Showing papers on "Democracy published in 2023"

Innovating Democracy?

Abstract: Since democratization, Latin America has experienced a surge in new forms of citizen participation. Yet there is still little comparative knowledge on these so-called democratic innovations. This Element seeks to fill this gap. Drawing on a new dataset with 3,744 cases from 18 countries between 1990 and 2020, it presents the first large-N cross-country study of democratic innovations to date. It also introduces a typology of twenty kinds of democratic innovations, which are based on four means of participation, namely deliberation, citizen representation, digital engagement, and direct voting. Adopting a pragmatist, problem-driven approach, this Element claims that democratic innovations seek to enhance democracy by addressing public problems through combinations of those four means of participation in pursuit of one or more of five ends of innovations, namely accountability, responsiveness, rule of law, social equality, and political inclusion.

Democracy and Populism

Abstract: Jan-Werner Müller is a political philