences.

Giving voice to the voiceless through deliberative democratic school governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nonceba Mabovula

2009-05-01

Full Text Available I focus on the role of learners in the governance of secondary schools. I seek to promote a voice for learner expression as guaranteed in the national Department of Education's guidelines for Representative Council of Learners as part of promoting democratic governance. The potential, limitations, constraints, conse­quen­ces, and challenges facing learners in the school governance structure need to be revealed and debated. The views of school principals were solicited by means of unstructured open-ended questionnaires. Six problem areas emerged from the data. The irony is that although the democratisation of school governance has given all stakeholders a powerful voice in school affairs, learners' voices are, seemingly, being silenced. In attempting to resolve the problem, a new model of democratic school governance to be known as 'deliberative democratic school governance' (DDSG is suggested. There are several DDSG approaches that can be employed in creating elements for stakeholder empowerment and in driving deliberative democratic school governance forward. These include inclusion, motivational communication, consensus, deliberation/ dialogue, collaboration, and conflict resolution. Some school governance stake­holders and schools may use only one or a few of these strategies to create spaces for learner voices in their respective schools.

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.

BioFed: federated query processing over life sciences linked open data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasnain, Ali; Mehmood, Qaiser; Sana E Zainab, Syeda; Saleem, Muhammad; Warren, Claude; Zehra, Durre; Decker, Stefan; Rebholz-Schuhmann, Dietrich

2017-03-15

Biomedical data, e.g. from knowledge bases and ontologies, is increasingly made available following open linked data principles, at best as RDF triple data. This is a necessary step towards unified access to biological data sets, but this still requires solutions to query multiple endpoints for their heterogeneous data to eventually retrieve all the meaningful information. Suggested solutions are based on query federation approaches, which require the submission of SPARQL queries to endpoints. Due to the size and complexity of available data, these solutions have to be optimised for efficient retrieval times and for users in life sciences research. Last but not least, over time, the reliability of data resources in terms of access and quality have to be monitored. Our solution (BioFed) federates data over 130 SPARQL endpoints in life sciences and tailors query submission according to the provenance information. BioFed has been evaluated against the state of the art solution FedX and forms an important benchmark for the life science domain. The efficient cataloguing approach of the federated query processing system 'BioFed', the triple pattern wise source selection and the semantic source normalisation forms the core to our solution. It gathers and integrates data from newly identified public endpoints for federated access. Basic provenance information is linked to the retrieved data. Last but not least, BioFed makes use of the latest SPARQL standard (i.e., 1.1) to leverage the full benefits for query federation. The evaluation is based on 10 simple and 10 complex queries, which address data in 10 major and very popular data sources (e.g., Dugbank, Sider). BioFed is a solution for a single-point-of-access for a large number of SPARQL endpoints providing life science data. It facilitates efficient query generation for data access and provides basic provenance information in combination with the retrieved data. BioFed fully supports SPARQL 1.1 and gives access to the

Counter-Democratic Surveillance: The Watchful Eye of a Local Institution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjelholt, Morten

2014-01-01

mechanisms similar to those described by Foucault, but in the service of society. From this perspective democracy is seen as a composite of two realms – a sphere of electoral representation and a constellation of counter-democratic organizations – in constant tension with each other (Rosanvallon 2008......). The watchful eyes of counter-democratic organizations are particularly made powerful by the rise of the Internet with its spontaneous adaption of watchful functions. However increased awareness and mistrust have led not to broader participation in traditional liberal institutions but to a greater social...... in the interest of the national overseers but correspondingly given as responds to fulfill legal requirements or more loosely defined public concerns. Consequently the watchful eye of a local institution form a counter-democratic sight aimed at the strategic intentions of the Government. The paper introduces...

Cross-disciplinary links in environmental systems science: Current state and claimed needs identified in a meta-review of process models.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayllón, Daniel; Grimm, Volker; Attinger, Sabine; Hauhs, Michael; Simmer, Clemens; Vereecken, Harry; Lischeid, Gunnar

2018-05-01

Terrestrial environmental systems are characterised by numerous feedback links between their different compartments. However, scientific research is organized into disciplines that focus on processes within the respective compartments rather than on interdisciplinary links. Major feedback mechanisms between compartments might therefore have been systematically overlooked so far. Without identifying these gaps, initiatives on future comprehensive environmental monitoring schemes and experimental platforms might fail. We performed a comprehensive overview of feedbacks between compartments currently represented in environmental sciences and explores to what degree missing links have already been acknowledged in the literature. We focused on process models as they can be regarded as repositories of scientific knowledge that compile findings of numerous single studies. In total, 118 simulation models from 23 model types were analysed. Missing processes linking different environmental compartments were identified based on a meta-review of 346 published reviews, model intercomparison studies, and model descriptions. Eight disciplines of environmental sciences were considered and 396 linking processes were identified and ascribed to the physical, chemical or biological domain. There were significant differences between model types and scientific disciplines regarding implemented interdisciplinary links. The most wide-spread interdisciplinary links were between physical processes in meteorology, hydrology and soil science that drive or set the boundary conditions for other processes (e.g., ecological processes). In contrast, most chemical and biological processes were restricted to links within the same compartment. Integration of multiple environmental compartments and interdisciplinary knowledge was scarce in most model types. There was a strong bias of suggested future research foci and model extensions towards reinforcing existing interdisciplinary knowledge rather than

Scientific literacy and the ontology of science education: A case study of learning in the outdoors

Science.gov (United States)

Gleason, Tristan

This dissertation seeks to articulate a framework for critiquing and reconstructing science education by fleshing out the relationships between science education, its ontological commitments to nature, and educational practices that promote justice and democracy. Drawing on theoretical and methodological resources from American Pragmatism and science studies, I offer a case study that evokes the practices of a residential outdoor science program in the Pacific Northwest. I suggest that these practices provide an opportunity to imagine how science education emerges differently when it abandons its commitments to a singular and authoritative Nature, and explore how this program provides empirical resources for building a theory of science education that is multinatural. Grasping the plurality of nature diminishes the tension between experiences and the world, recognizing the importance of the sciences to democratic action without positioning them as a singular source of authority. Multinaturalism then becomes an orienting concept for imagining and reconstructing more democratic and just practices of science education, practices that move away from the transmission of a cannon of white, Eurocentric knowledge, and towards the navigation of problems in dynamic worlds.

Synergistic Use of Spacecraft Telecom Links for Collection of Planetary Radar Science Data

Science.gov (United States)

Asmar, S.; Bell, D. J.; Chahat, N. E.; Decrossas, E.; Dobreva, T.; Duncan, C.; Ellliot, H.; Jin, C.; Lazio, J.; Miller, J.; Preston, R.

2017-12-01

On multiple solar system missions, radar instruments have been used to probe subsurface geomorphology and to infer chemical composition based on the dielectric signature derived from the reflected signal. Example spacecraft radar instruments are the 90 MHz CONSERT radar used to probe the interior of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to a depth of 760m, the 20 MHz SHARAD instrument used to investigate Mars subsurface ice features from Mars orbit at depths of 300 to 3000 meters and the upcoming RIMFAX 150 MHz to 1200 MHz ground penetrating radar that will ride on the Mars 2020 rover investigating to a depth of 10m below the rover. In all of these applications, the radar frequency and signal structures were chosen to match science goals of desired depth of penetration and spatial resolution combined with the expected subsurface materials and structures below the surface. Recently, JPL investigators have proposed a new radar science paradigm, synergistic use of the telecom hardware and telecom links to collect bistatic or monostatic radar signatures. All JPL spacecraft employ telecom hardware that operates at UHF (400 MHz and 900 MHz), X-band (8 GHz) or Ka-band (32 GHz). Using existing open-loop record functions in these radios, the telecom hardware can be used to capture opportunistic radar signatures from telecom signals penetrating the surface and reflecting off of subsurface structures. This paper reports on telecom strategies, radar science applications and recent laboratory and field tests to demonstrate the effectiveness of telecom link based radar data collection.

The recent process of decentralization and democratic management of education in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Santos Filho, José Camilo Dos

1993-09-01

Brazilian society is beginning a new historical period in which the principle of decentralization is beginning to predominate over centralization, which held sway during the last 25 years. In contrast to recent Brazilian history, there is now a search for political, democratic and participatory decentralization more consonant with grass-roots aspirations. The first section of this article presents a brief analysis of some decentralization policies implemented by the military regime of 1964, and discusses relevant facts related to the resistance of civil society to state authoritarianism, and to the struggle for the democratization and organization of civil society up to the end of the 1970s. The second section analyzes some new experiences of democratic public school administration initiated in the 1970s and 1980s. The final section discusses the move toward decentralization and democratization of public school administration in the new Federal and State Constitutions, and in the draft of the new Law of National Education.

Reflecting on democratic and responsible citizenship. Where do the media step in?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oana BĂLUŢĂ

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Citizenship is one notion that generated debates and, on occasion, contradictory positions within academic community, opening the doors not only for political scientists, but for practitioners, activists, politicians as well to step in. The paper aims to explore and highlight how sociologists, political scientists and mass media practitioners envisage responsible and democratic citizenship in Romania. Reviews of literature developments on citizenship in connection with democracy and participation, and perspectives of local journalists, sociologists and political scientists on the intersection of media and responsible citizenship allowed me to highlight key inner marks of responsible and democratic citizenship. The final part of the paper proposes a process of (rethinking citizenship, emphasizing few propositions with a decisive role when drafting responsible and democratic citizenship: citizenship cannot be separated from participation, active participation; citizenship is correlated with political interests; 3. Active citizenship is democratic and responsible citizenship; citizenship has both a private and a public dimension.

A Review of Patti Lather's "Engaging Science Policy from the Side of the Messy"

Science.gov (United States)

Rosser, Sue V.

2011-01-01

In "Engaging Science Policy from the Side of the Messy," Patti Lather explores the relationship between science and policy. In this review Rosser explores how Lather argues for the use of all forms of research to make policy that is democratic, complex and messy.

Wisdom and Compassion in Democratic Leadership: Perceptions of the Bodhisattva Ideal

Science.gov (United States)

McClain, Leslie; Ylimaki, Rose; Ford, Michael P.

2010-01-01

At the heart of democratic leadership rests a deep respect for what it means to be human, the cultivation of the common good, and the need to act according to one's own direction. If democratic leadership aims to create an environment in which people are encouraged and supported in "aspiring to truths about the world" (Woods, 2005, p. xvi), then…

Democratic Leadership: Guidelines for School Administrators.

Science.gov (United States)

Devlin, Barbara Seeley

1980-01-01

Democratic leadership is not always desirable and should be employed only in certain situations. A 1977 study of 315 teachers suggests that when teachers perceive the subject matter under consideration to be important to them, participatory decision making is significantly related to favorable job attitudes. (Author/JM)

A Democratic Framework for Educational Rights

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Anne

2012-01-01

Educational theorists frequently invoke rights claims to express their views about educational justice and authority. But the unyielding nature of rights claims presents a significant quandary in democratic contexts, given the tension between rights claims and majoritarian democracy. Educational theorists have given limited attention to this…

Linking Science and Society With an Environmental Information Bridge

Science.gov (United States)

Welling, L.; Seielstad, G.; Jones, D.; Peterson, J.

2001-12-01

Building learning communities to engage the public in identifying and solving local and regional environmental problems is the vision of the newly created Northern Great Plains Center for People and the Environment at the University of North Dakota. The Center serves as an Environmental Information Bridge between science and society for citizens of the region, providing information, data, and value-added remote sensing products to precision agriculture, sustainable forestry, Native American land managers, and K-lifetime educators. Guided by the needs of end users, the new Center is a prototype for a national infrastructure that meets ESE's objective to "expand and accelerate the realization of economic and societal benefits from Earth science, information, and technology". The scientific community has been good at converting raw data into useful information. However, a serious communications gap exists between the communities of scientists and non-scientists. The new Center bridges this gap, creating a many-to-many exchange of information among those who learn first about the environment and those who will put those lessons to work for their economic welfare, the betterment of the quality of their lives, and the benefit of their descendants. A major outreach component of the Center, written and produced at UND, is Our Changing Planet, a public television series aimed at increasing viewers' awareness of environmental and climate change issues. Now carried by approximately 30 public television stations the series is distributed nationwide by the National Education Television Association. The Center has also recently established a partnership with StormCenter.com, LLC, a multimedia company and fellow partner in NASA's Federation of Earth Science Information Partners that uses leading-edge technology to deliver information about the environment to regional television stations. Service to the media provides a vital link between science and the public, as local weather

Acidification as an example of the link between science and policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolters, G.J.R.; Marseille, H.

1992-01-01

The paper describes the development of acidification policy in the Netherlands as an example of the link between science and policy. In particular the paper examines how scientific information was translated into policy and the treatment of uncertainties. Aspects covered include: the research programme Dutch Priority Programme in Acidification; deposition objectives; emission reduction objectives; and ozone. The original National Environmental Policy Plan was seen as not strong enough by the new Dutch government which annouced the National Environmental Policy Plan 'Plus'. This reduced the time limits for emission reduction objectives for SO 2 and NO x . 9 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs

Struggling for the Soul of the Nation: Educational Policy, Democratic Leadership, and Radical Democracy in Neoliberal Times

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Carlos Alberto

2010-01-01

Two conditions are crucial in preparing radical democratic leaders for a democratic society. In this article, the author argues against instrumental rationality and for radical democratic leaders with a critical perspective in education and schools.

State Capacity and Democratic Administration: South Africa’s Post- Democracy View

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mashele Rapatsa

2016-09-01

Full Text Available State capacity and democratic administration are conceptually distinct, but theoretically interdependent notions whose significance concerning fulfilment of developmental objectives cannot be understated in any democratic dispensation. Thus, this article discusses how the notion of state capacity affect the pursuit of human development and the enforcement and realization of socioeconomic rights under South Africa’s post 1994 democratic dispensation. It is considerate of the fact a progressive fulfilment of people’s socio-economic entitlements largely depends on having a state which has adequate administrative, economic and technical capabilities to discharge its constitutional obligations. Without these capacities, citizens’ legitimate expectations of state fulfilling its obligations as imposed by the Constitution and essential international legal norms diminishes. State capacity is concerned with state’s competence to discharge its governance obligations in pursuit of the goal of regulating and protecting rights and interests of private persons and entities. Weakened state lack capacity to control its functionaries and private agents, consequently depriving citizens of their deserved protection. It is argued that the post 1994 transformative democratic dispensation is caught in a quagmire owing to diminishing fiscal capacity, and is inherently struggling to ward off socioeconomic deprivations inherited from the past.

Cultivating Practitioners of Democratic Civic Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Keith, Novella Zett

2016-01-01

How can we support campus-based practitioners of civic and community engagement in moving from normalized engagement toward practices that engage others democratically and respectfully across borders created by social race, class, gender, status, and other markers of difference? The article presents a framework derived from practice theory, a…

Democratic Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa

African Journals Online (AJOL)

there was general consensus that the “democratic experiment” had taken root in Africa ... African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance is of particular importance in this context. The .... of governmental work through results in the interests of citizens. ... declarations impact on the reality of political rule in Africa?

Science Education as Public and Social Wealth: The Notion of Citizenship from a European Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Siatras, Anastasios; Koumaras, Panagiotis

2013-01-01

In this paper, (a) we present a framework for developing a science content (i.e., science concepts, scientific methods, scientific mindset, and problem-solving strategies for socio-scientific issues) used to design the new Cypriot science curriculum aiming at ensuring a democratic and human society, (b) we use the previous framework to explore the…

Democratic accountability and the votes for nuclear energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradbury, F

1980-10-01

Political aspects of nuclear energy figured in United Kingdom elections during the 1970s as the issue of risks aroused popular interest. The failure of such a complex issue to make an impact at the polls reflects certain electoral inadequacies in the democratic process in that too much time elapsed between opportunities for citizens to express their will and this resulted in pressure groups replacing referenda. Nuclear issues illustrate the dilemma of risk assignment and risk assignment when the perception of risks is not balanced by clear information about the benefits. True democratic accountability would allow citizens to vote directly on each major issue rather than periodically electing a representative with a package of unrelated positions. 7 references. (DCK)

Decision-making in pigeon flocks: a democratic view of leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Jorge, Paulo E; Marques, Paulo A M

2012-07-15

When travelling in groups, animals frequently have to make decisions on the direction of travel. These decisions can be based on consensus, when all individuals take part in the decision (i.e. democratic decision; social information), or leadership, when one member or a minority of members make the decision (i.e. despotic decision; personal information). Here we investigated whether decision-making on the navigation of small flocks is based on democratic or despotic decisions. Using individual and flock releases as the experimental approach, we compared the homing performances of homing pigeons that fly singly and in groups of three. Our findings show that although small groups were either governed (i.e. when individuals in the flock had age differences) or not (i.e. when individuals in the flock had the same age) by leaders, with concern to decision-making they were all ruled by democratic decisions. Moreover, the individual homing performances were not associated with leadership. Because true leaders did not assume right away the front position in the flock, we suggest that as in human groups, starting from a central position is more effective as it allows leaders to not only transmit their own information but also to average the tendencies of the other group members. Together, the results highlight the importance of democratic decisions in group decision-making.

A Study of Democratic School Culture Perceptions of Sport High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Isikgöz, Enes

2016-01-01

In this study; the perceptions of the students studying at sport high schools about democratic school culture were analysed in accordance with different variables. Participants of the research consisted of 216 students studying at Sport High Schools in Sakarya and Batman Provinces of Turkey. The data were collected with the Democratic School…

Adolescents' goal orientations for science in single-gender Israeli religious schools

Science.gov (United States)

Fortus, David; Daphna, Limor

2017-01-01

Israeli students and their families can choose between state-funded secular, religious, orthodox, and other alternative schools (e.g., Waldorf, Montessori, democratic). Earlier studies showed that the motivation to engage with science differs greatly between Israeli students in secular schools and democratic schools, with these differences being attributed to differences in school culture rather than home influence (Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2011, 2012). In this study we extend earlier studies by looking at religious state-funded schools that serve 18% of Israel's Jewish population. These schools provide a unique research environment since from grade 6 they are gender-separated. We examined the science-related mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoid goal orientations, perceptions of the science teachers, parents, schools, and peers' goal emphases in relation to science of the students in these schools. We compared between students in religious schools (newly collected data) and secular schools (data reported in prior studies), and found that there is a distinct difference between these two populations that is associated with differing attitudes toward gender and science at these schools. This study provides additional evidence for the influence of culture on students' motivation to engage with science, suggests mechanisms by which this influence may occur.

Taxation and redistribution in autocratic and democratic regimes over the long-run of history

OpenAIRE

SEELKOPF, Laura; LIERSE, Hanna

2017-01-01

The introduction of the personal income tax has often coincided with phases of democratization in history. A common explanation is that the demands of the newly enfranchised poor contribute to the rise of progressive taxes. Yet, although the world has, on average, become more democratic since the first permanent introduction of the income tax in Great Britain in 1842, inequality is again on the rise. To what extent do democratic societies really adopt more redistributive policies than their a...

The Complicated Pursuit of Democratic Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbs, Brian

2018-01-01

This article describes one secondary social studies teacher's attempts to build a pedagogically democratic classroom. The teacher designs curriculum around large essential questions, connects content to the present lives of students, and creates space for students to make their own decisions and choices. The teacher is convinced that she has…

Towards Democratic Leadership: Co-principal Initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Court, Marian

2003-01-01

A case study of a New Zealand primary school coprincipalship describes the impact of some intergroup misunderstandings and struggles over power. Concludes that building a democratic school community requires a set of considerations and practices different from those promoted within a market-managerial approach. (Contains 7 notes and 51…

The Consortium for the Valuation of Applications Benefits Linked with Earth Science (VALUABLES)

Science.gov (United States)

Kuwayama, Y.; Mabee, B.; Wulf Tregar, S.

2017-12-01

National and international organizations are placing greater emphasis on the societal and economic benefits that can be derived from applications of Earth observations, yet improvements are needed to connect to the decision processes that produce actions with direct societal benefits. There is a need to substantiate the benefits of Earth science applications in socially and economically meaningful terms in order to demonstrate return on investment and to prioritize investments across data products, modeling capabilities, and information systems. However, methods and techniques for quantifying the value proposition of Earth observations are currently not fully established. Furthermore, it has been challenging to communicate the value of these investments to audiences beyond the Earth science community. The Consortium for the Valuation of Applications Benefits Linked with Earth Science (VALUABLES), a cooperative agreement between Resources for the Future (RFF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has the goal of advancing methods for the valuation and communication of the applied benefits linked with Earth observations. The VALUABLES Consortium will focus on three pillars: (a) a research pillar that will apply existing and innovative methods to quantify the socioeconomic benefits of information from Earth observations; (b) a capacity building pillar to catalyze interdisciplinary linkages between Earth scientists and social scientists; and (c) a communications pillar that will convey the value of Earth observations to stakeholders in government, universities, the NGO community, and the interested public. In this presentation, we will describe ongoing and future activities of the VALUABLES Consortium, provide a brief overview of frameworks to quantify the socioeconomic value of Earth observations, and describe how Earth scientists and social scientist can get involved in the Consortium's activities.

Studying the Quality of Democracy: Two Cross-National Measures of Democratic Citizenship

Science.gov (United States)

Ledet, Richard

2016-01-01

This article provides new cross-national measures of two dimensions of democratic citizenship with great import for the study of democratic quality, expressive participation, and intolerance of diversity. Using data from the 2000-2001 wave of the World Values Survey, the paper present new ways to measure participation and intolerance, as well as a…

Democratic Teacher Beliefs According to the Teacher's Gender and Locus of Control

Science.gov (United States)

Kesici, Sahin

2008-01-01

This study explored the variations in democratic beliefs among teachers based on gender and locus of control. The study groups comprised of 286 teachers. The results demonstrated that the level of adherence to democratic beliefs on the part of female teachers was significantly higher than those of male teachers, especially in terms of equality and…

Probabilistic causality, selection bias, and the logic of the democratic peace

OpenAIRE

Slantchev, Branislav L; Alexandrova, A; Gartzke, E

2005-01-01

Rosato (2003) claims to have discredited democratic peace theories. However, the methodological approach adopted by the study cannot reliably generate the conclusions espoused by the author. Rosato seems to misunderstand the probabilistic nature of most arguments about democratic peace and ignores issues that an appropriate research design should account for. Further, the study's use of case studies and data sets without attention to selection-bias produces examples that actually support theo...

The Importance of Belonging: Learning from the Student Experience of Democratic Education

Science.gov (United States)

Hope, Max A.

2012-01-01

This article grew out of an extensive piece of grounded theory research that explored students' experiences of democratic education. A small democratic school in the south of England is used as a case study. Students in this school experienced a strong sense of belonging--to the school itself, with teachers, and with peers. This appeared to make a…

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.

Political Identity Convergence: On Being Latino, Becoming a Democrat, and Getting Active

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonie Huddy

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The majority of Latinos in the United States identify with the Democratic Party, a tendency with broad political implications as Latinos become an increasingly large segment of the population. Little research, however, has delved into the origins of this preference. In this research, we contrast two explanations for Latinos’ Democratic proclivities: an instrumental explanation grounded in ideological policy preferences and an expressive identity account based on the defense of Latino identity and status. In analysis of data from two large national datasets, the 2012 Latino Immigrant National Election Study and American National Election Study focused on Latino immigrants and citizens respectively, we find strong support for the expressive identity explanation. Hispanic and partisan identities have converged among Latinos in the United States to create a large number of Latino Democrats regardless of citizenship status. Those who identify strongly as Latinos and see pervasive discrimination against Latinos are the strongest Democrats, a process that further intensified over the course of the 2012 election. A strong partisan preference increased political campaign activity, though this activity level was modest overall. Relatively few Latinos had worked on a campaign or given money to a candidate; somewhat larger numbers had tried to convince others about a candidate or worn a button or displayed a sticker. Finally, some support was evident for an instrumental account. Latino support for government-provided health insurance in 2012 consistently increased support for the Democratic Party.

NGO participation in international lawmaking and democratic legitimacy : The debate and its future

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beijerman, M.

2016-01-01

Over the last few decades, scholars - mainly in the field of law and international relations - have argued that NGOs are indispensable in making international law more democratically legitimate. This study refers to this as the ‘NGO democratic legitimacy thesis’. The thesis is presented as a

Why we need to question the democratic engagement that adolescents in Europe develop.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groot, I. de; Veugelers, W.

2015-01-01

Since the beginning of the 21st century, academics in various disciplines have stressed the need to address democratic deficits in Europe as well as lacunae in the citizenship development of European youth. In this article we explore the value of various types of democratic engagement for

Differential Effects of Message Framing on Obesity Policy Support Between Democrats and Republicans.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Tae Kyoung; Kim, Hye Kyung

2017-12-01

This study tests whether gain- and loss-framed messages about establishing obesity-reducing policies have different persuasive effects on Republicans and Democrats. In a randomized between-subject experiment, participants (N = 384) read a message emphasizing either benefits to a society by establishing policies aimed to reduce obesity (i.e., gain-framed message) or costs to a society that fails to establish those policies (i.e., loss-framed message). Results indicated that Democrats perceived the gain-framed message as more persuasive than the loss-framed message and the perceived argument strength fully mediated the framing effect on Democrats' policy support; however, there was no framing effect on perceived argument strength among Republicans. On the other hand, the gain-framed message led Republicans to attribute the cause of obesity less to the individual level compared to the loss-framed message and the no-message condition. We observed no framing difference among Democrats on causal attributions. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Democratization of philosophy of technologies

OpenAIRE

Arun Kumar Tripathi

2015-01-01

Technology is a form of culture. Technology is shaping the theoretical framework of our social existence. The technological form of life is part and parcel of culture, just as culture in the human sense inescapably implies technologies. There are unfathomable effects of technology on human culture and society. This paper presents the background and the editorial introduction to the special issue: symposium on Education, Technology, & Democracy: Democratization of Technologies.

Private Sector Contracting and Democratic Accountability

Science.gov (United States)

DiMartino, Catherine; Scott, Janelle

2013-01-01

Public officials are increasingly contracting with the private sector for a range of educational services. With much of the focus on private sector accountability on cost-effectiveness and student performance, less attention has been given to shifts in democratic accountability. Drawing on data from the state of New York, one of the most active…

Democratizing Authority in the Built Environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andersen, Michael P [UC Berkeley; Kolb, John [UC Berkeley; Chen, Kaifei [UC Berkeley; Culler, David [UC Berkeley; Katz, Randy [UC Berkeley

2017-11-08

Operating systems and applications in the built environment have relied upon central authorization and management mechanisms which restrict their scalability, especially with respect to administrative overhead. We propose a new set of primitives encompassing syndication, security, and service execution that unifies the management of applications and services across the built environment, while enabling participants to individually delegate privilege across multiple administrative domains with no loss of security or manageability. We show how to leverage a decentralized authorization syndication platform to extend the design of building operating systems beyond the single administrative domain of a building. The authorization system leveraged is based on blockchain smart contracts to permit decentralized and democratized delegation of authorization without central trust. Upon this, a publish/subscribe syndication tier and a containerized service execution environment are constructed. Combined, these mechanisms solve problems of delegation, federation, device protection and service execution that arise throughout the built environment. We leverage a high-fidelity city-scale emulation to verify the scalability of the authorization tier, and briefly describe a prototypical democratized operating system for the built environment using this foundation.

The Third Wave of Democratization in Indonesia

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Delin, Azizan

2000-01-01

.... For half a century, authoritarianism was dominant in Indonesia, but like all dictatorships, Indonesia subsequently had to return to democracy. Pressures from within the authoritarian government and Indonesian society dictated the democratization process. However, the long term prospects for unstable democracy remain unclear.

Unconsciously Indigenous Leadership: The Role of Cognitive Disequilibrium in Preparing Democratic Educational Leaders

Science.gov (United States)

Farmer, Tod Allen

2008-01-01

This paper focuses on the role of cognitive disequilibrium in preparing democratic educational leaders. Followers emerge into leaders with what are many times unconsciously socialized norms and values indigenous to their local culture. One of the roles of a democratic leadership preparation program is to challenge these unconsciously accepted…

A New Conservative Cold Front? Democrat and Republican Responsiveness to the Passage of the Affordable Care Act

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen L. Morgan

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Through an analysis of the 2004 through 2014 General Social Survey (GSS, this article demonstrates that the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA decreased support for spending on health among Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, contrary to the conjecture that a rigid partisanship equilibrium has taken hold among voters in the United States. Instead, only a partisan deflection is present, with spending preferences declining more for Republicans than for Democrats, and with Independents in between. Through supplemental analysis of the GSS panel data, as well as comparative analysis of other GSS items on national spending preferences, government responsibility, and confidence in leaders, this article also undermines support for an alternative explanation that cannot be entirely eliminated from plausibility, which is that the identified period effect that emerged in 2010 and persisted through 2014 is a response to the Great Recession and resulting deficit spending by the federal government. Implications for public opinion research are discussed, lending support to current models of thermostat effects and policy-specific political mood from the political science literature, which are informed by an older literature on weather fronts in public opinion that originated in the sociology literature.

'Democratic Leadership'--A Contradiction in Terms?

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Kathryn

2003-01-01

Draws on a range of country contexts to shed light on the ways in which the practice of leadership is shaped by national aspirations. Examines whether there is a set of ideas, arrangements, and activities that appear to sustain new forms of leadership that support democracy, or whether democratic leadership of schools is a chimera. (Contains 29…

Democratic Republic of Congo Jobs Diagnostic

OpenAIRE

Aterido, Reyes; Gonzalez, Alvaro; Merotto, Dino; Petracco, Carly; Sanchez-Reaza, Javier

2018-01-01

The economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not creating sufficient jobs for its young and rapidly growing workforce. Although the Congolese economy has experienced fast growth and poverty has declined, further reducing poverty will require more dynamic job creation and continued reductions in fertility rates. The current youth bulge and potential demographic dividend will open a un...

Democratizing English as an International Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Deneire, Marc

The aim of this paper is threefold. The first section shows how the political uses of language engendered by both western-style liberalism on the one hand and various forms of nationalism on the other lead to the negation of democratic ideals. Because of the current international situation, political aspects of language are receiving more and more…

Democratic socialism and the choices in the building of a political economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claus Offe

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The holders of political power may choose among the myriad of institutional possibilities that exist between capitalism and socialism. After explaining why any system of production is mixed, this essay explores both why markets are frequently considered preferable to other arrangements and which are the “simple” wrongs associated with capitalist market economies. Among these “simple” wrongs, we find markets’ tendency to self-subversion, to permeate the whole of social life, and to inflict damage when it is permitted to markets to encompass the factors of production, like labor, natural resources, and money. Despite these “simple” wrongs, democratic socialists and social democrats believe that the political power mobilized within liberal democracies can cope with these side-effects by resorting to instruments like anti-trust legislation, market-constraining policies, and to the protection of the factors of production. Finally, the essay explains why social democrats and democratic socialists believe that liberal democracy, with its emphasis on liberty and equality, on the one hand, and on representation, contestation, and accountability, on the other, is the institutional arrangement that can best cope with the inherent pathologies of capitalist market societies

The short communism's journey into democracy: an appraisal of Romanian democratization

OpenAIRE

Ionescu, Alexandra

2009-01-01

Two decades after the demise of communism, one can draw a state of the art of democratization in Romania. The task of building democracy was not only an endeavor of institutional engineering, but also a re-conceptualization of the intellectual resources of politics, as well as a re-conversion of the instruments and modes of government. Romanian democratization meant simultaneously unraveling the state and the regime and separating the state and the society. Both processes were grounded in the...

Science as a Model for Rational, Legitimate Government

Science.gov (United States)

Branscomb, Lewis

2009-05-01

Before WWII science was largely dependent on support through teaching, and a few foundations. In the last half century, thanks to the contribution of applied science to winning the second world war, government became a deep-pockets source of support for science. While many academic scientists were deeply suspicious of government as a sponsor, the research universities saw an opportunity to build their institutions around government support. Government saw science as a means for sustaining its military primacy. Thus a marriage was consummated by partners -- science and politics -- who needed each other, but for quite different and to some degree conflicting motives. In the U.S. democracy, the relationship between science and politics has never been easy. The search for truth in science and for legitimacy in politics both require systems for generating public trust, but these systems are not the same, and indeed they are often incompatible. The most profound area of mismatch between science and politics is found not in conflicts over what kinds of research are deserving of public funding, but rather in conflicts over the advice government receives from scientific and technical experts. It is no accident that democratic America fostered progress in science and technology. Both American democracy and modern science are products of the Enlightenment, with its emphasis on reason and openness rather than on prejudice and traditional authority. American democracy has always benefited from a pragmatic willingness to learn from experience, very much as science relies on experiment. Progress in science is based transparency and accountability; these are also basic principles of democratic government. If science is corrupted by government, government itself is in danger of becoming corrupt. In recent years we seemed to be going down that path. It is no accident that President Obama and media commentators speak often of the ``new pragmatism,'' or that he appointed exceptionally

Students' Participation to the Decision-Making Process as a Tool for Democratic School

Science.gov (United States)

Dundar, Selma

2013-01-01

This research has been designed because it has been realized that there is only little research carried out about the student participation in the administration for the structuring of the democratic authority in the higher education system in Turkey. In the relevant literature, concepts of democratic authority and education have been approached…

Nigeria and Democratic Progress by Elections in Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Carbone

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Elections do not always advance democratisation, yet they can. We outline a democratisation-by-elections model according to which the opportunities for political change opened up by each electoral round build on previous election-related democratic progress. We focus on Nigeria, interpret the recent executive turnover in light of previous elections, and set the country within the comparative context of Africa’s democratisation. Using a new Africa Leadership Change dataset, we use election-related events to examine the diverse routes that African regimes have taken since 1990. The analysis highlights two major syndromes: democratic stagnation and recession. In a sizeable group, however, the institutionalisation of democracy has been making gradual progress. While there is no predetermined way to advance democracy, the reiteration of elections can be instrumental in such advancement.

Civil Society Organizations’ Contribution To Democratic Governance In European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragoș – Cătălin Apostu

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper tries to focus/put emphasis on what are Civil Society Organizations are and gives an outline of categories of such Organizations in Europe, it briefly looks at Governance and Democratic Governance concepts. It will then after focus on the major roles of Civil Society Organizations in European democratic Governance drawing other examples also from other countries where possible and try to bring out scholarly arguments on the negative impacts of civil society organizations. The paper ends with conclusions and analysis of SC participation through EU’s multilevel governance. Much of my discussion and commentaries shall be depicted and based on information and ideas put forward by the following scholars; Paul Magnette 2003, European Governance and Civic participation, Dawid Friedrich 2007/08, Actual and Potential Contribution of Civil Society Organizations to Democratic Governance in Europe, EU Governance White Paper 2001, Rollin F. Tusalem 2007, the role of Civil Society in the Third and Fourth-Wave Democracies and other scholars not limited to the above.

The Ethics of a Democratically-Based Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Gale A.

1993-01-01

The elite model of education postulates that only a select few have the intellectual capacity, moral values, and personal commitment to make "good" decisions for society. A democratically based classroom, where students are respected for their intellectual abilities, personal integrity, and commitment to achievement, fosters successful…

Global human rights awareness, education and democratization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mihr, A.

The 1990s was the era of human rights awareness, democratic transitions, and growing involvement of international organizations and the nongovernmental sector in human rights education (HRE). The UN Decade for HRE from 1995–2004 was not only born out of the initiatives and pressures of

A Critical Ethnography of Democratic Music Listening

Science.gov (United States)

Silverman, Marissa

2013-01-01

The purpose of this critical ethnography was to investigate how music educators can approach the development of students' music listening abilities democratically in order to deepen students' musical understandings and, by teaching through music, create pathways for student-teacher transactions that are inclusive, educative, ethical and…

Journal Editorship: Mentoring, Democratic, and International Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Mullen, Carol A.

2011-01-01

This essay builds on a review of studies in education. Journal editorship is explored from the mentoring, democratic, and international perspectives. Trends are examined within the publishing culture around these three editorial functions. Theoretical groundwork is provided for exploring contemporary journal editorship and its challenges and…

Micro Black Holes and the Democratic Transition

CERN Document Server

Dvali, Gia

2009-01-01

Unitarity implies that the evaporation of microscopic quasi-classical black holes cannot be universal in different particle species. This creates a puzzle, since it conflicts with the thermal nature of quasi-classical black holes, according to which all the species should see the same horizon and be produced with the same Hawking temperatures. We resolve this puzzle by showing that for the microscopic black holes, on top the usual quantum evaporation time, there is a new time-scale which characterizes a purely classical process during which the black hole looses the ability to differentiate among the species, and becomes democratic. We demonstrate this phenomenon in a well-understood framework of large extra dimensions, with a number of parallel branes. An initially non-democratic black hole is the one localized on one of the branes, with its high-dimensional Schwarzschild radius being much shorter than the interbrane distance. Such a black hole seemingly cannot evaporate into the species localized on the oth...

Human Rights and Democratization of the Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abner Barrera Rivas

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the relationship between the freedom of the press, conceived and practiced by the big media, and the human right to an independent and truthful information, as understood and proposed by some international treaties, agreement, conventions and declarations concerning freedom of opinion and freedom of expression as human rights. For this reason are taken into account the controversies aroused by media and some progressive governments in South America in the past fifteen years. The article presents and analyzes arguments advanced with respect to human rights that civil society demands when receiving the information, and the rights big media’s owners hold. Given that private media companies’ priority is profit, the information becomes, then, just another consumer product. It is concluded that this situation is a real problem for the education and configuration of a democratic society, and the proposal is to democratize media to protect the human rights of all.

Democratic Deliberation Procedures : Theoretical and Practical Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tutui Viorel

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract : In contemporary political philosophy, the focus of the most important controversies is on the deliberative model of democracy. These controversies concern not only the theoretical problem of providing the best justification for a deliberative model of democratic legitimacy, but also the practical problem of designing the best deliberative procedure that will secure the implementation of deliberative democracy. In this paper I will present and analyze some of the most important deliberative designs: deliberative polls, citizens’ juries, consensus conferences and planning cells. I argue that these deliberative events can have a significant impact on the political behavior of a democratic community. However, I explain that all of them have only a limited influence on the policy-making activities in local and central governing structures. This is the reason why I believe we could only supplement and never fully replace the traditional aggregative procedures of democracy (voting and bargaining with a deliberative design.

Possibilities of consensus: toward democratic moral discourse.

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, B

1991-08-01

The concept of consensus is often appealed to in discussions of biomedical ethics and applied ethics, and it plays an important role in many influential ethical theories. Consensus is an especially influential notion among theorists who reject ethical realism and who frame ethics as a practice of discourse rather than a body of objective knowledge. It is also a practically important notion when moral decision making is subject to bureaucratic organization and oversight, as is increasingly becoming the case in medicine. Two models of consensus are examined and criticized: pluralistic consensus and overlapping consensus. As an alternative to these models, the paper argues that consensus refers to the dialogic aspects of a broader normative conception of democratic moral agency. When the preconditions for that dialogic democratic practice are met, consensus has a justificatory role in ethics; when they are not, consensus, as distinct from mere agreement, does not emerge and can have no moral authority.

The Democratizing Power of the Internet in Southeast Asia

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Parker, Kevin

1997-01-01

.... A review of the existing democratization literature, coupled with quantitative analysis of the societal impact of computer networking technologies, suggests that the level of Internet connectivity...

Foreign private capital inflows in Nigeria's democratic dispensation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

FPCI) in Nigeria in the current democratic dispensation with a view to finding out whether the inflows have recorded significant increase since the institution of Democracy in the country. Relevant theories and empirical data were reviewed.

Two Democratic Traditions In The Election Of Head Of Village In Neglasari, Tasikmalaya

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iyep Saefulrahman

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the working of two democratic traditions in the election of head of Neglasari Village in 2015. This aim based on the condition of Neglasari as a unity of law society that has its own tradition in implementing democracy. However, the state determines that liberal democratic tradition is the main traditions that applied in head of village election. The research uses qualitative research and case study as its research strategy. Data collecting is done by interview, observation and documentation. The working of both democratic traditions turns out to provide a positive contribution, to the village democracy to be more qualified because both traditions are supporting each other.

The Puzzle of Democratic Monopolies: Single Party Dominance and Decline in India

OpenAIRE

Dasgupta, Aditya

2016-01-01

How to explain political monopolies in democratic institutional settings? Dominant parties in countries with robust formal democratic institutions are surprisingly frequent, yet poorly understood. Existing theories explain away the puzzle by characterizing dominant parties as `catch-all' parties that survive on the basis of historically imbued mass voter legitimacy. This dissertation develops a theory of how dominant parties in fact routinely win free and fair elections despite counter-majori...

Creating Better Schools through Democratic School Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

San Antonio, Diosdado M.

2008-01-01

This paper examines the impact of implementing democratic school leadership via advisory school councils in Philippine public secondary schools. Through an experiment with empirical surveys and interviews, this study reveals that the experimental group had higher levels of commitment, empowerment and trust compared with the control group after one…

A Code of Ethics for Democratic Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

Molina, Ricardo; Klinker, JoAnn Franklin

2012-01-01

Democratic leadership rests on sacred values, awareness, judgement, motivation and courage. Four turning points in a 38-year school administrator's career revealed decision-making in problematic moments stemmed from values in a personal and professional code of ethics. Reflection on practice and theory added vocabulary and understanding to make…

Desert, Liberalism and Justice in Democratic Education

Science.gov (United States)

Jonsson, Olafur Pall

2012-01-01

Liberal democratic education, as advocated in recent accounts of citizenship education or civic education, is often seen as incompatible with moral education or character education rooted in specific views regarding the virtues. This contrast relies on well established philosophical differences between liberal views of justice and democracy, on…

AFRICAN STATES AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES IN DEMOCRATIC ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dean SPGS NAU

governing requires an ability to balance the differing needs and expectations of both local .... subsequently tables place-shaping as solution – using powers and influence ... democratic ideals and local government practices work at cross- purposes. .... values, it must be part of everyday life in localities and their communities.

Health Sciences undergraduate education at UCT: a story of transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartman, Nadia; Kathard, Harsha; Perez, Gonda; Reid, Steve; Irlam, James; Gunston, Geney; Janse van Rensburg, Vicki; Burch, Vanessa; Duncan, Madeleine; Hellenberg, Derek; Van Rooyen, Ian; Smouse, Mantoa; Sikakane, Cynthia; Badenhorst, Elmi; Ige, Busayo

2012-03-02

Undergraduate education and training in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town has become socially responsive. A story of transformation that is consonant with wider societal developments since the 1994 democratic elections, outlining the changes in undergraduate curricula across the faculty, is presented.

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.

Cinema and Politics since 9/11: the Democratic Pardox of Media

OpenAIRE

Marteau, Aurélie

2006-01-01

The question of whether cinema is democratic is a vast one, which requires research limitations of time and place to actually find an answer for. In this study, the place will be the United States, because nowhere else is the industry of cinema so powerful and generates more elements of popular culture; where also the country is considered to be democratic and practicing freedom of speech. The time will be the period following 11th September 2001: a date after which American politics has been...

Sustained Innovation Through Shared Capitalism and Democratic Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Beyster, M. A.; Blasi, J.; Sibilia, J.; Zebuchen, T.; Bowman, A.

The Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED) explores application of democratic representative governance models and structures for long-term interdisciplinary research, development and education to the concept of an organization that can sustain activity in support of interstellar travel in the 100-year timeframe, as outlined by the 100 Year StarshipTM. This paper titled, Sustained Innovation through Shared Capitalism and Democratic Governance , explores the roots of representative structures and organizations as long-lived success stories throughout history. Research, innovation, organizational structures and associated issues are explored to address the long-term focus required for development, both material and human. Impact investing vehicles are also explored as potential investment structures addressing the long-term horizon required by the organization. This paper provides an illustration, description and philosophical approach of this model as developed by the FED and our collaborators.

Teachers as curriculum leaders: towards promoting gender equity as a democratic ideal

OpenAIRE

Simmonds, Shan

2017-01-01

Curriculum is a site of political, racial, gendered, and theological dispute. Teachers who acknowledge this and see the implications for democratic living embrace their teaching practice as curriculum leaders and participate in complicated conversations. With the focus on gender equity as a democratic ideal, this article explores the lived experiences of some South African female teachers. From the findings, it became evident that some teachers still experience their school contexts as pervad...

Democratizing the Multinational Corporation (MNC)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Torben Juul; Hallin, Carina Antonia

2017-01-01

insights that can be used strategically if management at headquarters is cognizant about its existence and able to collect this information. We introduce the notion of democratizing the strategic engagement of managers and employees at all levels and locations of the multinational corporation (MNC......) as an essential leadership paradigm. The implied interaction between slow central analytical reasoning at headquarters and updated insights from fast decentralized initiatives in local subsidiaries constitutes an effective dynamic responsive mechanism. This dynamic interaction implies that critical strategic...

A model for analysis, systemic planning and strategic synthesis for health science teaching in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a vision for action.

Science.gov (United States)

Parent, Florence; Kahombo, Gérard; Bapitani, Josué; Garant, Michèle; Coppieters, Yves; Levêque, Alain; Piette, Danielle

2004-12-07

BACKGROUND: The problem of training human resources in health is a real concern in public health in Central Africa. What can be changed in order to train more competent health professionals? This is of utmost importance in primary health care. METHODS: Taking into account the level of training of secondary-level nurses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a systemic approach, based on the PRECEDE PROCEED model of analysis, led to a better understanding of the educational determinants and of the factors favourable to a better match between training in health sciences and the expected competences of the health professionals. This article must be read on two complementary levels: one reading, focused on the methodological process, should allow our findings to be transferred to other problems (adaptation of a health promotion model to the educational sphere). The other reading, revolving around the specific theme and results, should provide a frame of reference and specific avenues for action to improve human resources in the health field (using the results of its application in health science teaching in the DRC). RESULTS: The results show that it is important to start this training with a global and integrated approach shared by all the actors. The strategies of action entail the need for an approach taking into account all the aspects, i.e. sociological, educational, medical and public health. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of the results shows that one cannot bring any change without integrated strategies of action and a multidisciplinary approach that includes all the complex determinants of health behaviour, and to do it within the organization of local structures and institutions in the ministry of health in the DRC.

Science, democracy and emerging threats to scientific progress.

Science.gov (United States)

Feller, Stephan M

2012-08-23

Can trustworthy science flourish in countries suffering from dictatorship? This is an increasingly relevant question. Many commercial publishers want to maximise their profits (as is to be expected in a capitalistic system) and are pushing into non-democratic countries with rapid economic growth like China. But how much can we trust the papers coming from countries with dictatorial regimes?

Religion, Democratic Community, and Education: Two Questions

Science.gov (United States)

D'Souza, Mario Osbert

2012-01-01

This paper examines the mediating role that education plays between religion and democratic community. The paper is situated in the Canadian context and examines this mediation through two questions: First, what is the relationship between religion and education and what is the contribution of this relationship to and within a pluralist society?…

Kant's categorical imperative: a foundation for democratic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... to the prevalence of a monstrous anti-democratic vice such as corruption. Rocked by a decline in morality and national consciousness in both public and private life, the practice of democracy in Africa and Nigeria in particular since ... a cardinal moral theory in Immanuel Kant.s ethical philosophy presented in his work ...

EZI- NA-ULO AND UMUNNA: IN SEARCH OF DEMOCRATIC ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dr Ike

Anthony Ufearoh. Abstract. This write-up intends to locate democratic ideals the traditional Igbo .... quintessential leader in the communalist leadership system of the traditional .... style is 'inclusionary' rather than 'exclusionary'. Representation.

The Perceptions of Prospective Teachers on the Democratic Aspects of the Constructivist Learning Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Bay, Erdal; Gundogdu, Kerim; Kaya, Halil Ibrahim

2010-01-01

Introduction: The nations which have the aim to create democratic societies should also realize the same ideals in educational practices. Related literature declare that learning environments based on constructivist approach is assumed to be democratic. In line with this frame, the aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of prospective…

Non-formal Education and Its Role in Establishing a Democratic Culture within Indonesian Heterogeneous Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Tampubolon, Mangatas

2003-01-01

Examines nonformal education's part in expanding democratic culture in Indonesia; discusses contextual constraints on democracy, use of nonformal education for literacy and life skills development, and the influence on developing citizen awareness of responsibilities in a democratic society. (Contains 28 references.) (SK)

Politics as Culture: Contribution of Political Science to Democratic Maturity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Padjen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the contribution of Croatian political science to the development of democracy in Croatia. The focus of the analysis is the concept of culture which author talks about in five steps. In the first step it is understood in the modern key, in the second step as different for nature and in the third as different from society. In the fourth step author differentiates political culture from political economy and political institutions, but in the fifth part there is an attempt to show culture as a fundamental part of politics, policy and polity. On the basis of these insights author shows that the matrix of Croatian political science is more and more devoted to scientific investigation of politics as culture as both study of political culture and as a source of development as politics as culture.

Is Democratization a Sound Strategy for Combating Fundamentalist Islam

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Johnson, Anthony J

2008-01-01

.... The United States' current National Security Strategy (NSS) prepossess to counter the growth of radical Islam through the promotion of human rights and freedom by the process of democratization throughout the world...

Introduction Public Sector Reforms and the Quest for Democratic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

seriane.camara

substantive (or emancipatory) democracy in the long run”. Democratic .... the paradigm focused exclusively on short-term macro-economic stabilization, with little ..... Paper presented at the Guy Mhone Memorial Conference on Public Sector.

Oligarchization and extractivism. Locks against the democratization of environmental politics in Chile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandro Pelfini

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to show that the modernization of Chile’s environmental institutions (called Nueva Institucionalidad Ambiental, introduced in 2009/2010 consolidates the informal networks that have traditionally linked its main actors (investors, State and experts. Consequently, it is a public policy that despite the incorporation of governance standards marked by accountability, transparency and public participation does not contribute to the formation of citizenship and public agenda around models of development and use of natural resources, but limited to assess/ mitigate/legitimize pre-established agendas, introduced by productive, extractive or infrastructure investment projects. In our view, this is due to the tendency to oligarchization of the Chilean political system and of the domination of elites in general and the persistence of an accumulation model based on the extraction of natural resources. Both serve as a structural lock that bolts any substantive change of environmental policy in a more democratic direction

Leadership Education Priorities in a Democratic Society

Science.gov (United States)

Page, William Tyler

2010-01-01

Is there still an effort to include democratic ideals in public education? Some claim that it is no longer a priority, the result of a lack of common definition or perceived benefits. In today's policy driven climate, school leaders must transition to new and more effective approaches to enhancing learning and teaching. Aspiring principals/leaders…

The costs of electoral fraud: establishing the link between electoral integrity, winning an election, and satisfaction with democracy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortin-Rittberger, Jessica; Harfst, Philipp; Dingler, Sarah C

2017-07-03

Previous research has shown that voters' perception of electoral fairness has an impact on their attitudes and behaviors. However, less research has attempted to link objective measurements of electoral integrity on voters' attitudes about the democratic process. Drawing on data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and the Quality of Elections Data, we investigate whether cross-national differences in electoral integrity have significant influences on citizens' level of satisfaction with democracy. We hypothesize that higher levels of observed electoral fraud will have a negative impact on evaluations of the democratic process, and that this effect will be mediated by a respondent's status as a winner or loser of an election. The article's main finding is that high levels of electoral fraud are indeed linked to less satisfaction with democracy. However, we show that winning only matters in elections that are conducted in an impartial way. The moment elections start to display the telltale signs of manipulation and malpractice, winning and losing no longer have different effects on voter's levels of satisfaction with democracy.

Strange bedfellows: the Bundestag’s free vote on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD reveals how Germany’s restrictive bioethics legislation is shaped by a Christian Democratic/New Left issue-coalition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Arzheimer

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Germany’s bioethical legislation presents a puzzle: given structural factors, the country should be at the forefront of reproductive medicine, but its embryology regime remains one of the strictest in Western Europe. Past research has linked this fact to an unusual coalition of Christian and New Left groups, which both draw a connection from modern embryology to eugenics under the Nazis. In this article, the workings of this alleged alliance are demonstrated at the micro-level for the first time. The behaviour of individual MPs in a crucial free vote on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD is modelled using data on their political, sectoral and religious affiliations. Identifying as a Catholic and membership in Christian organisations are strong predictors of resistance to PGD. Even more importantly, net of religious and professional ties, affiliation with either the Christian Democrats or the left-libertarian Green party is closely linked to restrictive bioethical preferences. The modest liberalisation in 2011 was contingent on external factors and the overwhelming support of the historically unusually large FDP delegation. With the FDP no longer represented in parliament and the Christian Democratic/New Left issue coalition even stronger than before, further liberalisation is unlikely.

Governing Insecurity: Democratic Control of Military and Security ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

P H Stoker

democratic control of military and security institutions is strategic to democratisation for two main reasons: firstly because these institutions have a peculiar intimate relationship to political power and secondly because their security functions, including the management of insecurities that may be generated by democratisation ...

Theorizing Democratic Education from a Senian Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

DeCesare, Tony

2014-01-01

Despite the growing body of literature and general interest in the intersection between the capabilities approach (CA) and education, little work has been done so far to theorize democratic education from a CA perspective. This essay attempts to do so by, first, getting clear about the theory of democracy that has emerged from Amartya Sen's…

Leadership Education Priorities for a Democratic Society

Science.gov (United States)

Jenlink, Patrick M.

2010-01-01

Determining the priorities for leadership education in a democratic society is a complex, challenging responsibility, not a task to be taken lightly. It is complex on one level in that to be a leader in schools "today is to understand a profoundly human as well as a professional responsibility." It is challenging on another level in that preparing…

Phenomenological mass matrices with a democratic warp

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleppe, A.

2018-01-01

Taking into account all available data on the mass sector, we obtain unitary rotation matrices that diagonalize the quark matrices by using a specific parametrization of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mixing matrix. In this way, we find mass matrices for the up- and down-quark sectors of a specific, symmetric form, with traces of a democratic texture.

The Democratic Window of Opportunity: Evidence from Riots in sub-Saharan Africa

OpenAIRE

Aidt, Toke Skovsgaard; Leon, Gabriel

2014-01-01

We show that drought-induced changes in the intensity of riots lead to moves towards democracy in sub-Saharan Africa, and that these changes are often a result of concessions made as a result of the riots. This provides evidence that low-intensity conflict can have a substantial short-run impact on democratic change, and supports the "window of opportunity" hypothesis: droughts lead to an increase in the threat of conflict, and incumbents often respond by making democratic concessions. Thi...

Science, democracy and emerging threats to scientific progress

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Can trustworthy science flourish in countries suffering from dictatorship? This is an increasingly relevant question. Many commercial publishers want to maximise their profits (as is to be expected in a capitalistic system) and are pushing into non-democratic countries with rapid economic growth like China. But how much can we trust the papers coming from countries with dictatorial regimes? PMID:22916710

Science, democracy and emerging threats to scientific progress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feller Stephan M

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Can trustworthy science flourish in countries suffering from dictatorship? This is an increasingly relevant question. Many commercial publishers want to maximise their profits (as is to be expected in a capitalistic system and are pushing into non-democratic countries with rapid economic growth like China. But how much can we trust the papers coming from countries with dictatorial regimes?

Vertical accountabilitlity and democratization of Judiciary: the end of restricted suffrage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lourival Barão Marques Filho

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The National Council of Justice holds the Judiciary Branch horizontality accountable, however, other Judiciary institutions still lack vertical accountability that shall promote internal democratization. The transposition of Guilhermo O’Donnell’s concept of vertical accountability is useful to democratize administration in Courts of Justice. The verticality in this perspective can be expressed by the possibility of judges to choose, watch, punish and reward their administrators. A new arrangement, based on efficient mechanisms of accountability, can provide a legitimacy that lacks for the internal public of these institutions, especially with direct election for the presidency of Courts of Justice.

Political Differences in Past, Present, and Future Life Satisfaction: Republicans Are More Sensitive than Democrats to Political Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Mandel, David R.; Omorogbe, Philip

2014-01-01

Previous research finds that Republicans report being happier or more satisfied with their lives than Democrats. Using representative American samples from 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010, we tested a Person × Situation interactionist account in which political affiliation (Democrat, Republican) and political climate (favorable when the president in office is of the same party) are proposed to affect past, present, and anticipated future life satisfaction. Meta-analyses of related tests of key hypotheses confirmed that (a) life satisfaction was greater when the political climate was favorable rather than unfavorable and (b) Republicans were more sensitive to political climate than Democrats. As predicted, Republicans also were more politically polarized than Democrats. Taken together, the findings indicate that, compared to Democrats, Republicans are more apt to self-identify in political terms, and core aspects of their subjective well-being are more easily affected by the outcome of political events. PMID:24901253

Building a New South Africa Volume 3: Science and Technology ...

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

Let us use these ideas to ensure that our reconstruction and development go ahead in harmony. — Nelson Mandela. Out of the discussions surrounding a 1992 symposium on the role of research in transforming South Africa, the democratic movement requested that IDRC support a mission on science and technology (S&T) ...

A Community-University Exchange Project Modeled after Europe's Science Shops

Science.gov (United States)

Tryon, Elizabeth; Ross, J. Ashleigh

2012-01-01

This article describes a pilot project of the Morgridge Center for Public Service at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a new structure for community-based learning and research. It is based on the European-derived science shop model for democratizing campus-community partnerships using shared values of mutual respect and validation of…

Building A New South Africa: Volume 3: Science and Technology ...

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

Mission on Science and Technology Policy for a Democratic South Africa .... background papers that provided important information on the nature of the S&T system. ..... and the overdue social demands can be kept under control only through a ...... such as CSIR, will have little impact on industry unless they have the internal ...

Leadership Style Right in the Democratic

OpenAIRE

Harlen, Togu

2015-01-01

Each leader has a leadership style that is different tobe adapted to the work environment so as to avoidinternal conflicts between superiors and subordinates.No leadership style that has been attached since theman was still in the womb, but some are derived fromexperience and knowledge about leadership.In an era of democratization takes leaders who have ademocratic leadership style that promotes democraticvalues that exist so that the subordinate was given theopportunity to cooperate and coor...

Democratic Public Discourse in the Coming Autarchic Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gheorghe-Ilie Farte

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this article is to tackle the problem of living together – as dignified human beings – in a certain territory in the field of social philosophy, on the theoretical grounding ensured by some remarkable exponents of the Austrian School − and by means of the praxeologic method. Because political tools diminish the human nature not only of those who use them, but also of those who undergo their effects, people can live a life worthy of a human being only as members of some autarchic or self-governing communities. As a spontaneous order, every autarchic community is inherently democratic, inasmuch as it makes possible free involvement, peaceful coordination, free expression and the free reproduction of ideas. The members of autarchic communities are moral individuals who avoid aggression, practice self-control, seek a dynamical efficiency and establish (together with their fellow human beings a democratic public discourse.

The Refugee Crisis as a European Democratic Crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chryssoula Kapartziani

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The institutional European Union is facing two types of crisis. On the one hand, it needs to manage the current refugee’s influx efficiently and on the other hand it needs to deal with the democratic deficit that emerged by Europe’s incapacity to make the required decisions and gain the justification of its actions from its own people. This article aims firstly to highlight the legal framework (rule of law that governs the asylum and migration procedures as well as the democratic gap that these provisions created in the different member states, as a crystal clear example of how a national competence became supranational. Furthermore, it illustrates the refugee profile, as a human being with acquired human rights through the theories of H. Arendt and the U. Beck. Lastly, the cosmopolitan approach is suggested in order to overcome the refugee crisis but a well-established integration should be the long term goal of Europe.

Beyond Democratic Tolerance: Witch Killings in Timor-Leste

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Strating

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Newly democratising states experience challenges in reconciling “traditional” or “customary” dispute resolution practices with newly established state-based legal systems based on the rule of law. For Timor-Leste, these tensions are pronounced in continuing debates concerning the killing or injuring of women accused of witchcraft. Defences of extrajudicial punishments tend to conflate democracy with local support and fail to deal with the key institutions of democratic systems, including the rule of law, political equality, and civil rights. In Timor-Leste’s case, where equality and social rights were incorporated into the Constitution as fundamental governmental obligations, localised extrajudicial punishments threaten internal and external state legitimacy and highlight the difficulties of ensuring the primacy of state-based institutions. Extrajudicial punishments challenge Timor-Leste’s capacity to consolidate new liberal democratic political institutions.

Science's disparate responsibilities: Patterns across European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Mejlgaard, Niels

2018-04-01

It is a distinctive feature of European science policy that science is expected to meet economic and broader societal objectives simultaneously. Science should be governed democratically and take significant responsibilities towards the economy, the political system and civil society, but the coherency of these multiple claims is underexplored. Using metrics that emerge from both quantitative and qualitative studies, we examine the interrelatedness of different responsibilities at the level of countries. A total of 33 European Union member states and associated countries are included in the analysis. We find no trade-off between economic and broader societal contributions. Europe is, however, characterised by major divisions in terms of the location of science in society. There is a significant East-West divide, and Europe appears to be far from accomplishing an integrated European Research Area.

Pentecostalism, gerontocratic rule and democratization in Malawi : the changing position of the young in political culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijk, van R.A.; Haynes, J.

1999-01-01

This chapter explores the relationship between the father-metaphor, gerontocratic power, democratization and religion in the context of changing political culture in Malawi. It argues that democratization in Malawi signalled a change in the nature of the dominant gerontocratic power relations

Before and beyond the precautionary principle: Epistemology of uncertainty in science and law

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tallacchini, Mariachiara

2005-01-01

The precautionary principle has become, in European regulation of science and technology, a general principle for the protection of the health of human beings, animals, plants, and the environment. It requires that '[w]here there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation'. By focusing on situations of scientific uncertainty where data are lacking, insufficient, or inconclusive, the principle introduced a shift from a neutral legal attitude towards science to a bias in favor of safety, and a shift from the paradigm of science certain and objective to the awareness that the legal regulation of science involves decisions about values and interests. Implementation of the precautionary principle is highly variable. A crucial question still needs to be answered regarding the assumption that scientific certainty is a 'normal' characteristic of scientific knowledge. The relationship between technoscience and society has moved into a situation where uncertain knowledge is the rule. From this perspective, a more general framework for a democratic governance of science is needed. In democratic society, science may still have a special authoritative voice, but it cannot be the ultimate word on decisions that only the broader society may make. Therefore, the precautionary model of scientific regulation needs to be informed by an 'extended participatory model' of the relationship between science and society

School Governing Bodies in South African Schools: Under Pressure to Enhance Democratization and Improve Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Heystek, Jan

2011-01-01

Governing bodies in South Africa are expected to have an important role in ensuring high quality education in schools as well as in the democratization of the post-apartheid South Africa. However, current legislation precludes governing bodies from involvement in the professional management of schools. Governing bodies are democratically elected…

A model for analysis, systemic planning and strategic synthesis for health science teaching in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a vision for action

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Levêque Alain

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The problem of training human resources in health is a real concern in public health in Central Africa. What can be changed in order to train more competent health professionals? This is of utmost importance in primary health care. Methods Taking into account the level of training of secondary-level nurses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, a systemic approach, based on the PRECEDE PROCEED model of analysis, led to a better understanding of the educational determinants and of the factors favourable to a better match between training in health sciences and the expected competences of the health professionals. This article must be read on two complementary levels: one reading, focused on the methodological process, should allow our findings to be transferred to other problems (adaptation of a health promotion model to the educational sphere. The other reading, revolving around the specific theme and results, should provide a frame of reference and specific avenues for action to improve human resources in the health field (using the results of its application in health science teaching in the DRC. Results The results show that it is important to start this training with a global and integrated approach shared by all the actors. The strategies of action entail the need for an approach taking into account all the aspects, i.e. sociological, educational, medical and public health. Conclusions The analysis of the results shows that one cannot bring any change without integrated strategies of action and a multidisciplinary approach that includes all the complex determinants of health behaviour, and to do it within the organization of local structures and institutions in the ministry of health in the DRC.

Political Education in the Former German Democratic Republic.

Science.gov (United States)

Dumas, Wayne; Dumas, Alesia

1996-01-01

Investigates civic education curricular reform in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Discusses the problems inherent in reforming an entire educational system, from textbooks to teachers, originally designed for Marxist-Leninist purposes. Examines the German state educational structure and the role that the main political parties play in…

Giving voice to the voiceless through deliberative democratic school ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There are several DDSG approaches that can be employed in creating elements for stakeholder empowerment and in driving deliberative democratic school governance forward. These include inclusion, motivational communication, consensus, deliberation/ dialogue, collaboration, and conflict resolution. Some school ...

Website Policies / Important Links | Data Explorer

Science.gov (United States)

Website Policies / Important Links Javascript Not Enabled OSTI Security Website Policies and Important ) Publication Date (oldest first) Close Clear All Find DOE Data Explorer Website Policies / Important Links Science | Office of Scientific and Technical Information Website Policies / Important Links * Site Map

Politicizing science: conceptions of politics in science and technology studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Mark B

2015-02-01

This essay examines five ideal-typical conceptions of politics in science and technology studies. Rather than evaluating these conceptions with reference to a single standard, the essay shows how different conceptions of politics serve distinct purposes: normative critique, two approaches to empirical description, and two views of democracy. I discuss each conception of politics with respect to how well it fulfills its apparent primary purpose, as well as its implications for the purpose of studying a key issue in contemporary democratic societies: the politicization of science. In this respect, the essay goes beyond classifying different conceptions of politics and also recommends the fifth conception as especially conducive to understanding and shaping the processes whereby science becomes a site or object of political activity. The essay also employs several analytical distinctions to help clarify the differences among conceptions of politics: between science as 'political' (adjective) and science as a site of 'politics' (noun), between spatial-conceptions and activity-conceptions of politics, between latent conflicts and actual conflicts, and between politics and power. The essay also makes the methodological argument that the politics of science and technology is best studied with concepts and methods that facilitate dialogue between actors and analysts. The main goal, however, is not to defend a particular view of politics, but to promote conversation on the conceptions of politics that animate research in social studies of science and technology.

The Drastic Outcomes from Voting Alliances in Three-Party Democratic Voting (1990 → 2013)

Science.gov (United States)

Galam, Serge

2013-04-01

The drastic effect of local alliances in three-party competition is investigated in democratic hierarchical bottom-up voting. The results are obtained analytically using a model which extends a sociophysics frame introduced in 1986 (Galam in J. Math. Phys. 30:426, 1986) and 1990 (Galam in J. Stat. Phys. 61:943, 1990) to study two-party systems and the spontaneous formation of democratic dictatorship. It is worth stressing that the 1990 paper was published in the Journal of Statistical Physics, the first paper of its kind in this journal. It was shown how a minority in power can preserve its leadership using bottom-up democratic elections. However such a bias holds only down to some critical value of minimum support. The results were used latter to explain the sudden collapse of European communist parties in the nineties. The extension to three-party competition reveals the mechanisms by which a very small minority party can get a substantial representation at higher levels of the hierarchy when the other two competing parties are big. Additional surprising results are obtained, which enlighten the complexity of three-party democratic bottom-up voting. In particular, the unexpected outcomes of local voting alliances are singled out. Unbalanced democratic situations are exhibited with strong asymmetries between the actual bottom support of a party and its associated share of power at the top leadership. Subtle strategies are identified for a party to maximize its hold on the top leadership. The results are also valid to describe opinion dynamics with three competing opinions.

Wage Setting in Democratic Labour Unions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Filges, Trine

1999-01-01

In this paper, we analyse the wage setting of a democratic labour union. The union members differ with respect to their employment probabilities. The union wage only changes if the parameters of the median member change. An exogenous shock to revenue may increase the wage, even if labour demand...... is iso-elastic and unemployment benefits may have only a small effect on wages if the median member differs from the average. These findings are in accordance with empirical results....

Fast thinking: Implications for democratic politics

OpenAIRE

Hay, Colin; Stoker, Gerry; Barr, Matthew

2016-01-01

A major programme of research on cognition has been built around the idea that human beings are frequently intuitive thinkers and that human intuition is imperfect. The modern marketing of politics and the time-poor position of many citizens suggests that ‘fast’, intuitive, thinking in many contemporary democracies is ubiquitous. This article explores the consequences that such fast thinking might have for the democratic practice of contemporary politics. Using focus groups with a range of de...

Overcoming the Obstacles to Establishing a Democratic State in Afghanistan

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Young, Dennis O

2007-01-01

.... This project looks at several of those obstacles to democracy in Afghanistan, to include the absence of a democratic history and tradition, an endemic culture of corruption, a pervasive narcotics...

School Democratization in Prefigurative Form: Two Brazilian Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

McCowan, Tristan

2010-01-01

Recent moves towards greater pupil participation in school decision-making have in part been based on instrumental rationales, such as increases in test scores and improvements in behaviour. This article assesses a different approach--that of the "prefigurative"--through which the school embodies the democratic society it aims to create.…

The Dissociative University: Pragmatist Reconstructions in Democratic Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Hachem, Ali H.

2016-01-01

The American university is in transition, witnessing major changes to its institutional structures and processes. While the 1960s and 1970s were decades of progressive democratization in American higher education, today's university is more aligned with the economic theory of neoliberalism. Existing at the intersection of two dominant but…

New public management reforms in Nigerian democratic governance

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper brings concepts and ideas from around the world about the need for and ways of achieving more responsive and accountable new public management within the framework of democratic governance. The paper adopts a content analysis method through the use of secondary data. The findings of the paper ...

Educational Conservatism and Democratic Citizenship in Hannah Arendt

Science.gov (United States)

Mihaila, Ramona; Popescu, Gheorghe H.; Nica, Elvira

2016-01-01

The purpose of this article was to gain a deeper understanding of Arendt's educational philosophy, her perspective of political involvement as a kind of political education, and natality as the fundamental nature of education. The current study has extended past research by elucidating Arendt's view of participatory democratic politics, her…

An Investigation of Students' Perceptions about Democratic School Climate and Sense of Community in School

Science.gov (United States)

Karakus, Memet

2017-01-01

This study aims to investigate students' perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. In line with this purpose, it aims to find answers to the following questions: How democratic do students find the school climate? What is students' sense of belonging level at school? What is the academic success level of…

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

Value driven classroom management-the congruence between the preferred and the democratic values

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatma Özmen

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The rapid changes in all areas of communities have raised the level of concerns about weakening of the societal values. And many academics and researchers have begun to become interested in the issues for placing especially the democratic values in education more than ever before, in order to constitute more livable social environments. The goal of this study is, on the basis of gender variable, to determine what values have driven the teachers in their classroom management practices, and to find out if these values are congruent with the democratic principles. The research group comprises 68 teachers working in Regional Public Boarding Schools. The teachers were asked to list the most and the least preferred values in classroom management from a predetermined value list. The analysis of the data revealed that the most desired 10 values used by teachers in classroom management practices were generally common between female and male gender groups and both groups’ preferences indicated similar results. ‘Honesty’ and ‘responsibility’ take at the top of the most preferred value list. However, the value of ‘equality’ which is indispensible for maintaining democracyin classroom, was preferred by less than half of the teachers. And the values such as peace, freedom, social recognition and the like were not given place in the most preferred value list. The least preferred ten values were generally the ones which were not directly related to democracy. These results indicate that some essential values related to democracy are not given much importance. It is recommended that teachers should be trained well about creating democratic classroom settings especially in pre-service education. And, school leaders should give utmost importance to constitute a democratic school environment; and school wide practices should be congruent with democratic principles so as to form it as a life style.

From Islamist to Muslim Democrat: The Present Phenomenon of Muslim Politics in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MOHD IZANI MOHD ZAIN

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Muslim political rivalry in democracy has triggered the birth of two groups; Islamist and Muslim Democrat. The two groups are competing by using a different approach in getting the support of the people. The Islamist group is championing its Islamic State agenda and the implementation of Shari`a as a political ambition within the framework of democracy while the Muslim Democrat recognises democracy and freedom as the basis of their struggle. Due to a greater development in democracy and a more open political rivalry, the Islamist group that was initially strongly backed by their rigid ideology and approach, has decided to change for a more moderate approach. This can be seen through their political strategy that emphasises on universal issues such as democracy, justice and good governance without rhetorical expressions of Islam and Shari`a. This change from Islamist to that of Muslim Democrat is an exciting development for it shows the transition path and direction of Muslim politics in Malaysia. This paper examines the latest development of the Islamist group, i.e. PAS in political rivalry in Malaysia, particularly in the recent General Election in 2013. This article reveals that due to the changing political landscape and democratization, the Islamist has pragmatically moderated their stance to gain more supports and it has embarked on a new landscape for Muslim political rivalry in Malaysia. Although PAS’s new approach to transform its approach to be more open and democratic is still questionable, this study believes that the participation of the party in democracy is no longer just for the sake of election, on the other hand it should recognise democracy as a political culture that emphasizes justice, freedom and good governance.

Urban Elementary Students' Conceptions of Learning Goals for Agricultural Science and Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Trexler, Cary J.; Hess, Alexander J.; Hayes, Kathryn N.

2013-01-01

Nationally, both science and agricultural education professional organizations have identified agriculture as a fundamental technology to be studied by students, with the goal of achieving an understanding of the agri-food system necessary for democratic participation. Benchmarks representing the content that K-12 children need to understand about…

THE RULE OF TRANSPARENCY: as an element of democratization in the journalism production process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Regina Maia

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This article´s purpose is to discuss the need for improving theknowledge of readers, listeners, TV spectators and people whouse the Internet, mainly of the information process, focusing onthe communication media in Brazil. Among the possibilities, itis important to understand information production behind thescenes, which is possible with a Rule of Transparency, one of theintellectual principles of the science of reporting called “Disciplineof Verification” by journalists Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. The existence of a place that officially relates the making of, through books, blogs, or other means of communication, contributes to the democratization of the access to the process used by journalists who are most of the time unable to speak out and publish their ideas because of the editorial demands or even due to the lack of time and space.

The Third Wave of Democratization in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

2000-03-01

Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (House of the Representatives) augmented by delegates from the regional territories and the groups in accordance with...unlimited THE THIRD WAVE OF DEMOCRATIZATION IN INDONESIA Azizan bin Md Delin Lieutenant Colonel, Malaysian Army LL B. (Hons), UiTM, Malaysia , 1996...Article 2(1) of the 1945 Constitution reads: "The Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (People’s Consultative Assembly) shall consist of members of the

Ella Flagg Young: Pioneer of Democratic School Administration.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, L. Dean; McCarthy, Martha M.

1998-01-01

Ella Flagg Young was the first woman superintendent of a large-city school system (Chicago, 1909-15) and the first woman president of the National Education Association (1910). A colleague of Dewey, Young pioneered democratic administrative practices in a scientific management era and organized school councils to give teachers a greater voice in…

Antecedent causes of a measles resurgence in the Democratic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: Despite accelerated measles control efforts, a massive measles resurgence occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) starting in mid-2010, prompting an investigation into likely causes. Methods: We conducted a descriptive epidemiological analysis using measles immunization and surveillance ...

Managing science developing your research, leadership and management skills

CERN Document Server

Peach, Ken

2017-01-01

Managing science, which includes managing scientific research and, implicitly, managing scientists, has much in common with managing any enterprise, and most of these issues (e.g. annual budget planning and reporting) form the background. Equally, much scientific research is carried in universities ancient and modern, which have their own mores, ranging from professorial autocracy to democratic plurality, as well as national and international with their missions and styles. But science has issues that require a somewhat different approach if it is to prosper and succeed. Society now expects science, whether publicly or privately funded, to deliver benefits, yet the definition of science presumes no such benefit. Managing the expectations of the scientist with those of society is the challenge of the manager of science. The book addresses some issues around science and the organizations that do science. It then deals with leadership, management and communication, team building, recruitment, motivation, managin...

New initiative links scientists and entertainers

Science.gov (United States)

Gwynne, Peter

2009-01-01

The US National Academy of Sciences has teamed up with Hollywood to improve the quality of science portrayed in films, TV shows and video games. The new Science and Entertainment Exchange (SEE) aims to create better links between entertainment-industry professionals and scientists to improve the credibility of programming related to science.

Unalienated Recognition as a Feature of Democratic Schooling

Science.gov (United States)

Rheingold, Alison

2012-01-01

The current era of standards and accountability in U.S. public schooling narrows recognition and assessment to an almost exclusive focus on the production of test scores as legitimate markers of student achievement. This climate prevents rather than encourages democratic forms of exchange within and across social worlds. Via a case study of one…

The Need for Media Education in Democratic Education

Science.gov (United States)

Stoddard, Jeremy

2014-01-01

Despite the potential for media and technology to act as a democratizing force and the challenges to democracy posed by partisanship and the explosion of political media spending, media education and the preparation of active citizens in schools is virtually nonexistent. This essay presents the case for revitalizing media education for the age of…

The Evolution of the U.S. Position toward Democratic Development of Ukraine (2000-2008

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalya Korniyenko

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In the article the author describes and analyzes the evolution of the US position on democratic development in Ukraine at the time of George W. Bush presidency (2000-2008. Four election campaigns in Ukraine have been examined, three of them for the parliament – Verkhovna Rada (2002, 2006, 2007 and one – for Presidency (2004. There is a try to determine the main features of the US position towards each of these Ukrainian election campaigns as the indicator of the development of democracy. According to the results of research we can say that, in accordance with American side opinion, the US assessment to the democratic process in Ukraine has changed during the 2000-2008. Parliamentary elections in 2002 were classified as ones in which international standards have been partially respected. The Orange revolution of 2004 was the key point, which caused the democratic changes in the electoral processes and the development of the democracy in Ukraine, in general. Parliamentary elections in 2006 and 2007 were named as examples of democracy development in Ukraine. Much of the responsibility for the deployment of the democratic process in Ukraine has been given to the current government, especially to the president of Ukraine.

Statement dated 1 June 1994 by a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

The attached text of a statement by a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, dated 1 June 1994, is being circulated to all Member States of the Agency at the request of the Permanent Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This text was received by the Secretariat before the withdrawal of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from the Agency

Communicating Science

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Nicholas

2009-10-01

Introduction: what this book is about and why you might want to read it; Prologue: three orphans share a common paternity: professional science communication, popular journalism, and literary fiction are not as separate as they seem; Part I. Professional Science Communication: 1. Spreading the word: the endless struggle to publish professional science; 2. Walk like an Egyptian: the alien feeling of professional science writing; 3. The future's bright? Professional science communication in the age of the internet; 4. Counting the horse's teeth: professional standards in science's barter economy; 5. Separating the wheat from the chaff: peer review on trial; Part II. Science for the Public: What Science Do People Need and How Might They Get It?: 6. The Public Understanding of Science (PUS) movement and its problems; 7. Public engagement with science and technology (PEST): fine principle, difficult practice; 8. Citizen scientists? Democratic input into science policy; 9. Teaching and learning science in schools: implications for popular science communication; Part III. Popular Science Communication: The Press and Broadcasting: 10. What every scientist should know about mass media; 11. What every scientist should know about journalists; 12. The influence of new media; 13. How the media represents science; 14. How should science journalists behave?; Part IV. The Origins of Science in Cultural Context: Five Historic Dramas: 15. A terrible storm in Wittenberg: natural knowledge through sorcery and evil; 16. A terrible storm in the Mediterranean: controlling nature with white magic and religion; 17. Thieving magpies: the subtle art of false projecting; 18. Foolish virtuosi: natural philosophy emerges as a distinct discipline but many cannot take it seriously; 19. Is scientific knowledge 'true' or should it just be 'truthfully' deployed?; Part V. Science in Literature: 20. Science and the Gothic: the three big nineteenth-century monster stories; 21. Science fiction: serious

The impact of democratic transitions on the representation of women in the national parliaments of southern Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kessel, van W.M.J.; Maloka, E.

2001-01-01

This chapter examines what democratic transition in the 1990s has meant for women in southern Africa. It focuses in particular on the impact of democratization processes on political participation by women, notably women's representation in parliament in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius,

Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... Notes Podcasts E-Newsletters Public Education Projects National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week NIDA TV PEERx Drugs & Health Blog ... Award for Addiction Science USA Science & Engineering Festival Drug & Alcohol Chat Day HBO Addiction Project Learn the Link ...

Norwegian public health policy: revitalization of the social democratic welfare state?

Science.gov (United States)

Fosse, Elisabeth

2009-01-01

Norway is part of the so-called social democratic welfare state model, which is characterized by its emphasis on solidarity and redistribution among social groups. The concepts of upstream and downstream policy measures may be useful to characterize different approaches to public health policies: upstream measures would be structural measures, in line with the social democratic welfare state model, while downstream measures would be more targeted at individuals or groups at some sort of risk. The aim of this article is to analyze national policies in Norway and how these may be characterized in terms of upstream and downstream factors. Health promotion and public health policies have been high on the Norwegian political agenda for two decades. However, the national policy emphasis has shifted between strategies aimed at individuals and structural strategies--that is, between downstream and upstream measures. Until 2003, policies included mainly downstream measures, but since then a policy shift has taken place and current policy includes an emphasis on upstream measures. This policy was strengthened after a left-wing coalition came into government in 2005. It may be argued that the present policy represents a revitalization of universal and structural measures, in line with the social democratic welfare state model.

RUSSIA’S ‘FOREIGN AGENT’ LAW: A RESPONSE TO AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC PROMOTION POLICY

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Vijay Kumar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Recently passed the Russian ‘Foreign Agent’ law against foreign funding of NGOs and civil society has attracted criticism from almost every quarter. From home to abroad all party concerned (i.e., civil society organizations, NGO groups, donor countries (especiallyAmericaand European countries as well as some Russian opposition political parties are of the view that this bill has been introduced to scuttle the independent civic activities and in this way unconstitutional. However on the basis of overall analysis of ‘Foreign Agent’ law in the context of American democratic promotion policy this paper is of the view that this law simply cannot be characterized as anti-democratic, which is against the very basis of freedom and rule of law, by the anti-democratic Russian government but it should be seen as extension of same challenge which American democratic promotion policy is facing around the whole world. It is because of its illegal and unconstitutional method of regime change policy, with the help of foreign funded NGOs, and civil society which has compelled various countries includingRussiato resort this type of law. It is important to note that the promise of peace, stability and prosperity by the democratic promotion protagonists after the fall ofSoviet Unionhas not been realised till today. Instead what post-Soviet states are witnessing today is emergence of chauvinist nationalist government in respective countries which witnessed colour revolution. Whole region is now plunging into economic turmoil, ethnic nationalism, rise of religious fundamentalism and identity politics. Recent overthrow of legitimate Viktor Yanukovych government inUkraineand subsequent decision by incumbent government to exclude Russian as administrative language can be sited as example. That is why former American Republican Congressman Ron Paul is of the view that “US‘Democracy Promotion’ Destroys Democracy Overseas’’. In this context this paper

Contributions of the model of social management to the strengthening of school council as a democratic space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gislene Silva Dutra

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a qualitative research of exploratory nature, which was developed in two phases. Initially, it has been carried out a literature review in order to discuss the contributions of the social management model for strengthening the school councils as a democratic space. Then it has been conducted a case study about the regulation of the School Council in the School System of Brumadinho, Minas Gerais. The main results showed that the model of social management has features such as dialogue, participation, democratization and empowerment, which can contribute to the strengthening of the school board as a democratic space.

the attrition of democratic gains in africa: an appraisal

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper uses historical trajectory to demonstrate how patronage, ethnicity, electoral authoritarianism and extension of presidential term limit erodes democratic gains in Africa. The paper concludes that in order for democracy to flourish in Africa, the structural factors need to be addressed. Key Words: Democracy, Term ...

Public Libraries and the Decline of the Democratic Dogma

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Michael H.

1976-01-01

We are now witnessing what I prefer to call the decline of the democratic dogma in this country; the people seem to be losing their unmitigated faith in the basic and most cherished of American beliefs; their faith in the value of universal public enlightenment. (Author)

Responsible Research and Innovation Indicators for Science Education Assessment: How to Measure the Impact?

Science.gov (United States)

Heras, Maria; Ruiz-Mallén, Isabel

2017-01-01

The emerging paradigm of responsible research and innovation (RRI) in the European Commission policy discourse identifies science education as a key agenda for better equipping students with skills and knowledge to tackle complex societal challenges and foster active citizenship in democratic societies. The operationalisation of this broad…

“All for the sake of Freedom”: Hannah Arendt’s Democratic Dissent, Trauma, and American Citizenship

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Frank Mehring

2011-12-01

Full Text Available

As an intellectual Jewish immigrant, Hannah Arendt’s work is informed by two key factors: the failures of German intellectuals regarding the rise of fascism and the promise of American democracy. Arendt was haunted by the past and the memories of how the democratic structures of the Weimar Republic had been undermined, manipulated, and finally transformed into a totalitarian terror regime. The issues of freedom, equality, and the shortcomings of democratic societies form a transcultural nexus in her oeuvre. This reading of Arendt will reveal how her efforts to deal with a transatlantic traumatic past shaped the felt need to voice democratic dissent in the United States. While much has been said about her theoretical groundwork on the mechanisms of totalitarian systems, Arendt’s living conditions as a naturalized foreigner, her enthusiasm for American democracy, and her refusal to return to Germany have been largely neglected. Arendt is usually rooted firmly in a European philosophical context. She has been canonized as one of the foremost philosophical thinkers from Germany on the emergence of totalitarian systems and the Holocaust. This transatlantic force field looms large over the second half of the twentieth century in the realm of culture and politics. Among her fellow intellectual émigrés and exiles such as Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse, or Fraenkel, Arendt stands out. She decided not to return to the new democratic Germany with its Grundgesetz fashioned along the lines of the American Constitution. Instead, she insisted on becoming naturalized and used her transnational background as a basis to address democratic gaps from the vantage point of an American citizen. First, Mehring shows in which ways Arendt identified herself as an American and wished to become recognized as an American citizen. Second, he reconnects Arendt’s democratic dissent with her efforts to become recognized as an American citizen.

Leadership to Build a Democratic Community within School: A Case Study of Two Korean High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Young Taek; Printy, Susan

2009-01-01

This article aims to explore how democratic community is manifest in schools in Korea. It also tries to examine how leadership, specifically transformational leadership, functions in shaping a democratic community within a school. Toward this aim, we have conducted a case study of two religious high schools in Korea. Based on the findings from the…

“Democratic Government”, Interest Groups and American Trade Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhanyu Dong

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The study of American trade politics is of great significance when interpreting U.S.A. trade policies and understanding China-U.S.A. trade relations. In order to explain the mechanism of American trade politics, this paper constructs a new analytical framework of “democratic government-interest groups”, which argues that U.S.A. trade policies are not only the choices made by the democratic government between state interests and political private benefits, but also the outcomes of interaction between the U.S.A. government and interest groups. The case study of the U.S.A. trade policies toward China since the new century also demonstrates how the interaction between the government and interest groups ultimately shapes trade policies. Therefore, we need to understand the logic of American trade politics, generate more mutual benefits for our two countries, and work together to promote the bilateral free trade as well as the bilateral relations between China and the U.S.A.

Transportation management and security during the 2004 Democratic National Convention

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-05

The transportation operations plan for the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Boston, Massachusetts, was not a typical transportation plan driven by goals such as mobility and air quality. The DNC was the first national political convention...

Science, Policy, and Rationality in a Partisan Era

Science.gov (United States)

Kirchner, J. W.

2017-12-01

Science plays an essential role in public policy by outlining the factual foundations of policy decisions. Political partisans, however, often use science the way drunkards use lampposts: for support rather than illumination. Thus science can become a political football, with partisans dismissing or misrepresenting scientific findings that conflict with their political views. Presenting and defending science in a highly charged political environment is therefore challenging. Here I argue that scientists can most effectively speak out, not as activists supporting particular political causes, but instead as advocates for a fundamentally rational public discourse, one that starts from the facts - not from whatever one might choose to believe - and then explores how society should respond. Recognizing the distinction between facts and values, and respecting their different roles in the policy process, are essential not only for the future of science, but also for the future of democratic institutions in the broadest sense.

Can EU Act as a Democracy Promoter? Analysing the Democratization Demand and Supply in Turkey - EU Relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Çiğdem Üstün

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The EU’s role to assist Turkey in its democratization efforts has been debated during Turkey’s candidacy. However, in the second decade of the 21st century, this role of the EU lost its visibility while Turkey seemed to lose its interest in reform movements. This paper, inspired by Pevehouse, defines the EU as a supplier of democratization mechanisms and Turkey as an actor in need. Although lack of enthusiasm and disengagement have come to characterize Turkey-EU relations, this study aims to demonstrate that there are differences between the governing and the opposition actors’ views on the EU and its role in the democratization of Turkey. Data collected from the speeches of opposition parties’ parliamentarians between 1 January 2011 and 31 August 2016 demonstrates the similarities observed in these parties’ concerns regarding democratic practices and the perception of the EU as an actor strengthening democracy, while indicating that the EU, as a supplier, overlooked their concerns during the process.

Traditional Leadership and Democratic Governance: Using Leadership Theories to Calibrate Administrative Compatibility

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Mashele Rapatsa

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article discusses South Africa’s phenomenon of traditional leadership which is widely vested in kings, chiefs and headmen in a traditional context. It unpacks the notion of traditional leadership considerate of transformative leadership theory applicable to the post-1994 rights-based administration, given notable changes in governance systems under democratic dispensation and its reputable human rights narratives. The erstwhile regime of apartheid configured traditional authorities and their administration in a despotic manner, to an extent that kings, chiefs and their traditional headmen were elevated in status and regarded as unequal to all other humans in society. This served apartheid excellently as it enabled kings and chiefs to disregard human rights and other people’s entitlements thereby rendering people powerless and docile to abuses and exploitations. Thus, apartheid entrenched that ‘culture of authority’ which could not be challenged. Women and children suffered the most under these instances. In contrast, the post-1994 administration embedded a new system of governance characterized by a ‘culture of justification’. The system obligates that all administrative actions including those of traditional authorities, must be justified in accordance with the law as per the supremacy of the Constitution. This entails that kings and chiefs are not above the law and must similarly conform to written rules, uphold the Constitution, respect and protect people’s fundamental rights. It is asserted that a contestation of power between traditional authority and central democratic governance remain widespread. Thus, it is indispensable to calibrate administrative compatibility of these regimes to essentially safeguard the democratic regime and its crucial human rights norms from collapsing. This is essential to effectuate appropriate democratic public administration.

2011 NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study: Linking Methodologies and Their Evaluations. NCES 2013-469

Science.gov (United States)

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The 2011 NAEP-TIMSS linking study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was designed to predict Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) scores for the U.S. states that participated in 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics and science assessment of eighth-grade students.…

The rule of transparency: as an element of democratization in the journalism production process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Regina Maia

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This article´s purpose is to discuss the need for improving the knowledge of readers, listeners, TV spectators and people who use the Internet, mainly of the information process, focusing on the communication media in Brazil. Among the possibilities, it is important to understand information production behind the scenes, which is possible with a Rule of Transparency, one of the intellectual principles of the science of reporting called “Discipline of Verification” by journalists Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. The existence of a place that officially relates the making of, through books, blogs, or other means of communication, contributes to the democratization of the access to the process used by journalists who are most of the time unable to speak out and publish their ideas because of the editorial demands or even due to the lack of time and space.

How to Exist Politically and Learn from It: Hannah Arendt and the Problem of Democratic Education

Science.gov (United States)

Biesta, Gert

2010-01-01

Background/Context: In discussions about democratic education, there is a strong tendency to see the role of education as that of the preparation of children and young people for their future participation in democratic life. A major problem with this view is that it relies on the idea that the guarantee for democracy lies in the existence of a…

Re-imagining democratic citizenship education: Towards a culture of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

After a decade of implementing liberal conceptions of democratic citizenship education in public schools in South Africa, questions need to be asked about its credibility and success. We commence this article by analysing the Department of Basic Education's (DoBE, 2011) recently produced Building a culture of ...

Democratic Management at school: in search of participation and leadership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neide Pena Cária

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The article is the result of studies performed in the Research Group in Education and Management (known as GPEG, certificated by the Vale do Sapucaí University and registered in the CNPq Directory. The study aims to expand the view about the so-called "democratic management" and the "participation" in the in the administration of school educational work. For this, are articulated theoretical and legal fundamentals to the challenges and issues that, normally, the managers face in the exercise of their function in daily school considering the contradictions and challenges, which they are exposed. Passing between the given power and the real power, the managers are pressed, on one hand, by the accountability and evaluation of results and, on the other, by the lack of autonomy and proper conditions for a democratic school management.

Education in the new practice of democratic citizenship: databases of John Dewey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giannina Burlando

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The bases of the political art of John Dewey or his new practice of democratic citizenship are reviewed. Dewey is acknowledged as one of the most prominent of the American philosophers in the first half of the twentieth century. He is also the most influential due to endowing philosophy a public task, namely, political and educational concern. From the instrumentalist method applied to the political area, crucial postulates in the major writings of Dewey are selected to revitalize the meaning and draw up the practical impacts of the central element of his political philosophy: ‘the collective power of democratic community’.

Ethical implications of democratic theory for U.S. public participation in environmental impact assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hourdequin, Marion; Landres, Peter; Hanson, Mark J.; Craig, David R.

2012-01-01

Traditional mechanisms for public participation in environmental impact assessment under U.S. federal law have been criticized as ineffective and unable to resolve conflict. As these mechanisms are modified and new approaches developed, we argue that participation should be designed and evaluated not only on practical grounds of cost-effectiveness and efficiency, but also on ethical grounds based on democratic ideals. In this paper, we review and synthesize modern democratic theory to develop and justify four ethical principles for public participation: equal opportunity to participate, equal access to information, genuine deliberation, and shared commitment. We then explore several tensions that are inherent in applying these ethical principles to public participation in EIA. We next examine traditional NEPA processes and newer collaborative approaches in light of these principles. Finally, we explore the circumstances that argue for more in-depth participatory processes. While improved EIA participatory processes do not guarantee improved outcomes in environmental management, processes informed by these four ethical principles derived from democratic theory may lead to increased public engagement and satisfaction with government agency decisions. - Highlights: ► Four ethical principles based on democratic theory for public participation in EIA. ► NEPA and collaboration offer different strengths in meeting these principles. ► We explore tensions inherent in applying these principles. ► Improved participatory processes may improve public acceptance of agency decisions.

Technological Determinism and Permissionless Innovation as Technocratic Governing Mentalities: Psychocultural Barriers to the Democratization of Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taylor Dotson

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Despite no shortage of thoughtful analysis concerning how to more democratically develop and assess new technologies, practical progress toward democratized innovation has been paltry. This state of affairs suggests that the barriers to such democratic ends merit more attention. Building upon calls to more seriously examine citizens’ understandings of technology as autonomous or deterministic, this paper characterizes the assumptions, beliefs, and patterns of thought undergirding technological determinism and permissionless innovation as technocratic governing mentalities. That is, they contribute to the biasing of political discourses, practices, and organizations toward non-decision making and adaptation with regards to technological change. Indeed, permissionless innovation is quickly becoming the motto of those aiming to legitimate a “hands-off” approach to the sociotechnical “disruptions” sought by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Moreover, this paper explores how STS, as both an academic and political endeavor, might better respond to the challenges these modes of thinking present. Drawing upon relevant work within social psychology and communications, several fruitful avenues for engaged research regarding undermining technocratic governing mentalities become apparent. Not only is there a pressing need for accessible and parsimonious counternarratives to technological determinism and permissionless innovation but also rhetorical strategies for making the democratization of technological appear continuous with aspects of status quo systems. Finally, given that technocratic governing mentalities are likely to have practical and material roots, inquiry should be directed toward understanding how different sociotechnical arrangements impact citizens’ perception of the desirability and feasibility of democratizing technology.

Democracy under siege: Democratic solidarity between global crisis and cosmopolitan hope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brunkhorst Hauke

2017-01-01

Full Text Available For almost half a century (between 1940 and 1990 the democratic and social state has solved the twofold problem of growth and social exclusion through social inclusion within the borders of the national state. This solution since the 1970s came under threat of multiple crises of the environment, secular stagnation, under-consumption, legitimization and constitutionalization. There might be a social solution of present crisis possible through massive redistribution plus decent basic income (on the level of tuition-costs plus green growth. However, after globalization of capital there are no longer national social alternatives available. Therefore, there is no alternative to transnational democratic state-formation. But are there actors relevant, strong and motivated enough to do that?

How to link geography, cross-curricular approach and inquiry in science education at the primary schools

Science.gov (United States)

Karvánková, Petra; Popjaková, Dagmar

2018-05-01

Pupil research in school lessons in the sense of Inquiry-Based Education (IBE) is one of the constructivist approaches to education. Inquiry strengthens the positive approach of pupils to natural science subjects, encouraging them to study phenomena and processes taking place in the natural environment around them and use the acquired knowledge in their practical life. Geography as a school subject, due to the multidisciplinary nature of geography as a science, is close to natural sciences as well. This is because of the broadness of the subject of geographical studies, the complex (natural and cultural) landscape. The close links of geography to all cross-sectional themes make it a good support for teaching classical science subjects at schools such as mathematics, physics, chemistry or biology, environmental education. Moreover, the field teaching is one of the strong assets of the implementation of IBE in the school geography. Presented case study on the 'effect of noise on the surroundings' explores the facts mentioned above, in geography teaching. It verifies the pupils' knowledge and skills to adopt the basic principles of IBE in the practice. At the same time, it presents the concrete experiences how the children master the individual stages of IBE during the process of education.

T. S. KUHN: FROM REVOLUTIONARY TO SOCIAL DEMOCRAT. KUHN AND THE IMAGE OF SCIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. H. NEWTON-SMITH

2014-11-01

Full Text Available T.S. Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions begins with the observation that our image of science might well undergo a complete transformation if we took a dispassionate look at the actual history of science. The image he has in mind is the one characterized in Chapter I in which the scientific community is pictured as the very paradigm of institutionalized rationality. On this picture the scientist disinterestedly applies his special tool, the scientific method, and each application takes him further on the road to truth. In making this observation Kuhn is not simply looking forward to his own conclusion that between the ideology of science and the realities of scientific practice there falls a vast shadow. Rather he is suggesting that mere reflection on the source of our image of science is likely to prompt the conjecture that the image is gravely distorted. For the vast majority of us acquire our image either through contemporaryscientific textbooks or through popular accounts of science the authors of which in turn derive their image from the standard texts. Such texts are designed to present contemporary scientific beliefs and techniques. In so far as we learn thereby anything about the history of science, it is through cleaned-up versions of past scientific triumphs.

EarthCube GeoLink: Semantics and Linked Data for the Geosciences

Science.gov (United States)

Arko, R. A.; Carbotte, S. M.; Chandler, C. L.; Cheatham, M.; Fils, D.; Hitzler, P.; Janowicz, K.; Ji, P.; Jones, M. B.; Krisnadhi, A.; Lehnert, K. A.; Mickle, A.; Narock, T.; O'Brien, M.; Raymond, L. M.; Schildhauer, M.; Shepherd, A.; Wiebe, P. H.

2015-12-01

The NSF EarthCube initiative is building next-generation cyberinfrastructure to aid geoscientists in collecting, accessing, analyzing, sharing, and visualizing their data and knowledge. The EarthCube GeoLink Building Block project focuses on a specific set of software protocols and vocabularies, often characterized as the Semantic Web and "Linked Data", to publish data online in a way that is easily discoverable, accessible, and interoperable. GeoLink brings together specialists from the computer science, geoscience, and library science domains, and includes data from a network of NSF-funded repositories that support scientific studies in marine geology, marine ecosystems, biogeochemistry, and paleoclimatology. We are working collaboratively with closely-related Building Block projects including EarthCollab and CINERGI, and solicit feedback from RCN projects including Cyberinfrastructure for Paleogeosciences (C4P) and iSamples. GeoLink has developed a modular ontology that describes essential geoscience research concepts; published data from seven collections (to date) on the Web as geospatially-enabled Linked Data using this ontology; matched and mapped data between collections using shared identifiers for investigators, repositories, datasets, funding awards, platforms, research cruises, physical specimens, and gazetteer features; and aggregated the results in a shared knowledgebase that can be queried via a standard SPARQL endpoint. Client applications have been built around the knowledgebase, including a Web/map-based data browser using the Leaflet JavaScript library and a simple query service using the OpenSearch format. Future development will include extending and refining the GeoLink ontology, adding content from additional repositories, developing semi-automated algorithms to enhance metadata, and further work on client applications.

Control of corruption, democratic accountability, and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS official development assistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hwa-Young; Yang, Bong-Ming; Kang, Minah

2016-01-01

Despite continued global efforts, HIV/AIDS outcomes in developing countries have not made much progress. Poor governance in recipient countries is often seen as one of the reasons for ineffectiveness of aid efforts to achieve stated objectives and desired outcomes. This study examines the impact of two important dimensions of governance - control of corruption and democratic accountability - on the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS official development assistance. An empirical analysis using dynamic panel Generalized Method of Moments estimation was conducted on 2001-2010 datasets. Control of corruption and democratic accountability revealed an independent effect and interaction with the amount of HIV/AIDS aid on incidence of HIV/AIDS, respectively, while none of the two governance variables had a significant effect on HIV/AIDS prevalence. Specifically, in countries with accountability level below -2.269, aid has a detrimental effect on incidence of HIV/AIDS. The study findings suggest that aid programs need to be preceded or at least accompanied by serious efforts to improve governance in recipient countries and that democratic accountability ought to receive more critical attention.

Theoretical concepts about "Intelligence" - practices and standards in democratic societies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mr.Sc. Bahri Gashi

2013-06-01

Full Text Available My thesis consists of theoretical analysis on the need for recognition of academic concepts to shape and design research field intelligence community activity, careful analysis of the terms and concepts that are strongly linked to intelligence work methodology, theoretical aspects description given practice best to regulate this specific area in our academic studies, has made the study to take proper shape with bold shades of comparative empirical analysis. My study aims to summarize, to analyze existing approaches and break the "taboo theories," floats mysteriously present new knowledge, summed up in this multidisciplinary field study, now theories only considering the nature of scientific thought for recognition theoretical concepts and legal regulation best practice intelligence services in democratic societies. emocratic societies. Treatment of this complex matter such as "intelligent services submission principle" of democracy is very difficult. Is between the concept of democracy is to be open and transparent, and intelligent service logic in the concept is to be closed and secret. Generally in "strategic studies and Peace” security for the creation of "security system" argued by the authors Buzan and Herring. Concept Intelligent based on the theory: "The essence of intelligence is the adequate response to a stimulus." Is the essence of this analysis?

Transitional justice and peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Almost two decades ago, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was confronted with a vicious cycle of internationalised armed conflicts in which between six and ten million people are estimated to have been killed. Those conflicts were resolved through peace agreements between the leaders of the warring parties ...

Youth, Poverty, and Use of ICTs: Constructing New Democratic ...

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

Youth, Poverty, and Use of ICTs: Constructing New Democratic Public Spheres. Violence toward youth in Brazil is among the highest in the world. However, youth in poor and violent neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro are using new technologies to make their voices heard. Brazil has achieved remarkable economic success ...

Democratic Values and Teacher Self-Efficacy Perceptions: A Case of Pre-Service English Language Teachers in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Topkaya, Ece Zehir; Yavu, Aysun

2011-01-01

This study investigated democratic values of pre-service English language teachers in relation to their teacher self-efficacy perceptions in a Turkish context. It also examined the possible relationships between gender, grade and democratic values and self-efficacy perceptions. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 294 pre-service teachers.…

From Authoritarian to Democratic Regimes: The New Role of Security Intelligence

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Margarita, Ana

2001-01-01

... for the rule of law and human rights, accountability and transparency. This thesis compares the intelligence systems of Argentina, Romania, and El Salvador under their different regimes, authoritarian as well as democratic...

Translating Globalization and Democratization into Local Policy: Educational Reform in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Wing-Wah

2004-11-01

The past two decades have witnessed three important international trends: an increase in the number of democratic states; economic globalization; and educational reforms in light of the challenges of the new millennium. A great deal of research has addressed educational change in relation to either globalization or democratization, but little has been said about the complex interactions among all three processes. In view of recent educational reforms in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the present contribution examines the local nature of education policy in a globalized age. It challenges those globalization theories which minimize the role of the state and exaggerate the power of globalization over local factors. In particular, it explores how the governments of these two Chinese societies have employed democratization to generate and legitimate reform proposals and have used economic globalization to justify educational reforms. The study concludes by discussing the complex interrelations of these processes, including tensions between global and local concerns in educational reform.

The Blunt Tool: Inappropriateness of the Concept of Transition for the Analyses of Democratic Consolidation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dražen Lalić

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The article is analyzing the inappropriateness of the “classical” theories of transition for the analyses of democratic consolidation in the contemporary post-communist societies, including the Croatian one. The authors are claiming that the aforementioned theories are insufficient for a subtle explanation of the recent ongoing major political and social changes in the post-communist societies. The article is stressing the most characteristic examples of the “bluntness”, i.e. of the inappropriateness of the transition theory basic concepts for the analyses of democratic consolidation, as well as of the socio-cultural and socio-structural assumptions and other important concepts related to the post-communist transition phenomenon. Furthermore, the article is exposing the problems connected with various interpretations of the phases of the transition period in relation to the cleavage between the institutional constitution of the democratic system and the democratic deficit characteristic of the post-communist states. Finally, the article is bolding the necessity of re-conceptualization of the basic concepts of the theory of transition; however, not towards the construction of a new theory, but rather towards the adaptation of the existing theory to the recent social and political processes in the contemporaneous post-communist societies.

The Relationship Between Levels of Education and Perception of Democratic Governance Among Nigerian School Leavers

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Adesoji A. ONI

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The study investigated the views and perception of school leavers about the democratic government in Nigeria. A self-designed questionnaire was used for collection of their views. The participants of the study comprised 500 school leavers selected across different working places in the six states of Southwest Nigeria. Results clearly revealed that majority of the respondents are not satisfied with the current performance of the present democratic Government in Nigeria. Most of the respondents suggested participation of everyone in the act of governance that favor rule of law, equality, and freedom and that this should be adopted by the government. The researcher therefore recommended a democratic system of government that will incorporate all the basic principles of democracy into the system of government, while marginalization and neglect of the poor, women, youth, and rural dwellers should be avoided.

Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Democratic Ideal

OpenAIRE

Karine Nyborg; Inger Spangen

1997-01-01

In traditional cost-benefit analyses of public projects, every citizen’s willingness to pay for a project is given an equal weight. This is sometimes taken to imply that cost-benefit analysis is a democratic method for making public decisions, as opposed to, for example, political processes involving log-rolling and lobbying from interest groups. Politicians are frequently criticized for not putting enough emphasis on the cost-benefit analyses when making decisions. In this paper we discuss t...

Whose Canon? Culturalization versus Democratization

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Erling Bjurström

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Current accounts – and particularly the critique – of canon formation are primarily based on some form of identity politics. In the 20th century a representational model of social identities replaced cultivation as the primary means to democratize the canons of the fine arts. In a parallel development, the discourse on canons has shifted its focus from processes of inclusion to those of exclusion. This shift corresponds, on the one hand, to the construction of so-called alternative canons or counter-canons, and, on the other hand, to attempts to restore the authority of canons considered to be in a state of crisis or decaying. Regardless of the democratic stance of these efforts, the construction of alternatives or the reestablishment of decaying canons does not seem to achieve their aims, since they break with the explicit and implicit rules of canon formation. Politically motivated attempts to revise or restore a specific canon make the workings of canon formation too visible, transparent and calculated, thereby breaking the spell of its imaginary character. Retracing the history of the canonization of the fine arts reveals that it was originally tied to the disembedding of artists and artworks from social and worldly affairs, whereas debates about canons of the fine arts since the end of the 20th century are heavily dependent on their social, cultural and historical reembedding. The latter has the character of disenchantment, but has also fettered the canon debate in notions of “our” versus “their” culture. However, by emphasizing the dedifferentiation of contemporary processes of culturalization, the advancing canonization of popular culture seems to be able to break with identity politics that foster notions of “our” culture in the present thinking on canons, and push it in a more transgressive, syncretic or hybrid direction.

Democratic Republic of Congo A Fertile Ground for Instability in the Great Lakes Region States

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-09

ravaged by a brutal armed conflict. In comparison to the three past presidents, Joseph Kabila has managed to restore political stability and calm to much...DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO-A FERTILE GROUND FOR INSTABILITY IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION STATES A thesis presented to the Faculty of...From - To) AUG 2016 – JUNE 2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Democratic Republic of Congo-A Fertile Ground for Instability in the Great Lakes Region

Pursuing transparency through science courts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Field, Thomas G. Jr.

1999-01-01

Many, disappointed with traditional ways to assess and manage health, safety and environmental risks, have sought alternatives that might better serve democratic values and truth. Arthur Kantrowitz proposed one in 1967. Named the 'Science Court' by the media, it sought to air opposing viewpoints publicly before an independent, neutral and technically competent panel of scientists. The idea has received considerable attention over the years, but some see it as too opaque and elitist. Ironically, others may view it as too transparent. Beyond that, as proposed it might have been too time-consuming and expensive, and few scientists would have welcomed a suggestion for cross-examination. Yet, its key features still offer promise for resolving difficult policy disputes and might be usefully integrated with notions since leading to the creation and endorsement of advisory science boards

Pursuing transparency through science courts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Field, Jr, Thomas G [Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, NH (United States)

1999-12-01

Many, disappointed with traditional ways to assess and manage health, safety and environmental risks, have sought alternatives that might better serve democratic values and truth. Arthur Kantrowitz proposed one in 1967. Named the 'Science Court' by the media, it sought to air opposing viewpoints publicly before an independent, neutral and technically competent panel of scientists. The idea has received considerable attention over the years, but some see it as too opaque and elitist. Ironically, others may view it as too transparent. Beyond that, as proposed it might have been too time-consuming and expensive, and few scientists would have welcomed a suggestion for cross-examination. Yet, its key features still offer promise for resolving difficult policy disputes and might be usefully integrated with notions since leading to the creation and endorsement of advisory science boards.

Decision Making for Democratic Leadership in a Guided Internship

Science.gov (United States)

Klinker, JoAnn Franklin; Hoover, J. Duane; Valle, Fernando; Hardin, Fred

2014-01-01

Experience in problem-based learning, authentic experiences, on-the-job decision making, and critical reflection on decisions made formed the conceptual framework of an internship to develop democratic leadership as a professional ethic in interns. Interns in an on-the-job guided internship examined decisions over a 13-week period as they…

Religious Networks in Post-conflict Democratic Republic of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

With reference to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), religious groups wield enormous influence in the public space as providers of social services in a polity that has been characterised by years of misrule, declining state capacity and protracted conflict. The conflict in the DRC has deepened the imperative for ...

Creating clones, kids & chimera: liberal democratic compromise at the crossroads.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Nathan A

2004-01-01

The objective of this article is to find middle ground between the supporters and opponents of biotechnology by perpetuating the existing legal compromise pertaining to the complete range of health and welfare doctrines relevant to the biotechnological industry. The author aspires neither to add to nor detract from this liberal democratic consensus, but to preserve its constitutive balance between positivism and natural law and over-regulation and under-regulation in the hopes of stabilizing new political fault lines developing around the few biotechnological innovations already grabbing headlines. The most feasible solution is to extend the existing liberal democratic compromise with respect to equal protection, reproductive rights, the First Amendment, human subject experimentation, patent law, and parental rights. This includes banning or monopolizing certain biotechnologies and extending substantive special respect to the ex vivo living human embryo. Biotechnology must not be left to regulate itself.

Involvement and deliberation: Correctives of the democratic system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Santiago Juárez

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Every democratic regime has to guarantee that participation and representation set in both sides of the same coin. In a lot of modern democracies, government doesn’t foment citizen participation, or just do it in case of periodic elections. That’s why is necessary to foment participation and civic virtues. Finally, we have to support deliberative teories to give legitimacy to our democracies.

The Contribution of Different Patterns of Teachers' Interactions to Young Children's Experiences of Democratic Values during Play

Science.gov (United States)

Zachrisen, Berit

2016-01-01

Developing a sense of belonging and experiences about the value of community are important democratic values that children may learn during play in preschool. Through the different ways that teachers' interact with children during play, children can learn about democratic values. This study is part of a Nordic project on values education in early…

3 CFR - Presidential Determination for the Lao People's Democratic Republic Under Section 2(b)(2) of the...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Determination for the Lao People's Democratic Republic Under Section 2(b)(2) of the Export-Import Bank Act of... 3 The President 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Presidential Determination for the Lao People's Democratic Republic Under Section 2(b)(2) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended Presidential...

Ethical implications of democratic theory for U.S. public participation in environmental impact assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hourdequin, Marion, E-mail: Marion.Hourdequin@ColoradoCollege.edu [Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 790 East Beckwith, Missoula, MT 59801 (United States); Department of Philosophy, Colorado College, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903 (United States); Landres, Peter [Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 790 East Beckwith, Missoula, MT 59801 (United States); Hanson, Mark J. [Department of Philosophy, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812 (United States); Craig, David R. [Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 790 East Beckwith, Missoula, MT 59801 (United States)

2012-07-15

Traditional mechanisms for public participation in environmental impact assessment under U.S. federal law have been criticized as ineffective and unable to resolve conflict. As these mechanisms are modified and new approaches developed, we argue that participation should be designed and evaluated not only on practical grounds of cost-effectiveness and efficiency, but also on ethical grounds based on democratic ideals. In this paper, we review and synthesize modern democratic theory to develop and justify four ethical principles for public participation: equal opportunity to participate, equal access to information, genuine deliberation, and shared commitment. We then explore several tensions that are inherent in applying these ethical principles to public participation in EIA. We next examine traditional NEPA processes and newer collaborative approaches in light of these principles. Finally, we explore the circumstances that argue for more in-depth participatory processes. While improved EIA participatory processes do not guarantee improved outcomes in environmental management, processes informed by these four ethical principles derived from democratic theory may lead to increased public engagement and satisfaction with government agency decisions. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Four ethical principles based on democratic theory for public participation in EIA. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer NEPA and collaboration offer different strengths in meeting these principles. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We explore tensions inherent in applying these principles. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Improved participatory processes may improve public acceptance of agency decisions.

The Democratic Deficit and School-Based Management in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Kimber, Megan; Ehrich, Lisa Catherine

2011-01-01

Purpose: The paper seeks to apply the theory of the democratic deficit to school-based management with an emphasis on Australia. This theory was developed to examine managerial restructuring of the Australian Public Service in the 1990s. Given similarities between the use of managerial practices in the public service and government schools, the…

DEMOCRATIZING JOURNALISM? Realizing the Citizen's Agenda for Local News Media

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Costera Meijer, I.

2010-01-01

Media scholars and journalists expect local media to function as vital institutions for the creation and maintenance of a democratic political and public arena and a general sense of social cohesion and public connection (Aldridge, 2007; Couldry et al., 2007; Franklin, 2006; Rosenstiel et al.,

Equal rights as the center of democratization

OpenAIRE

Alan Gilbert

2010-01-01

Well-stated modern political or democratic theory is rights-based. Meaningful democracy rests as a precondition on the equal rights of citizens. This idea stems from Rousseau’s distinction between a general will*one which is impersonal and tends toward equality, that is, the equal basic rights of citizens*and a transitory will of all. For instance, absent equal basic rights, one might imagine a possible world in which what I have called a self-undermining series of wills of all, or the ...

THE DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF MILITARY FORCES

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Smail Oštraković

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The transition requirement for post communism countries, especially the part that is about military forces is to establish those civil-military relation that will have prepared projects for awareness evolving of society and military about necessity of democratic control over military sector of country through development of many different communication forms and shapes. Before everything, it means the entire freedom and independence of media at access to military forces as the topic and subject of its interests and also the organization of public military communication system as integral part of information-communication system in society

The democratic question in Florestan Fernandes

OpenAIRE

Tótora, Silvana

1999-01-01

O papel da questão democrática na análise da revolução burguesa na obra de Florestan Fernandes é reconstruído a partir da ênfase no caráter radical que ela assume numa obra que se recusa a separar o problema substantivo da democracia do problema da revolução social.The role played by the democratic question in the analysis of the bourgeois revolution in Brazil by Florestan Fernandes is reconstructed on the basis of the emphasis on the radical character it takes in a work in which no distincti...

The Rise of Democratic and Authoritarian POST - States: the Case of Indonesia and Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Alatas, Syed Farid

1991-02-01

The theoretical framework of this study on democratic and authoritarian post-colonial states is based on an historical study of the emergence of the dominant class forces that shaped the types of regimes found in Malaysia and Indonesia. Both emerged as democratic post-colonial states. However, in Indonesia the democratic process was suspended altogether and after about a decade of independence, an authoritarian state emerged there. Meanwhile, Malaysia still retains a functioning democratic system. The contrast between Indonesia and Malaysia, then, is an opportunity to study the conditions under which democracy can be sustained in post-colonial states. Three conditions under which democracy can survive in post-colonial states, based on the experience of Malaysia and Indonesia, are (1) the absence of mass resistance against the state, (2) a homogeneous ruling elite, and (3) an internally strong state. The imposition of colonialism upon the precapitalist societies of Malaysia and Indonesia left several classes with competing interests in these countries upon formal independence. It is in the context of this class structure that the three factors of the lack of resistance against the state, homogeneity of the ruling elite, and internal state strength were examined. The presence of these factors leads to democratic outcomes, as in Malaysia, while their absence leads to authoritarian outcomes, as in Indonesia. The significance of this study lies in the fact that there has not been any comparative work done on the state in Malaysia and Indonesia. Furthermore, the few works on the state in the two countries tend to focus on issues not directly related to the question of the origins of the post-colonial state. Democracy in post-colonial states is not to be explained in terms of its emergence because it is a given, having been introduced from without. What needs explanation is how and why democracy persisted in some post-colonial states and gave way to authoritarianism in

June Four: A Chronicle of the Chinese Democratic Uprising.

Science.gov (United States)

1989

This book presents more than 200 photographs along with a chronological record from the "Ming Pao News," covering the events in People's Republic of China from the death of Hu Yaobang on April 15, 1989, which precipitated the Chinese student democratic movement, to the crushing of the movement at Tiananmen Square by the Chinese army on…

Administrative Leadership and the Democratic Community as a Social Ideal.

Science.gov (United States)

Rizvi, Fazal

Democratic participation in education suggests that communities will be served best when decision-making is decentralized and when people--teachers, parents, and students alike--are encouraged to participate directly in making decisions that affect them. In contrast, the notion of administrative leadership implies hierarchical elevation of chief…

The Role of Democratic Governing Bodies in South African Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Karlsson, Jenni

2002-01-01

School governance reform in post-apartheid South Africa aimed to democratize schooling while accommodating diverse school histories of underdevelopment or self-management. Analysis of relevant legislation shows the reform was structured to allow representative democracy and partnerships. But two recent studies suggest that governance reforms have…

Control of corruption, democratic accountability, and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS official development assistance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hwa-Young Lee

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Despite continued global efforts, HIV/AIDS outcomes in developing countries have not made much progress. Poor governance in recipient countries is often seen as one of the reasons for ineffectiveness of aid efforts to achieve stated objectives and desired outcomes. Objective: This study examines the impact of two important dimensions of governance – control of corruption and democratic accountability – on the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS official development assistance. Design: An empirical analysis using dynamic panel Generalized Method of Moments estimation was conducted on 2001–2010 datasets. Results: Control of corruption and democratic accountability revealed an independent effect and interaction with the amount of HIV/AIDS aid on incidence of HIV/AIDS, respectively, while none of the two governance variables had a significant effect on HIV/AIDS prevalence. Specifically, in countries with accountability level below −2.269, aid has a detrimental effect on incidence of HIV/AIDS. Conclusion: The study findings suggest that aid programs need to be preceded or at least accompanied by serious efforts to improve governance in recipient countries and that democratic accountability ought to receive more critical attention.

Whole School Meetings and the Development of Radical Democratic Community

Science.gov (United States)

Fielding, Michael

2013-01-01

Serious re-examination of participatory traditions of democracy is long overdue. Iconically central to such traditions of democratic education is the practice of whole School Meetings. More usually associated with radical work within the private sector, School Meetings are here explored in detail through two examples from publicly funded…

Implications of male migration on female status in the Democratic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

However, wives often reported conflicts with their in-laws, were overwhelmed by family responsibilities, had difficulties raising children and feared that their husbands might acquire HIV from other women or marry at their place of destination. Key words: male migration, gender roles, role conflict, Democratic Republic of ...

Fundamentalists toward democracy? Empirical analysis of fundamentalist attitudes and democratic attitudes in the Middle East

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Kazem Hajizadeh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Huntington asks an important question in The Third Wave: if traditional Islamic values and beliefs have significantly retarded democratic progress in the past, to what extent are they likely to continue to do so in the future? Unlike Huntington’s work, this paper is primarily a micro-level analysis. It seeks to show how Muslim people interpret and evaluate Islam and democracy. So we want to attach more data to Huntington’s theory and wish to demonstrate that non-democratic political space and authoritarian governments in Muslim countries can’t be explained by the features of Islam; there are considerable reasons and facts to convince scholars to look for other factors. The results illustrate nearly all Muslims tend to Islam and democracy at the same time. It seems Large populations of moderate fundamentalists in Muslim countries are appearing who struggle to actualize Islamic teachings in a democratic political model.

University and community partnerships in South Sulawesi, Indonesia: Enhancing community capacity and promoting democratic governance

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Sri Mastuti

2014-06-01

Full Text Available South Sulawesi is a province in Indonesia where the majority of the population is Muslim, with many variant interpretations of Islam. Alauddin State Islamic University is not just a place for teaching and study but also plays a role in helping to unify the differences among these different Islamic groups. Its changing of status from institute to university in 2005, and later the support of the Canadian-assisted SILE Project beginning in 2010, have made this university an example of reform in the way it implements its functions. Since 2011, Alauddin State Islamic University has been developing a new approach in university-community outreach/engagement. What was formerly separated between teaching, research and community service is now linked under one institutional umbrella. The new university-community outreach approach has also adopted some new tools like Asset Based Community Development (ABCD and Results Based Management (RBM. It seeks to promote democratic governance, gender equality and a sustainable environment. The university also works in partnership with civil society organisations (CSOs in South Sulawesi, including Islamic-based organizsations, secular organisations and women’s organisations. The model for the partnership is a working group (abbreviated to pokja in Indonesian, which comprises lecturers from a faculty in the university and members of a CSO. We discuss the opportunities and challenges faced by these working groups. Opportunities include increased advantages from pooling their organisational capacities and experience in working with communities. Sharing their networks and resources makes them stronger and makes their work more sustainable. The challenge lies in changing the mindset from a needs-based, project-oriented approach to an asset-based facilitative approach, comprehending the tools, managing time to work together and building effective teamwork. Keywords: university-community outreach, democratic governance

Professional Networks in the Life Sciences: Linking the Linked

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Thomas S. Deisboeck

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The world wide web has furthered the emergence of a multitude of online expert communities. Continued progress on many of the remaining complex scientific questions requires a wide ranging expertise spectrum with access to a variety of distinct data types. Moving beyond peer-to-peer to community-to-community interaction is therefore one of the biggest challenges for global interdisciplinary Life Sciences research, including that of cancer. Cross-domain data query, access, and retrieval will be important innovation areas to enable and facilitate this interaction in the coming years.

The role of outside-school factors in science education: a two-stage theoretical model linking Bourdieu and Sen, with a case study

Science.gov (United States)

Gokpinar, Tuba; Reiss, Michael

2016-05-01

The literature in science education highlights the potentially significant role of outside-school factors such as parents, cultural contexts and role models in students' formation of science attitudes and aspirations, and their attainment in science classes. In this paper, building on and linking Bourdieu's key concepts of habitus, cultural and social capital, and field with Sen's capability approach, we develop a model of students' science-related capability development. Our model proposes that the role of outside-school factors is twofold, first, in providing an initial set of science-related resources (i.e. habitus, cultural and social capital), and then in conversion of these resources to science-related capabilities. The model also highlights the distinction between science-related functionings (outcomes achieved by individuals) and science-related capabilities (ability to achieve desired functionings), and argues that it is necessary to consider science-related capability development in evaluating the effectiveness of science education. We then test our theoretical model with an account of three Turkish immigrant students' science-related capabilities and the role of outside-school factors in forming and extending these capabilities. We use student and parent interviews, student questionnaires and in-class observations to provide an analysis of how outside-school factors influence these students' attitudes, aspirations and attainment in science.

Pursuing transparency through science courts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Field, Thomas G. Jr. [Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, NH (United States)

1999-12-01

Many, disappointed with traditional ways to assess and manage health, safety and environmental risks, have sought alternatives that might better serve democratic values and truth. Arthur Kantrowitz proposed one in 1967. Named the 'Science Court' by the media, it sought to air opposing viewpoints publicly before an independent, neutral and technically competent panel of scientists. The idea has received considerable attention over the years, but some see it as too opaque and elitist. Ironically, others may view it as too transparent. Beyond that, as proposed it might have been too time-consuming and expensive, and few scientists would have welcomed a suggestion for cross-examination. Yet, its key features still offer promise for resolving difficult policy disputes and might be usefully integrated with notions since leading to the creation and endorsement of advisory science boards.

Psychology of democracy and democratization: Experience from Central and Eastern Europe

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Klicperová-Baker, Martina

2012-01-01

Roč. 47, Supplement (2012), s. 694-694 ISSN 0020-7594. [International Congress of Psychology /30./. 22.07.2012-27.07.2012, Cape Town] Institutional support: RVO:68081740 Keywords : political psychology * democratization * Central and Eastern Europe Subject RIV: AN - Psychology

The Political Role of the Ethnic Factor Democratic Republic of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper analyses the role of the ethnic factor in political choices in the Democratic .... 4 Decision no 031/CEI/BUR/06 on the announcing of provisional results of the 30 July .... is complicated when we add the purchasing of consciences.

AN UNCONVENTIONAL CASE OF SOCIALLY RATIONAL AUTONOMY IN A DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION

OpenAIRE

Kara, Ahmet

2001-01-01

The theorem presented in this paper implies the existence of cases where intransitive autonomous subunit preferences in a democratic federation lead to rational social preferences. Paradoxically, under the same conditions, autonomous subunits with transitive preferences could generate irrational social preferences.

Migration Issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

acts as a form of insurance against failures in the local economy and job market , as the household is receiving income from differing locations and...E. S. (1966). A Theory of Migration. Demography, 47 - 57. 35. Lewis, W. A. (1954). Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour . The... Norway . 47. Rice, C. (2005, December 11). The Promise of Democratic Peace: Why Promoting Freedom is the Only Realistic Path to Security. The Washington

The Effect of Direct Democratic Participation on Citizens’ Political Attitudes in Switzerland: The Difference between Availability and Use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Kern

2017-03-01

Full Text Available According to advocates of direct democracy, it is important to involve citizens more directly in political decision-making processes in order to create a democratic linkage between citizens and the political system. Indeed, some studies have demonstrated that citizens who live in direct democracies have higher levels of trust in political institutions and a higher sense of political efficacy. However, not all empirical evidence confirms this relationship. In a recent article on Switzerland, it was shown that, while the availability of direct democratic rights enhances trust in political institutions, using those rights actually initiates distrust. In this paper I expand the analysis of Bauer and Fatke (2014 and test whether the different effects of availability of direct democratic rights and the frequency of their use also hold for broader measures of trust in political institutions and political efficacy. I find that, even though an increased use of direct democratic measures is associated with lower levels of confidence in authorities on the cantonal level, this relationship is no longer apparent when applying a more comprehensive measurement of trust in political institutions.

Rural science education as social justice

Science.gov (United States)

Eppley, Karen

2017-03-01

What part can science education play in the dismantling of obstacles to social justice in rural places? In this Forum contribution, I use "Learning in and about Rural Places: Connections and Tensions Between Students' Everyday Experiences and Environmental Quality Issues in their Community"(Zimmerman and Weible 2016) to explicitly position rural education as a project of social justice that seeks full participatory parity for rural citizens. Fraser's (2009) conceptualization of social justice in rural education requires attention to the just distribution of resources, the recognition of the inherent capacities of rural people, and the right to equal participation in democratic processes that lead to opportunities to make decisions affecting local, regional, and global lives. This Forum piece considers the potential of place-based science education to contribute to this project.

Comparing the democratic value of Facebook discussions across the profiles of Spanish political candidates during the 2011 General Election

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidia Valera Ordaz

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article examines the democratic value of user-generated comments on the Facebook profiles of three Spanish candidates during the Spanish General Election campaign of 2011 through a content analysis that operationalizes deliberative democracy. The findings show that these online spaces do not meet deliberative standards, but that they still serve democratic functions, such as citizen self-expression, democratic socialization and reinforcement of social cohesion among party activists and sympathizers. Moreover, results indicate that democratic value might vary depending on the size of the party where talk takes place. Political conversation on the walls of hegemonic candidates who belong to big consolidated political parties is mostly oriented towards self-expression and features some ideological diversity, so that individuals are sporadically confronted with diversity. For its part, talk on the Facebook profile of the minor candidate lacks fundamental disagreement but includes more in-group interaction, allowing minority ideological spheres for the cultivation of social cohesion and the construction of collective narratives in favorable discursive conditions.

Micro black holes and the democratic transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dvali, Gia; Pujolas, Oriol

2009-01-01

Unitarity implies that the evaporation of microscopic quasiclassical black holes cannot be universal in different particle species. This creates a puzzle, since it conflicts with the thermal nature of quasiclassical black holes, according to which all of the species should see the same horizon and be produced with the same Hawking temperatures. We resolve this puzzle by showing that for the microscopic black holes, on top of the usual quantum evaporation time, there is a new time scale which characterizes a purely classical process during which the black hole loses the ability to differentiate among the species and becomes democratic. We demonstrate this phenomenon in a well-understood framework of large extra dimensions, with a number of parallel branes. An initially nondemocratic black hole is the one localized on one of the branes, with its high-dimensional Schwarzschild radius being much shorter than the interbrane distance. Such a black hole seemingly cannot evaporate into the species localized on the other branes that are beyond its reach. We demonstrate that in reality the system evolves classically in time, in such a way that the black hole accretes the neighboring branes. The end result is a completely democratic static configuration, in which all of the branes share the same black hole and all of the species are produced with the same Hawking temperature. Thus, just like their macroscopic counterparts, the microscopic black holes are universal bridges to the hidden sector physics.

Democratic School Leadership Reforms in Kenya: Cultural and Historical Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Jwan, Julius; Anderson, Lesley; Bennett, Nigel

2010-01-01

In this article we discuss students', teachers' and school principals' perceptions of democratic school leadership reforms in Kenya. The article is based on a study that was conducted in two phases. In phase one (conducted between September and December 2007), interviews were undertaken with 12 school principals in which understandings of…

Teacher Leadership Capacity-Building: Developing Democratically Accountable Leaders in Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Mullen, Carol A.; Jones, Rahim J.

2008-01-01

Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors explore social justice implications of inservice principals' practices that affect attitudes and empower teachers. If a primary educational goal of progressive schooling is to create and sustain more democratic schools by enabling the growth of teachers as leaders who are responsible for their…

The History of the Democratic Adult Education Movement in Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, Esther; Tellado, Itxaso; Yuste, Montserrat; Larena-Fernández, Rosa

2016-01-01

Background/Context: Traditional adult education in Spain treated the learner as a mere object that could be shaped by the educator. Although current practices of the democratic adult education movement in Spain reveals a completely opposite standpoint on adult education, there has been little analysis of the several influences converging and…

Linguistic Justice for which Demos? The Democratic Legitimacy of Language Regime Choices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garcia Núria

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In the European Union language regime debate, theorists of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism have framed their arguments in reference to different theories of justice and democracy. Philippe Van Parijs advocates the diffusion of a lingua franca, namely English, as means of changing the scale of the justificatory community to the European level and allowing the creation of a transnational demos. Paradoxically, one key dimension of democracy has hardly been addressed in this discussion: the question of the democratic legitimacy of language regime choices and citizens’ preferences on the different language regime scenarios. Addressing the question of the congruence of language policy choices operated by national and European elites and ordinary citizens’ preferences, this paper argues first that the dimension of democratic legitimacy is crucial and needs to be taken into account in discussions around linguistic justice. Criticizing the assumption of a direct correspondence between individuals’ language learning choices and citizens’ language regime preferences made by different authors, the analysis shows the ambivalence of citizens’ preferences measured by survey data. The article secondly raises the question of the boundaries of the political community at which the expression of citizens’ preferences should be measured and demonstrates that the outcome and the fairness of territorial linguistic regimes may vary significantly according to the level at which this democratic legitimacy is taken into account.

The Intelligence Phenomenon in a New Democratic Milieu. Romania-A Case Study

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Filip, Valentin F

2006-01-01

.... New democracies must pay close attention to fundamental values and norms that stand at their core, such as respect for human rights and civil liberties, rule of law, and civilian and democratic control...

Science or Science Fiction?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lefsrud, Lianne M.; Meyer, Renate

2012-01-01

This paper examines the framings and identity work associated with professionals’ discursive construction of climate change science, their legitimation of themselves as experts on ‘the truth’, and their attitudes towards regulatory measures. Drawing from survey responses of 1077 professional......, legitimation strategies, and use of emotionality and metaphor. By linking notions of the science or science fiction of climate change to the assessment of the adequacy of global and local policies and of potential organizational responses, we contribute to the understanding of ‘defensive institutional work...

Electoral Violence and Democratization Process in Nigeria: A Reference of 2011 and 2015 General Elections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lawrence I. EDET

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The general account of Nigeria’s post-independence electoral processes has always been characterized by violence. Nigeria’s 2015 general elections marked the fifth multi-party elections in the country and the second handover of civilian administrations since the inception of the Fourth Republic democratic experiment in 1999. This account cannot be analyzed without issues of electoral violence. Electoral violence had been a permanent feature of Nigeria’s democratic process, except 2015 general elections where the international observers described as a “significant improvement” over the previous elections in terms of violence related cases. Electoral related violence in the country particularly in 2011 got to an unprecedented dimension resulting in destruction of lives and property worth millions of naira. This paper expatiates on electoral violence and its general implications on the democratization process in the country, with major emphasis on the 2011 and 2015 general elections. The paper argued that the high incidence of pre and post electoral violence in the country within the periods has to do with the way Nigerian politicians regard politics, weak political institutions and weak electoral management body as well as bias nature of the security agencies, etc. However, the paper examined the general implications of electoral violence on democratization process and how the country can handle the electoral process to avoid threats associated with the electoral violence. Archival analysis, which widely extracted data from newspapers, journals, workshop papers, books, as well as publications of non-governmental organizations was adopted for the study. The major significance of this study is to expose the negative implications associated with electoral violence and how it can be curbed. The position canvassed in this paper will serve as a useful political literature for political leaders, policy makers and the general reading public who

Analysis of 8th Grade Students' Viewpoints to the Concept of Democratic Citizen through Metaphors

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Gizem Karabulut

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, it is aimed to determine the view of the 8th grade students on the concept of democratic citizens through the metaphors. In the research towards the general objective, one of the qualitative research designs phenomenology was used. The participants of the survey are 160, 8th grade students in the Körfez district of Kocaeli province in the academic year of 2016-2017. Of the 8th grade students who participated in the survey, 85 are boys and 75 are girls. Data have been reached with semi-structured forms. The metaphors and explanations written by the students were used as the basic data source in this research. Data were analyzed through content analysis. The findings from the research show that 8th grade students perceive democratic citizenship in eight categories: freedom, justice, unity and solidarity, participation, equality, patriotism, diligence and responsibility. When the opinions of the students are analyzed, it is seen that the metaphors they produce concentrate on the categories of freedom and justice. In this context, with 13 students the most widely used metaphor is “fair citizen”. Besides the students produced metaphors mostly in the category of freedom. With “tree“ and “free bird” metaphors they emphasized dimension of freedom of democratic citizenship. Students have also mentioned the distinctive characteristics of democracy, such as decision-making, election, voting, and having a saying in the country's administration when they are explaining what they do with democratic citizen.

The Revival of democratic values and the governance of the Catholic Church.

OpenAIRE

Vignon, Jerome; Discern

2013-01-01

A lecture organised by Discern entitled: The revival of democratic values and the governance of the Catholic Church. This talk is being delivered by Mr Jerome Vignon, President of the Semaines Sociales in France.

Understanding Mass Atrocity Prevention during Periods of Democratic Transition

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Stephen McLoughlin

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to provide a better understanding of why some countries experience mass atrocities during periods of democratic transition, while others do not. Scholars have long regarded democracy as an important source of stability and protection from mass atrocities such as genocide, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. But democratic transition itself is fraught with the heightened risk of violent conflict and even mass atrocities. Indeed, a number of studies have identified regimes in transition as containing the highest risk of political instability and mass atrocities. What is overlooked is the question of how and why some regimes undergo such transitions without experiencing mass atrocities, despite the presence of a number of salient risk factors, including state-based discrimination, inter-group tension and horizontal inequality. Utilizing a new analytical framework, this article investigates this lacuna by conducting a comparative analysis of two countries—one that experienced atrocities (Burundi during transition, and one that did not (Guyana. How countries avoid such violence during transition has the potential to yield insights for the mitigation of risk associated with mass atrocity crimes.

Corruption and Local Democratization in Indonesia: The Role of Islamic Parties.

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, J Vernon; Kuncoro, Ari

2011-03-01

Indonesia has a tradition of corruption among local officials who harass and collect bribes from firms. This paper examines whether corruption is affected by a change in institutions introducing local democratization and by party composition of local assemblies. Democratization occurred in 1999 and decentralization in 2001. We have firm-level data for 2001 and 2004. The 2001 data benchmark corruption at the time of decentralization, but for a limited sample of districts. We find that corruption declines between 2001 and 2004 overall, but much less [more] so in districts with more secular [Islamic] party representatives in district assemblies. For a larger sample of districts, correspondingly, we find that corruption in 2004 is more in districts which voted more in favor of secular party representatives in the first elections in 1999. We argue that the effects seem to be causal, over above any effects of changing religiosity and economic circumstances across districts.

How can one be both a philosophical ethicist and a democrat?

Science.gov (United States)

Oswald, Malcolm

2015-03-01

How can one be both a philosophical ethicist and a democrat? In this article I conclude that it can be difficult to reconcile the two roles. One involves understanding, and reconciling, the conflicting views of citizens, and the other requires the pursuit of truth through reason. Nevertheless, an important function of philosophy and ethics is to inform and improve policy. If done effectively, we could expect better, and more just, laws and policies, thereby benefiting many lives. So applying philosophical thinking to policy is an important job. However, it comes with substantial difficulties, not least in reconciling, or choosing between, competing philosophical theories. Despite the importance of the task, and the apparent obstacles, there is relatively little literature on how to apply ethics to real-world policy-making. Democracies need ethicists who can engage in democratic debate and bridge the gap between philosophy and public policy. I offer some tactics here.

A Systemic Approach to Building Peace in the Eastern Democratic

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Communities emerging from violent conflict confront complex challenges that are specifi c from one context to another. The 2002 Peace Accord for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) signed in Pretoria, South Africa, marked a post-confl ict chapter for the country and inaugurated a range of actors and strategies to ...

Democratic School Leaders: Defining Ethical Leadership in a Standardized Context

Science.gov (United States)

Gerstl-Pepin, Cynthia; Aiken, Judith A.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this article is to learn from active educational leaders engaged in the practice of democratic, ethical leadership. In this article, we share findings of a qualitative study that used narrative inquiry to examine the stories of eight educational leaders. We discuss three themes arising from the participants' narratives that define…

Social Justice, Civil Society and the Dramatist in Democratic Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nigeria as a democratic nation-state is ailing. One of the consequences of this ailment is the cascading standard of social justice in the country. Instead of correcting the trend, the leaders continue to rationalize every action taken by government and describe Nigeria's democracy as being unique to the cultural environment, ...

Latino Demographics, Democratic Individuality, and Educational Accountability: A Pragmatist's View

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez Aleman, Ana M.

2006-01-01

In an era of heightened teacher and school accountability, what are the implications of standards-based reform for individual Latino children and their democratic self-realization? The educational demography of the fastest-growing and largest ethnic group in the United States suggests that the future of Latino self-realization is in jeopardy.…

Democratic Life Skill 1: Guiding Children to Find a Place

Science.gov (United States)

Gartrell, Dan

2012-01-01

"Democratic life skills" are social-emotional capacities that children need to be productive citizens and healthy individuals in a modern, diverse society. The construct for these skills comes from many sources. One helpful source is Maslow's concept of two coexisting sets of motivational needs in each individual: one set for security, belonging,…

Historical Precedents, Trans-Historical Strategies, and the Myth of Democratization.

Science.gov (United States)

Milman, Estera

1992-01-01

Outlines coincidences between the birth of Dada and the birth of Fluxus. Charts the adoption of similar ahistorical strategies by members of both movements as they attempted to position themselves historically. Questions the assumption that democratization of the arts is the natural result of artistic actions that attempt to break down the line…

Democratization of Nanoscale Imaging and Sensing Tools Using Photonics

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-12

impact, personal healthcare can be improved via consumer-level health monitoring and diagnostics technologies and especially by new tools that are...medical evaluation and care. One opportune area for increased democratization is that of nanoscience and nanotechnology tools, which in general have been...rather costly and bulky, limiting their use to well- resourced institutions. For many laypeople, nanoscience and nanotechnology can elicit awe or

État de droit, qualité de la démocratie et gouvernance démocratique au Pérou Rule of Law, Democratic Values and Democratic Governance in Peru Gobierno De La Ley, Calidad De La Democracia Y Gobernabilidad Democrática En El Perú

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Jorge Aragón Trelles

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Le présent article analyse la relation entre l’État de droit (rule of law, l’administration de la justice, la qualité démocratique et la gouvernance démocratique au Pérou. Ce thème est incontournable puisque la majorité des travaux contemporains en sciences politiques (qui débattent et évaluent la qualité des régimes démocratiques reconnaissent la prévalence du système juridique – effectivité, prévisibilité, équivalence pour tous, capacité d’imposer la justice – sur les trajectoires des régimes (O´Donnell 2004; Morlino y Diamond 2005; Levine y Molina 2007. La première section de ce travail aborde l’intérêt que présente une lecture politiste du développement du droit et des lois ainsi que de leur impact sur la société. La seconde section présente et questionne les diverses interprétations du concept de rule of lawdans les champs de la qualité de la démocratie et gouvernabilité démocratique. Cette section ouvre également la discussion sur les approches qui articulent État de droit et fonctionnement des régimes démocratiques. La troisième et dernière section dresse la situation juridique du Pérou contemporain.This article analyzes the relation between the rule of law, the administration of justice, democratic values and democratic governance in Peru.  This theme is unavoidable since most contemporary works in political science (discussing and evaluating the democratic principles of regimes acknowledge the prevailing role of the legal system – effectiveness, consistency, equal protection, capacity to enforce the law – on the trajectory of regimes (O’Donnell 2004; Morlino and Diamond 2005; Levine and Molina 2007.  The first section of the present work considers the merits of a political analysis of the development of law and laws from the standpoint of their impact on society.  The second section presents and interrogates diverse interpretations of the concept rule of law in the fields of

Perpetuating the Technological Ideology: An Ellulian Critique of Feenberg's Democratized Rationalization

Science.gov (United States)

Garrison, Kevin

2010-01-01

Andrew Feenberg, in his book "Questioning Technology", offers his theory of "democratized rationalization" as a critical alternative to Jacques Ellul's essentialist perspective. Feenberg argues that Ellul has confused the tendency toward efficiency in technological discourse with the essence of technology, thereby disallowing for a "positive…

Democratizing Rural Economy: Institutional Friction, Sustainable Struggle and the Cooperative Movement

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, Patrick H.

2004-01-01

Sustainable development demands institutions manage the conflicts and struggles that inevitably arise over material and ideal interests. While current cooperative theory privileges the economic element, a political economy of cooperation emphasizes cooperatives' tentative bridging of economic and political spheres with a democratic ethos. The…

Pros and cons of vertical integration between clinical medicine and basic science within a problem-based undergraduate medical curriculum: examples and experiences from Linköping, Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahle, L O; Brynhildsen, J; Behrbohm Fallsberg, M; Rundquist, I; Hammar, M

2002-05-01

Problem-based learning (PBL), combined with early patient contact, multiprofessional education and emphasis on development of communications skills, has become the basis for the medical curriculum at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Linköping (FHS), Sweden, which was started in 1986. Important elements in the curriculum are vertical integration, i.e. integration between the clinical and basic science parts of the curriculum and horizontal integration between different subject areas. This article discusses the importance of vertical integration in an undergraduate medical curriculum, according to experiences from the Faculty of Health Sciences in Linköping, and also give examples on how it has been implemented during the latest 15 years. Results and views put forward in published articles concerning vertical integration within undergraduate medical education are discussed in relation to the experiences in Linköping. Vertical integration between basic sciences and clinical medicine in a PBL setting has been found to stimulate profound rather than superficial learning, and thereby stimulates better understanding of important biomedical principles. Integration probably leads to better retention of knowledge and the ability to apply basic science principles in the appropriate clinical context. Integration throughout the whole curriculum entails a lot of time and work in respect of planning, organization and execution. The teachers have to be deeply involved and enthusiastic and have to cooperate over departmental borders, which may produce positive spin-off effects in teaching and research but also conflicts that have to be resolved. The authors believe vertical integration supports PBL and stimulates deep and lifelong learning.

The Art of Democracy—Art as a Tool for Developing Democratic Citizenship and Stimulating Public Debate: A Rortyan-Deweyan Account

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Michael I. Raeber

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Richard Rorty holds that the novel is the characteristic genre of democracy, because it helps people to develop and to stabilize two crucial capabilities the ideal inhabitants of democratic societies should possess: a keen sense for anti-foundationalism and a disposition for solidarity. He believes that novels help develop these capabilities by educating our capacity for criticism and our capacity for attentive-empathetic perception. This article argues in favor of this Rortyan idea, showing how anti-foundationalism and solidarity can be seen as important instances of what I will call 'dispositions for democratic citizenship' and that art (and not only novels and its reception, are valuable tools for advancing these dispositions. However, as the Rortyan public-private dichotomy assigns art’s function of criticism only to the private sphere, Rorty ignores its potential for stimulating democratic public deliberation and he misses the fact that art’s functions of criticism and of attentive-empathetic perception partially depend on each other if they are effectively to lead to increased solidarity and change social realities. Thus this article argues—taking these objections into account—to slightly modify, but nevertheless value Rorty’s idea that art and its reception are crucial resources for democratic citizenship and for the process of democratic deliberation.

Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions in Lao People's Democratic Republic

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2013-01-01

Access to improved sanitation is a major concern in the Lao People s Democratic Republic. Only 63 percent of the population of the country had access to improved sanitation facilities in 2010. Sanitation conditions are worse in rural areas. This study aims to generate evidence on the costs and benefits of sanitation improvements Lao PDR.

Democratic Miseducation: Preparing Students for Democracies That Do Not Exist.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaughan, Geoffrey M.

The political educator takes the perspective that, in Thomas Hobbes's phrase, "man is not born fit for society." To make him so fit, contemporary political educators seek to develop individual autonomy and democratic affect, which would have the added task of reforming all of society in the future. The current consensus holds that the…

Towards a democratic and intercultural citizenship. Notes for teacher training

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J. Eduardo Sierra Nieto

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, the building of democratic citizenship cannot be understood apart from the considerations of respect and measures aimed at encourage cultural diversity; especially with the aggravation in racist discourses and manifestations, and the successive humanitarian crisis with respect to immigration. In light of this situation, in this paper we propose to combine civic education from the intercultural paradigm. For this, we reclaim, for the one hand, the role of the school as a cultural mediation place and encou- raging of intercultural coexistence; on the other hand, we emphasize the importance role that teachers play as social agents with broad involvement in the formation of democratic citizenship; both aspects as complementary. From this, we investigate different studies that stand out some deficiencies in many of the proposals for service teaching [of the teachers] that are developed from an intercultural perspective. Finally, we insist on the urgency to reinforce a type of service teaching in intercultural key; so, it is necessary to encourage the “self knowledge” as an important element of the relationship with “the other”.

Who are Eduardo Galeano’s “the nobodies” within the Democratic rule of Law?

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Vanessa Santos de Souza

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The present article aims to run through the dialogism between the poetic prose of “The Nobodies”, by Eduardo Galeano, and the democratic rule of law, so as to analyse their irrelevance for the State and the reason of why they gain priority in the literary discourse. In order to carry out the research, we entered into the area of Law and Literary Studies for a complementary and sociological purpose, in order to introduce the debate about the democratic State and its practical implications. The theoretical foundation of the present work is laid out by the names of Lenio Streck and Antonio Candido.

Why should we publish Linked Data?

Science.gov (United States)

Blower, Jon; Riechert, Maik; Koubarakis, Manolis; Pace, Nino

2016-04-01

We use the Web every day to access information from all kinds of different sources. But the complexity and diversity of scientific data mean that discovering accessing and interpreting data remains a large challenge to researchers, decision-makers and other users. Different sources of useful information on data, algorithms, instruments and publications are scattered around the Web. How can we link all these things together to help users to better understand and exploit earth science data? How can we combine scientific data with other relevant data sources, when standards for describing and sharing data vary so widely between communities? "Linked Data" is a term that describes a set of standards and "best practices" for sharing data on the Web (http://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/data). These principles can be summarised as follows: 1. Create unique and persistent identifiers for the important "things" in a community (e.g. datasets, publications, algorithms, instruments). 2. Allow users to "look up" these identifiers on the web to find out more information about them. 3. Make this information machine-readable in a community-neutral format (such as RDF, Resource Description Framework). 4. Within this information, embed links to other things and concepts and say how these are related. 5. Optionally, provide web service interfaces to allow the user to perform sophisticated queries over this information (using a language such as SPARQL). The promise of Linked Data is that, through these techniques, data will be more discoverable, more comprehensible and more usable by different communities, not just the community that produced the data. As a result, many data providers (particularly public-sector institutions) are now publishing data in this way. However, this area is still in its infancy in terms of real-world applications. Data users need guidance and tools to help them use Linked Data. Data providers need reassurance that the investments they are making in

¿Cómo hacer escuelas democráticas? How to make democratic schools?

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Josep Ma Puig Rovira

2000-12-01

Full Text Available Para responder a la pregunta que titula el presente artículo, "¿Cómo hacer escuelas democráticas?", se ha llevado a cabo un rodeo que nos ha conducido, en primer lugar, a definir qué se entiende por escuela democrática, a ver cuáles son sus principales limitaciones y errores, y qué posibilidades le quedan todavía como instrumento educativo de transformación social. La escuela democrática se ha caracterizado como un espacio de participación que, sin embargo, muy a menudo ha producido desigualdad y discriminación. Pese a todo, las escuelas democráticas deben ser espacios de controversia y lucha en favor de la democracia. En segundo lugar, el artículo realiza un rápido recorrido por algunos de las principales tendencias y momentos de desarrollo de las escuelas democráticas. Luego, en su tramo final, el escrito propone un conjunto de dinamismos pedagógicos que han de ayudar a construir escuelas entendidas como comunidades democráticas. Dinamismos como los encuentros, la formación de pequeños grupos, la definición de espacios de diálogo y participación, y el diseño de prácticas de valor. Finalmente, el texto concluye con la presentación de una de las prácticas esenciales de las escuelas democráticas: las asambleas de clase. Además de presentar qué son las asambleas y cómo deben funcionar, se analiza su papel en tanto que instrumento de educación en valores y preparación para la ciudadanía.In order to answer the question in the title of this article, a journey was carried out, what made us, in first place, to define what is understood by democratic school, what are its main limitations and errors, and what are its possibilities as an instrument of social changes. The democratic school has distinguished itself as a locus of participation that has, however, frequently produced inequality and discrimination. In spite of that, democratic schools must be spaces for controversy and fight for democracy. In second place, the

Influencing Republicans' and Democrats' attitudes toward Obamacare: Effects of imagined vicarious cognitive dissonance on political attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Joel; Feldman, Lauren A; Blackman, Shane F

2018-04-16

The field of experimental social psychology is appropriately interested in using novel theoretical approaches to implement change in the social world. In the current study, we extended cognitive dissonance theory by creating a new framework of social influence: imagined vicarious dissonance. We used the framework to influence attitudes on an important and controversial political attitude: U.S. citizens' support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 36 Republicans and 84 Democrats were asked to imagine fellow Republicans and Democrats, respectively, making attitude discrepant statements under high and low choice conditions about support for the ACA. The data showed that vicarious dissonance, established by imagining a group member make a counterattitudinal speech under high-choice conditions (as compared to low-choice conditions), resulted in greater support for the Act by Republicans and marginally diminished support by Democrats. The results suggest a promising role for the application of vicarious dissonance theory to relevant societal issues and for further understanding the relationship of dissonance and people's identification with their social groups.

Perplexed Particularity in the Clutches of Arrogant Generality?: Political Science as Science of Generality and Political Scientist as Expert for Generality

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Dragutin Lalović

2008-01-01

Full Text Available How is one to conduct adequate political-science investigation, presentation and evaluation of the history and present situation of political science in Croatia? The text focuses on a thorough inquiry into the subject of the science of politics – what is politics? – as the prerequisite for a scientifically adequate solution to the uncertainty regarding the professional profile of the Faculty and its attendants – political scientists. In this context, it ooks into the meaning of the definition of political science as “science of generality” and of the political scientist as “expert for generality”. The theoretical and contextual meaning of these definitions is explained (Prpić, 1969, and its assumptions, scope and limitations are valued. The dramatic uncertainty, both theoretical and practical, which Prpić confronted us with, is insurmountable within the historical context of the democratic state, given its characteristic epochal ambivalence. This goes to show that the dilemma between the plural and the singular does not make much sense: political science in the singular is a servant of political power, while political sciences are mere metascientific humanistic critique of the extant world. Consequently, the science of politics is no good either in the singular or the plural. When scientific and professional, it is a danger to political freedom. When humanistic and non-professional, it is impotent and superfluous. The political scientist, in turn, is either “an expert for particularity”, a servant of political power neutral with regard to ethics and values, or else a pretentious missionary. In order to break out of the vicious circle, the science of politics, in a fruitful and irreplaceable duality, must be methodically made to rely on a new principle of community constitution, which is immanent critique and overcoming of the modern democratic state and civil society. In addition, the perception of political science as “science

Educational policy for the democratization of access to science and technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alvori Ahlert

2007-11-01

Full Text Available State educational services suffered a plague of privatisation during the 1980s and 1990s, inspired by the neoliberal hegemony of the time. This article looks into what contribution education can make to the construction of an informed, and participative democracy. The teaching of science and technology needs to be based on principles of justice and equality, and, to ensure that all have equal opportunity to reach the highest levels, should be public, free and of high quality.

Post-Monolingual Research Methodology: Multilingual Researchers Democratizing Theorizing and Doctoral Education

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Michael

2017-01-01

This paper reports on the ground-breaking research in the study of languages in doctoral education. It argues for democratizing the production and dissemination of original contributions to knowledge through activating and mobilizing multilingual Higher Degree Researchers' (HDRs) capabilities for theorizing through them using their full linguistic…

Democratic Decentralization Reforms and Their Unintended Consequences in Postslavery Northern Benin,

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hahonou, Eric Komlavi

2017-01-01

The paper retraces the recent political emancipation of the Gando, a group of people from Northern Benin whose servile status had been an argument for placing them at the margins of their society and excluding them from political participation. Since the recent democratization process that took p...

The Legacy of Dance as a Democratizing Force in Higher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Nunn, Melissa

Many believe that dance is a democratizing force in academia. Modern dance history is replete with feminist, homosexual, and racial liberation ideologies transcribed through body language. Experiences in planning cross-discipline courses suggest that, without dance, important aesthetic and sociopolitical ideas most fully revealed in nonverbal and…

The Medawar Lecture 1998 is science dangerous?

Science.gov (United States)

Wolpert, Lewis

2005-06-29

The idea that science is dangerous is deeply embedded in our culture, particularly in literature, yet science provides the best way of understanding the world. Science is not the same as technology. In contrast to technology, reliable scientific knowledge is value-free and has no moral or ethical value. Scientists are not responsible for the technological applications of science; the very nature of science is that it is not possible to predict what will be discovered or how these discoveries could be applied. The obligation of scientists is to make public both any social implications of their work and its technological applications. A rare case of immoral science was eugenics. The image of Frankenstein has been turned by the media into genetic pornography, but neither cloning nor stem cells or gene therapy raise new ethical issues. There are no areas of research that are so socially sensitive that research into them should be proscribed. We have to rely on the many institutions of a democratic society: parliament, a free and vigorous press, affected groups and the scientists themselves. That is why programmes for the public understanding of science are so important. Alas, we still do not know how best to do this.

The Commitment of Senior Civil Servants to Democratic Freedoms and Equality

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Miro HACEK

2012-02-01

Full Text Available In modern democracies, senior civil servants have outgrown their classic role of mere implementers of orders given by politicians. Both senior civil servants and politicians serve the same democratic state, and both are heirs to the democratic evolution. Our hypothesis is based mainly on the historically developed division of labor between bureaucracy and politics. Senior civil servants have never been tasked with creating the conditions for more democracy in the state, but instead with creating the conditions for a more effective and successful state. Given that political bodies in which politicians operate have been established as the institutionalized personification of democracy, the task of politicians is above all the promotion of democracy, its values and norms. We have tested that hypothesis on the case of Slovenian senior civil servants and politicians and found out, that both elites are favorable to political freedoms and political equality.

Education and democratic organizations in Mozambique: experiences of the popular revolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Bive Domingos

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses, in general terms, the emergence of the Mozambican education system, a phenomenon occurred shortly after the national independence from Portuguese colonialism, a process that opposed the colonial dependence and school elitism, causes of the country’s underdevelopment and educational practices to Mozambicans. This sedimented a Mozambican education based on public involvement in the education system by democratic experience, understood as democratization of access, knowledge and relationships in decision making in relation to school. In terms of methodology, we used qualitative approaches such as naturalistic study case associated with various research techniques, such as: document analysis of the legislation on the education system and interviews with some school principals. This fact led us to recognize that, from 1983, this traditional practice of active participation in the education system, which was practiced by the popular local initiatives designed also for self-management, was diluted with the state regulation in the creation of the education policy by Law 4/83.

Monumentality on space and cultural democratization

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Inês Alves

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article proposes a reflection on the idea of monumentality in political and religious power, and its reconversion of a democratic society. There are 3+1 types of cultural exhibition space that are analyzed: the traditional palace or the church, which contain great works of classical art, inside of the historic centers; the art galleries associated with market economy, tend to stimulate the city centre area, and the autonomy of the architectural object in the vicinity of the traditional city. Lastly it is referred the case study - Silo Cultural Space - inside the Norteshopping, but arranged in a peripheral form, which is distinguished by an apparent proximity to multiple public.

Secrecy’s Corrupting Influence on Democratic Principles and the Rule of Law

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Greg Martin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Sometimes secrecy in law is required to protect vulnerable witnesses or suppress sensitive evidence. However, particularly since the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, governments in liberal democratic societies have increased secrecy and the use of clandestine procedures under the pretext of safeguarding national security. In many instances, these developments have eroded civil liberties, infringed upon constitutional guarantees, and had negative effects on due process rights. In Australia, where individual rights and freedoms have only limited constitutional expression, it is hoped the doctrine of representative and responsible government will act as sufficient protection for human rights. Conversely, drawing on examples ranging from the regulation of immigration to the control of serious organised crime, this article proposes that escalating secrecy in the current era has a corrupting effect on democratic principles and the rule of law.

Leadership Styles: An Experimental Study to Determine the Comparative Effectiveness of Democratic and Autocratic Leadership in Adult, "Real World" Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Fadely, L. Dean; Fadely, Patricia R.

To study the effect of democratic and autocratic leadership styles upon the commitment and productivity of voluntary adult groups, eight tenant councils, composed of approximately six persons each, were selected to serve as experimental groups. Trained researchers acting as discussion leaders for each council functioned as either democratic or…

Communication dated 3 June 1994 received from the Permanent Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the International Atomic Energy Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

The texts of an Interview by a Spokesman for the General Department of Atomic Energy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, dated 3 June 1994, and Relevant Information, are being circulated to all Member States of the Agency at the request of the Permanent Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. These texts were received by the Secretariat before the withdrawal of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from the Agency

PhLeGrA: Graph Analytics in Pharmacology over the Web of Life Sciences Linked Open Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamdar, Maulik R; Musen, Mark A

2017-04-01

Integrated approaches for pharmacology are required for the mechanism-based predictions of adverse drug reactions that manifest due to concomitant intake of multiple drugs. These approaches require the integration and analysis of biomedical data and knowledge from multiple, heterogeneous sources with varying schemas, entity notations, and formats. To tackle these integrative challenges, the Semantic Web community has published and linked several datasets in the Life Sciences Linked Open Data (LSLOD) cloud using established W3C standards. We present the PhLeGrA platform for Linked Graph Analytics in Pharmacology in this paper. Through query federation, we integrate four sources from the LSLOD cloud and extract a drug-reaction network, composed of distinct entities. We represent this graph as a hidden conditional random field (HCRF), a discriminative latent variable model that is used for structured output predictions. We calculate the underlying probability distributions in the drug-reaction HCRF using the datasets from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System. We predict the occurrence of 146 adverse reactions due to multiple drug intake with an AUROC statistic greater than 0.75. The PhLeGrA platform can be extended to incorporate other sources published using Semantic Web technologies, as well as to discover other types of pharmacological associations.

Molecular Science Computing Facility Scientific Challenges: Linking Across Scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Jong, Wibe A.; Windus, Theresa L.

2005-07-01

The purpose of this document is to define the evolving science drivers for performing environmental molecular research at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) and to provide guidance associated with the next-generation high-performance computing center that must be developed at EMSL's Molecular Science Computing Facility (MSCF) in order to address this critical research. The MSCF is the pre-eminent computing facility?supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER)?tailored to provide the fastest time-to-solution for current computational challenges in chemistry and biology, as well as providing the means for broad research in the molecular and environmental sciences. The MSCF provides integral resources and expertise to emerging EMSL Scientific Grand Challenges and Collaborative Access Teams that are designed to leverage the multiple integrated research capabilities of EMSL, thereby creating a synergy between computation and experiment to address environmental molecular science challenges critical to DOE and the nation.

Democratic and Inclusive Education in Iceland: Transgression and the Medical Gaze

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ólafur Páll Jónsson

2016-03-01

Full Text Available ‘Inclusive education’ and ‘democracy’ are more than buzzwords in education. They refer to official educational policy in much of the western world. Democracy as a school policy seems to be widely accepted while inclusive education is more controversial, sometimes fuelling lively public debates where parents and politicians are vocal. However, there seems to be little agreement on what ‘inclusive education’ means, although one can discern a certain core to the understanding of ‘inclusive education’ among many of those who participate in the public debate. Central to the above understanding of inclusive education and democracy are certain features that I want to draw attention to. First, what falls under the headings ‘democracy in schools’, ‘democratic education’ or ‘student democracy’, on the one hand, and ‘inclusive education’, on the other, have little to do with one another. I discuss how the medical gaze in the context of education belongs to the dominant ideology of the time and is thus prevailing without ever having to be argued for or defended. The consequence of this is, as I see it, that education (which sometimes is more training than growth is being cast in pathological terms. I connect the idea of transgression to that of democratic school and character. Transgression is relevant in two ways here. The school has to be a place where transgression is encouraged and, secondly, it is a place where transgression is valued as a democratic virtue. Virtue here could, I think, be understood in Aristotelian terms – or even given a Socratic interpretation.

The Democratization Process in the Western Balkans in the Last 20 Years: Interethnic Relations and Security Implications

OpenAIRE

Katerina Veljanoska; Oliver Andonov; Goran Shibakovski

2014-01-01

The process of democratization in Western Balkans is connected with the process of state-building before and after the reconstruction. After the break-up of Yugoslavia, the region became a brutal battleground as different nation-based groups fought to define the boundaries of a set of new states in the Balkans. One of the key challenges related to the democratization of the Western Balkan countries is resolving the issues with their neighbours. However, political pragmatism and bilateral rela...

Under what conditions can local government nurture indigenous people’s democratic practice?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sareen, Siddharth; Nathan, Iben

2017-01-01

This paper asks whether and under what conditions participatory local government can best nurture indigenous peoples’ democratic practice. Based on fieldwork in two similar Ho communities in the Indian state Jharkhand, we show that their village assemblies function differently with regard...

Linked Ocean Data

Science.gov (United States)

Leadbetter, Adam; Arko, Robert; Chandler, Cynthia; Shepherd, Adam

2014-05-01

"Linked Data" is a term used in Computer Science to encapsulate a methodology for publishing data and metadata in a structured format so that links may be created and exploited between objects. Berners-Lee (2006) outlines the following four design principles of a Linked Data system: Use Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) as names for things. Use HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) URIs so that people can look up those names. When someone looks up a URI, provide useful information, using the standards (Resource Description Framework [RDF] and the RDF query language [SPARQL]). Include links to other URIs so that they can discover more things. In 2010, Berners-Lee revisited his original design plan for Linked Data to encourage data owners along a path to "good Linked Data". This revision involved the creation of a five star rating system for Linked Data outlined below. One star: Available on the web (in any format). Two stars: Available as machine-readable structured data (e.g. An Excel spreadsheet instead of an image scan of a table). Three stars: As two stars plus the use of a non-proprietary format (e.g. Comma Separated Values instead of Excel). Four stars: As three stars plus the use of open standards from the World Wide Web Commission (W3C) (i.e. RDF and SPARQL) to identify things, so that people can point to your data and metadata. Five stars: All the above plus link your data to other people's data to provide context Here we present work building on the SeaDataNet common vocabularies served by the NERC Vocabulary Server, connecting projects such as the Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) and the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) and other vocabularies such as the Marine Metadata Interoperability Ontology Register and Repository and the NASA Global Change Master Directory to create a Linked Ocean Data cloud. Publishing the vocabularies and metadata in standard RDF XML and exposing SPARQL endpoints renders them five-star Linked

Promoting Democratic Citizenship Through Non-Formal Adult Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Milana, Marcella; Bernt Sørensen, Tore

2009-01-01

The article presents selected findings from in-depth case studies of two non-formal learning activities organized by the Danish Folk High Schools and Day High Schools, respectively. The purpose of the empirical study was to investigate how longstanding non-formal adult education institutions have...... worked to foster the acquisition of civic competencies among young adults, thus contributed to learning for democratic citizenship.The analysis highlights that negotiation of meaning is never value-free; nonetheless teachers play a key role in securing a learning environment that allows...

Background Report on Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Warren, Tracy A [ORNL

2011-05-01

Each month, approximately 45,000 people die from violence, hunger, disease, and other effects of displacement as a result of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The country is often said to be plagued by a 'resource curse.' During each period in history since its discovery by the West, the DRC has possessed the resources the world craves and the world has sought these without regard for the consequences to the Congolese people. The catastrophic consequences of Congo's history of natural resource exploitation are the direct and indirect death of millions of Congolese people. The current war in Congo is multi-causal in nature but explanations are often reduced to describing it as an ethic conflict based on objective grievance. Objective grievance such as inequality, ethnic tensions, land disputes, and lack of democracy do exist, but they are neither necessary nor sufficient to explain the cause of the violent conflict, and more importantly, they fall short in explaining why this conflict has continued for years. The reality is the conflict is an economic war in which the trade of conflict minerals, gold and the 3Ts (tin, tantalum, tungsten), is directly linked to the financial sustainability of the groups fighting each other in eastern DRC. Objective grievance is a by-product of the conflict, used to create a false but plausible moral justification to continue violence. This paper examines the history of conflict in the DRC and the socio-economic variables contributing to the current war fought over conflict minerals.

Science framework for conservation and restoration of the sagebrush biome: Linking the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy to long-term strategic conservation actions, Part 1. Science basis and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Jeanne C.; Beck, Jeffrey L.; Bradford, John B.; Bybee, Jared; Campbell, Steve; Carlson, John; Christiansen, Thomas J; Clause, Karen J.; Collins, Gail; Crist, Michele R.; Dinkins, Jonathan B.; Doherty, Kevin E.; Edwards, Fred; Espinosa, Shawn; Griffin, Kathleen A.; Griffin, Paul; Haas, Jessica R.; Hanser, Steven E.; Havlina, Douglas W.; Henke, Kenneth F.; Hennig, Jacob D.; Joyce, Linda A; Kilkenny, Francis F.; Kulpa, Sarah M; Kurth, Laurie L; Maestas, Jeremy D; Manning, Mary E.; Mayer, Kenneth E.; Mealor, Brian A.; McCarthy, Clinton; Pellant, Mike; Perea, Marco A.; Prentice, Karen L.; Pyke, David A.; Wiechman , Lief A.; Wuenschel, Amarina

2017-01-01

The Science Framework is intended to link the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy with long-term strategic conservation actions in the sagebrush biome. The Science Framework provides a multiscale approach for prioritizing areas for management and determining effective management strategies within the sagebrush biome. The emphasis is on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems and Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). The approach provided in the Science Framework links sagebrush ecosystem resilience to disturbance and resistance to nonnative, invasive plant species to species habitat information based on the distribution and abundance of focal species. A geospatial process is presented that overlays information on ecosystem resilience and resistance, species habitats, and predominant threats and that can be used at the mid-scale to prioritize areas for management. A resilience and resistance habitat matrix is provided that can help decisionmakers evaluate risks and determine appropriate management strategies. Prioritized areas and management strategies can be refined by managers and stakeholders at the local scale based on higher resolution data and local knowledge. Decision tools are discussed for determining appropriate management actions for areas that are prioritized for management. Geospatial data, maps, and models are provided through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ScienceBase and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Landscape Approach Data Portal. The Science Framework is intended to be adaptive and will be updated as additional data become available on other values and species at risk. It is anticipated that the Science Framework will be widely used to: (1) inform emerging strategies to conserve sagebrush ecosystems, sagebrush dependent species, and human uses of the sagebrush system, and (2) assist managers in prioritizing and planning on-the-ground restoration and mitigation actions across the sagebrush biome.

A qualitative, phenomenological study on the lived experiences of science teachers in The Bahamas

Science.gov (United States)

Micklewhite, Thalia Vionne

This phenomenological study investigates the lived experiences and perceptions of secondary science teachers in the archipelagic country of The Bahamas and how these teachers make meaning of the secondary science program in The Bahamas through the lens of life in a democratic society. The study's purpose was to answer the question: What are the lived experiences of secondary science teachers in The Bahamas in terms of their working conditions'? Using principles of phenomenological research to approach meaning, in-depth interviewing was conducted with six secondary science teachers on four islands of The Bahamas, including the capital of New Providence. The participants and the selected islands are representative of the diversity of teachers, the population, and school climates and structures throughout the country. Narratives were obtained via three ninety-minute interviews with each participant; and thematic analysis was the instrument by which three central themes emerged. Analysis of narratives reveals that lived experience of secondary science teachers revolve around themes of: (1) The Professional Self, (2) Curriculum Leadership, and (3) Curriculum. Most participants are in the career of secondary science education as second choice but are still committed to the profession. Participants overwhelmingly commented that there was a lack of supportive frameworks for critical elements of their daily work, and a need for clear, visionary and decisive curriculum leadership by The Ministry of Education and private School Boards. Participants also desired more appropriate and alternative science curricula that would meet the need of non-academically inclined Bahamian students. Antecedent to their calls was a pressing recognition that they lacked participatory democratic voice in national secondary science education evidenced by years of unrecognized and unattended suggestions sent to those in authority. As a result of these findings, the researcher was propelled towards

Journal of Chemical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Chemical Sciences. N Kaur. Articles written in Journal of Chemical Sciences. Volume 125 Issue 3 May 2013 pp 555-560. Application of chalcones in heterocycles synthesis: Synthesis of 2-(isoxazolo, pyrazolo and pyrimido) substituted analogues of 1,4-benzodiazepin-5-carboxamides linked ...

Parents' views on sex education in schools: How much do Democrats and Republicans agree?

Science.gov (United States)

Kantor, Leslie; Levitz, Nicole

2017-01-01

More than 93 percent of parents place high importance on sex education in both middle and high school. Sex education in middle and high school is widely supported by parents regardless of their political affiliation. Using data from a large diverse sample of 1,633 parents of children aged 9 to 21 years, we examined whether views on sex education differed by parents' political affiliation. More than 89 percent of parents that identified as Republicans or Democrats support including a wide range of topics in sex education including puberty, healthy relationships, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and birth control in high school. In middle school, 78 percent or more of both parents that identified as Republicans and Democrats support the inclusion of those topics. Controlling for key demographic factors, parents that identified as Democrats are more likely than those that identified as Republicans to support the inclusion of the topics of healthy relationships, birth control, STDs, and sexual orientation in both middle and high school. However, a strong majority of Republican parents want all these topics included in sex education. Sex education which includes a broad set of topics represents an area of strong agreement between parents of both political parties.

Parents' views on sex education in schools: How much do Democrats and Republicans agree?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie Kantor

Full Text Available More than 93 percent of parents place high importance on sex education in both middle and high school. Sex education in middle and high school is widely supported by parents regardless of their political affiliation. Using data from a large diverse sample of 1,633 parents of children aged 9 to 21 years, we examined whether views on sex education differed by parents' political affiliation. More than 89 percent of parents that identified as Republicans or Democrats support including a wide range of topics in sex education including puberty, healthy relationships, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs and birth control in high school. In middle school, 78 percent or more of both parents that identified as Republicans and Democrats support the inclusion of those topics. Controlling for key demographic factors, parents that identified as Democrats are more likely than those that identified as Republicans to support the inclusion of the topics of healthy relationships, birth control, STDs, and sexual orientation in both middle and high school. However, a strong majority of Republican parents want all these topics included in sex education. Sex education which includes a broad set of topics represents an area of strong agreement between parents of both political parties.

National Center for Mathematics and Science - links to related sites

Science.gov (United States)

Mathematics and Science (NCISLA) HOME | WHAT WE DO | K-12 EDUCATION RESEARCH | PUBLICATIONS | TEACHER Modeling Middle School Mathematics National Association of Biology Teachers National Association for Mathematics National Science Teachers Assocation Show-Me Center Summit on Science TERC - Weaving Gender Equity

NETWORKS AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE: THE CASE OF A PUBLIC INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION OF MINAS GERAIS – BRAZIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edimilson Eduardo da Silva

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is about the presentation of the social network of partnerships in 2010 around a Federal Institution of Higher Education – IFES, located at Minas Gerais State. The aim of this paper is to show how the practices of formal partnerships can contribute to the formation of democratic governance. The approach was quantitative, using as tool of the collecting data, a documental research. We analyzed the database of a body responsible for the management of the instruments of partnerships agreements and we classified the partner institutions in public, private, third sector, individuals and foreign institutions. The results were the construction of sociograms as a graphic representation showing the main elements of democratic governance. The survey revealed that partnerships as institutional practices can contribute for the establishment of a network of democratic governance, guided by a leading organization. Thereby, it can form partnerships of following types: public-public and public-private, permeated by the dimensions of governance (rules of governance defined, management (the practice of technology management, autonomy (respect to institutional abilities, mutuality (mutual responsibility, confidence and reciprocity (strengthening of teaching, research and extension activities. In this sense, the social network formed by partnerships can be categorized as a “network of democratic governance”.

Science framework for conservation and restoration of the sagebrush biome: Linking the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy to long-term strategic conservation actions

Science.gov (United States)

J.C. Chambers; J.L. Beck; J.B. Bradford; J. Bybee; S. Campbell; J. Carlson; T.J. Christiansen; K.J. Clause; G. Collins; M.R. Crist; J.B. Dinkins; K.E. Doherty; F. Edwards; S. Espinosa; K.A. Griffin; P. Griffin; J.R. Haas; S.E. Hanser; D.W. Havlina; K.F. Henke; J.D. Hennig; L.A. Joyce; F.M. Kilkenny; S.M. Kulpa; L.L. Kurth; J.D. Maestas; M. Manning; K.E. Mayer; B.A. Mealor; C. McCarthy; M. Pellant; M.A. Perea; K.L. Prentice; D.A. Pyke; L.A. Wiechman; A. Wuenschel

2017-01-01

The Science Framework is intended to link the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy with long-term strategic conservation actions in the sagebrush biome. The Science Framework provides a multiscale approach for prioritizing areas for management and determining effective management strategies within the sagebrush biome. The emphasis...

Global communications: democratic access for women.

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

In preparation for the 1995 World Conference on Women, women of the Latin American Information Agency prepared a statement for the UN about the importance of communications and information in the contemporary world and the role of women in the media. The statement includes the following specific suggestions: 1) that the UN promote the democratization of communications with a gender focus, 2) that women be assured access to new communications technologies that empower their communicational capacity, 3) that steps be taken to ensure that media content projects a positive and nondiscriminatory image of women, and 4) that guidelines be drawn up to promote labor equality between the genders and a greater presence of women in decision-making positions in the media.

THE PLACE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN A DEMOCRATIC STATE, THROUGH THE GLASS OF CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina BĂRBĂȚEANU

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Political parties are nowadays key actors in democratic societies, shaping social mentalities, creating and following ideologies, inducing common vision, establishing targets and ideals. Their main goal is gaining the political power by conquering the access to the highest levels of decision in the State. They are based on the freedom of association and, unlike other associations, they have a specific constitutional and legal position because they are defining and giving expression to the citizens' political will, in respect of the principles of democracy. Romanian Basic Law provides that political pluralism represents one of the supreme values of the Romanian State governed by the rule of law. In this context, the Constitutional Court has solved, over the years, various issues regarding the political parties. Authorities of constitutional jurisdiction in European countries have also been asked to express, one way or another, their opinion in connection with the activity of the political parties. Taking into consideration their importance for a healthy democratic system, the European Commission for Democracy through Law -Venice Commission has paid special attention to the complexity of aspects involved by the protection of democratic values.

Journal of Chemical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Chemical Sciences. Prabhpreet Singh. Articles written in Journal of Chemical Sciences. Volume 126 Issue 1 January 2014 pp 159-167. The family of N-adenine: New entry for adenine-benzamide conjugates linked via versatile spacers · Prabhpreet Singh · More Details Abstract Fulltext PDF.

Political Ideology, Trust, and Cooperation: In-group Favoritism among Republicans and Democrats during a US National Election.

Science.gov (United States)

Balliet, Daniel; Tybur, Joshua M; Wu, Junhui; Antonellis, Christian; Van Lange, Paul A M

2018-04-01

Theories suggest that political ideology relates to cooperation, with conservatives being more likely to pursue selfish outcomes, and liberals more likely to pursue egalitarian outcomes. In study 1, we examine how political ideology and political party affiliation (Republican vs. Democrat) predict cooperation with a partner who self-identifies as Republican or Democrat in two samples before ( n = 362) and after ( n = 366) the 2012 US presidential election. Liberals show slightly more concern for their partners' outcomes compared to conservatives (study 1), and in study 2 this relation is supported by a meta-analysis ( r = .15). However, in study 1, political ideology did not relate to cooperation in general. Both Republicans and Democrats extend more cooperation to their in-group relative to the out-group, and this is explained by expectations of cooperation from in-group versus out-group members. We discuss the relation between political ideology and cooperation within and between groups.

Information literacy progression within the Environmental science program at Linköping University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kajsa Gustafsson Åman

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Since the Environmental Science program at Linköping University started 1998 the author has been liaison librarian. The program is a three-year candidate program with approximately 60 students enrolled per year. Information literacy is of vital importance for the teachers and the students. Collaboration between the liaison librarian, the teachers and the administrator is the fundament. During the years a curriculum for Information literacy has evolved. The initiative for the evolvement comes from both librarian and teachers. The program consists today of fifteen different parts with education in information literacy with a progression during the three-year program. Special concern is given to progression, learning design, learning environments and quality development. An important part is appendixes in connection to the student essay. The appendixes consist of reflections on the search of information for the essay in order to make the students more conscious about their Information Literacy processes.

The Media Protest of Neighbouring Associations, Promoter of Citizen Democratic Culture during Transition in Southern Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Méndez-Muros

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In the current context of placing value on the neighbouring movement within the Spanish democratic Transition, we set out to confirm that the press actively participates in the growing conjunction of neighbouring issues with political content and contributes to the idea that this movement becomes a parameter of the democratic culture for the citizen during Transition. Since the conflict is newsworthy, we conduct a micro-social study of the neighbouring protest in the newspaper El Correo de Andalucía, published in the southern Spanish city of Seville. Through analysis of content, we study the informative flow and the repertoire of protest following a typology that distinguishes four formats (demonstrations, strikes, speeches and associations divided into two levels of conflict. The analysis sample consists of 33 texts published between November 1975 (Franco’s death and the accession to the throne of Juan Carlos I and June 1977 (the first democratic general elections. The main conclusion reveals that the newspaper becomes a platform that gives visibility to the neighbouring movement, normalising behaviours and procedure rules through the protest.

The Fourth Age of Political Communication: Democratic decay or the rise of phronetic political communication?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Aagaard

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The ‘fourth age’ of political communication is emerging. In the fourth age the logics of media and digitization shapes the public sphere, because algorithms and polarized drama increasingly determine what we become aware of in digital and mass media. The result may very well be a less informed public sphere. The emerging class of policy professionals has the opportunity to mix the logics of mediatization and digitization. While such a mix may very well lead to democratic decay, based on elitism, it may also hold fruitful potentials for a more democratic and ethical type of political communication, called phronetic political communication.

The Transformative Power of Communication: Democratizing Practices for the General Education Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Haynal, Kaitlyn

2016-01-01

This article examines the common communication practices of deliberation, discussion, delivery, and debate, for their democratizing potential through their greater inclusion in all general education classrooms. It argues that these tools are underutilized outside of communication classrooms but offer numerous benefits to teachers and students…

Democratic Conscience versus the Madness of Fanatical Terrorism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bouchet, Dominique

2015-01-01

Terrorist violence is not religious because it destroys all bonds. Obscurantists who have turned into robots treat others as mere things and seek to spread fear and promote discord and stigmatization in order to generate disorder. The unifying strength of democracy lies in pluralism, diversity, d......, doubt, freedom of speech, education and the fight against all forms of stigmatization. The outrage of the millions who are spontaneously marching in the name of humanity as a whole and not their belonging to a sub-group can bring about a regeneration of democratic ideals....

A vinculação de recursos para a educação e a UDN The linking of resources to education and to national democratic union party

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wellington Ferreira de Jesus

2010-04-01

Full Text Available O trabalho busca identificar a perspectiva do Partido da União Democrática Nacional sobre a educação pública e a vinculação constitucional de recursos, assim como as razões pelas quais os liberais apoiaram essa área protegida do orçamento, apesar de defenderem a liberdade de mercado. Analisa os argumentos favoráveis e contrários à proposição, bem como as restrições ou oposições a ela, no processo legislativo. As fontes examinadas foram os anais e os diários da Assembleia Nacional Constituinte de 1946, além da literatura pertinente. A justificativa da proposição vitoriosa focaliza os limites do Estado do ponto de vista político. Além disso, os membros do partido percebiam que o desenvolvimento industrial do país dependia da expansão da educaç��o primária.The aim of this work is to identify the perspective of the National Democratic Union Party with regard to public education and the constitutional linking of resources, as well as the reasons why the liberals supported this protected area of the budget despite their defense of a free market. It analyses the arguments for and against as well as the restrictions or opposition to it in the legislative process. The sources used were the annals and diaries of the National Constitutional Assembly of 1946, as well as pertinent literature. The victorious proposition is justified focusing on the limits of the State in the political dimension. Furthermore, party members perceived that the industrial development of Brazil depended on expansion of primary education.s

Capable and credible? Challenging nutrition science : Challenging nutrition science

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Penders, Bart; Wolters, Anna; Feskens, Edith F; Brouns, Fred; Huber, Machteld; Maeckelberghe, Els L M; Navis, Gerjan; Ockhuizen, Theo; Plat, Jogchum; Sikkema, Jan; Stasse-Wolthuis, Marianne; van 't Veer, Pieter; Verweij, Marcel; de Vries, Jan

Nutrition science has enriched our understanding of how to stay healthy by producing valuable knowledge about the interaction of nutrients, food, and the human body. Nutrition science also has raised societal awareness about the links between food consumption and well-being, and provided the basis

Do committees ru(i)n the bio-political culture? On the democratic legitimacy of bioethics committees.

Science.gov (United States)

Friele, Minou Bernadette

2003-08-01

Bioethical and bio-political questions are increasingly tackled by committees, councils, and other advisory boards that work on different and often interrelated levels. Research ethics committees work on an institutional or clinical level; local advisory boards deal with biomedical topics on the level of particular political regions; national and international political advisory boards try to answer questions about morally problematic political decisions in medical research and practice. In accordance with the increasing number and importance of committees, the quality of their work and their functional status are being subjected to more and more scrutiny. Besides overall criticism regarding the quality of their work, particular committees giving political advice are often suspected of being incompatible with democratic values, such as respect for affected parties, representation of diverse values and transparency in the decision-making processes. Based on the example of the German National Ethics Council, whose inauguration caused a still ongoing debate on the aims and scopes of committees in general, this paper discusses: (1) the requirements of modern democratic societies in dealing with complex scientific-technical problems; (2) the composition and organisation of committees working as political advisory boards; and (3) the appointment procedures and roles of laymen and experts, and here in particular of ethicists, who may legitimately be taken on by a committee. I will argue that bioethics committees do not necessarily endanger democratic values, but can considerably improve their realisation in democratic decision-making procedures--if, and only if, they do not act as substitutes for parliamentarian processes, but help prepare parliamentarian processes to be organised as rationally as possible.

Knowledge Representation and Management: a Linked Data Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Barros, M; Couto, F M

2016-11-10

Biomedical research is increasingly becoming a data-intensive science in several areas, where prodigious amounts of data is being generated that has to be stored, integrated, shared and analyzed. In an effort to improve the accessibility of data and knowledge, the Linked Data initiative proposed a well-defined set of recommendations for exposing, sharing and integrating data, information and knowledge, using semantic web technologies. The main goal of this paper is to identify the current status and future trends of knowledge representation and management in Life and Health Sciences, mostly with regard to linked data technologies. We selected three prominent linked data studies, namely Bio2RDF, Open PHACTS and EBI RDF platform, and selected 14 studies published after 2014 (inclusive) that cited any of the three studies. We manually analyzed these 14 papers in relation to how they use linked data techniques. The analyses show a tendency to use linked data techniques in Life and Health Sciences, and even if some studies do not follow all of the recommendations, many of them already represent and manage their knowledge using RDF and biomedical ontologies. These insights from RDF and biomedical ontologies are having a strong impact on how knowledge is generated from biomedical data, by making data elements increasingly connected and by providing a better description of their semantics. As health institutes become more data centric, we believe that the adoption of linked data techniques will continue to grow and be an effective solution to knowledge representation and management.

[International relationships in ophthalmology in the German Democratic Republic (GDR)].

Science.gov (United States)

Jähne, M

2017-09-01

International relationships in ophthalmology in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) were directed by the government and predominantly promoted relationships to socialist countries in Eastern Europe. The lack of freedom of travel, restrictions of import for scientific journals and general prevention of contacts by the State security service led to a stagnation in daily practice and in research, mainly from 1961 until 1989.

Can EU Act as a Democracy Promoter? Analysing the Democratization Demand and Supply in Turkey - EU Relations

OpenAIRE

Çiğdem Üstün

2017-01-01

The EU’s role to assist Turkey in its democratization efforts has been debated during Turkey’s candidacy. However, in the second decade of the 21st century, this role of the EU lost its visibility while Turkey seemed to lose its interest in reform movements. This paper, inspired by Pevehouse, defines the EU as a supplier of democratization mechanisms and Turkey as an actor in need. Although lack of enthusiasm and disengagement have come to characterize Turkey-EU relations, this study aims to ...

Democratic Purpose and Educational Leadership Policies in Sweden and in Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Murakami, Elizabeth; Törnsén, Monika

2015-01-01

In this study we analyze the extent to which policy documents that include standards and expectations for the preparation of school principals (i.e., head teachers) influence democratic practices. This comparative research examines educational policies that influence the work of principals both in Sweden and in the U.S., the state of Texas asking:…

The Practice of Equality: A Critical Understanding of Democratic Citizenship Education

Science.gov (United States)

Ruitenberg, Claudia W.

2015-01-01

This essay proposes a conception of citizenship that highlights its political aspects. Based on the work of Balibar, Rancière, and Biesta, it is argued that democratic citizenship education must include the education of equality. This means that students must have the opportunity to experience not only the membership aspect of citizenship that…

Social Networking and Democratic Practices as Spheres for Innovative Musical Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Thorgersen, Cecilia Ferm; Georgii-Hemming, Eva

2012-01-01

This chapter takes into account and discusses innovative learning in the 21st digital and communicative century based on life-world-phenomenology and Hannah Arendt's view of democracy. From this point of view, the authors address and discuss how democratic practices can offer innovative musical learning in relation to what is taking place in…

Linking Disparate Datasets of the Earth Sciences with the SemantEco Annotator

Science.gov (United States)

Seyed, P.; Chastain, K.; McGuinness, D. L.

2013-12-01

Use of Semantic Web technologies for data management in the Earth sciences (and beyond) has great potential but is still in its early stages, since the challenges of translating data into a more explicit or semantic form for immediate use within applications has not been fully addressed. In this abstract we help address this challenge by introducing the SemantEco Annotator, which enables anyone, regardless of expertise, to semantically annotate tabular Earth Science data and translate it into linked data format, while applying the logic inherent in community-standard vocabularies to guide the process. The Annotator was conceived under a desire to unify dataset content from a variety of sources under common vocabularies, for use in semantically-enabled web applications. Our current use case employs linked data generated by the Annotator for use in the SemantEco environment, which utilizes semantics to help users explore, search, and visualize water or air quality measurement and species occurrence data through a map-based interface. The generated data can also be used immediately to facilitate discovery and search capabilities within 'big data' environments. The Annotator provides a method for taking information about a dataset, that may only be known to its maintainers, and making it explicit, in a uniform and machine-readable fashion, such that a person or information system can more easily interpret the underlying structure and meaning. Its primary mechanism is to enable a user to formally describe how columns of a tabular dataset relate and/or describe entities. For example, if a user identifies columns for latitude and longitude coordinates, we can infer the data refers to a point that can be plotted on a map. Further, it can be made explicit that measurements of 'nitrate' and 'NO3-' are of the same entity through vocabulary assignments, thus more easily utilizing data sets that use different nomenclatures. The Annotator provides an extensive and searchable

A comprehensive comparison of network similarities for link prediction and spurious link elimination

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Peng; Qiu, Dan; Zeng, An; Xiao, Jinghua

2018-06-01

Identifying missing interactions in complex networks, known as link prediction, is realized by estimating the likelihood of the existence of a link between two nodes according to the observed links and nodes' attributes. Similar approaches have also been employed to identify and remove spurious links in networks which is crucial for improving the reliability of network data. In network science, the likelihood for two nodes having a connection strongly depends on their structural similarity. The key to address these two problems thus becomes how to objectively measure the similarity between nodes in networks. In the literature, numerous network similarity metrics have been proposed and their accuracy has been discussed independently in previous works. In this paper, we systematically compare the accuracy of 18 similarity metrics in both link prediction and spurious link elimination when the observed networks are very sparse or consist of inaccurate linking information. Interestingly, some methods have high prediction accuracy, they tend to perform low accuracy in identification spurious interaction. We further find that methods can be classified into several cluster according to their behaviors. This work is useful for guiding future use of these similarity metrics for different purposes.

Democratization in the Gulf Monarchies and American Civil Society

OpenAIRE

Azam, M. Nazrul Islam and Muhammad; Azam, Muhammad

2015-01-01

The paper deals with the efforts made by American private sector and civil society actors after 2000 to popularize democratic values and norms in the six Gulf states, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The study is focused on areas including politics, education, culture, media, human rights, and women empowerment. The paper also deals with approaches adopted, goals and objectives set and strategies devised and employed by the American NGOs regardi...

Democratization in the Gulf Monarchies and American Civil Society

OpenAIRE

Azam, M. Nazrul Islam and Muhammad

2010-01-01

The paper deals with the efforts made by American private sector and civil society actors after 2000 to popularize democratic values and norms in the six Gulf states, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The study is focused on areas including politics, education, culture, media, human rights, and women empowerment. The paper also deals with approaches adopted, goals and objectives set and strategies devised and employed by the American NGOs regardi...

Southeast Asia’s Democratic Developmental States and Economic Growth

OpenAIRE

Michael T. Rock

2015-01-01

How has democracy impacted growth in Southeast Asia? This question can be answered by demonstrating how political elites in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand crafted quite unique democratic developmental states that enabled them to provide the public goods and public policies to maintain high growth. Because of this, growth under democracy has been as high as it was during the heyday of these polities’ developmental autocracies. Moreover, as there was no single dominant pathway to the construc...

The EU’s Post-Lisbon Democratic Development: What Lessons for Iceland?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maximilian Conrad

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Apart from the question of whether permanent exemptions from EU rules could be achieved in Iceland’s (by now halted EU accession negotiations, the EU’s institutional development in the wake of the Lisbon Treaty has been used as a key argument for the conservative government to first suspend the negotiations and subsequently also to propose to withdraw the membership application altogether. In this regard, concerns about the democratic quality of EU decision making play a key role. However, as this article argues, the institutional development of the EU since Lisbon, particularly in relation to democratic governance, has been considerably more subtle than it is claimed to be and has to be seen as a continuation of a much longer process. More importantly, however, the debate leaves pressing questions about the nature of the EU as a polity unaddressed. In this context, this article addresses the question of what kind of democracy is possible in the kind of polity sui generis that the EU undoubtedly is.

Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... Addiction Science Adolescent Brain Comorbidity College-Age & Young Adults Criminal Justice Drugged Driving Drug Testing Drugs and ... Link campaign. This campaign shows teens and young adults that non-injection drug use and alcohol use ...

Women on board: female board membership as a form of elite democratization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heemskerk, E.M.; Fennema, M.

2014-01-01

Corporate elites have been all-male bastions until the twenty-first century. The recent inclusion of women in the corporate elite needs explanation because it is an abrupt change in recruitment practices. We consider female presence in corporate boards as a sign of the democratization of elite

Superintendent-Business Executive Collaboration in Intermediary Organizations: Moral Agency and Democratic Functioning

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Jeffrey V.; McKee, Tiffany; Martin, Staci

2014-01-01

This case study describes collaboration between business executives and superintendents to influence local/regional K-12 educational change. Specifically, we examine participant like-mindedness about the ethics and appropriate focus of K-12 intermediary collaboration, the extent of democratic functioning, and key individuals to involve. Data…

Technology, Human Agency and Dewey's Constructivism: Opening Democratic Spaces in Virtual Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Hyslop-Margison, Emery J.

2004-01-01

This article examines whether the ubiquitous presence of technology in schools negatively affects democratic learning by promoting instrumental rationality and, hence, reifying social reality. The author suggests that structural critiques of educational technology ignore the considerable impact of human agency on shaping related learning outcomes.…

The War on Democratic Public Space: A Perspective from the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Robert J.

2006-01-01

There is a crisis in democratic public space in the USA. This essay explores key areas that are either causes or effects of the present predicament: post-9-11 fear, neoliberalisation/globalisation, migrating populations, and the growing power of right-wing fundamentalism, among others. (Contains 6 notes.)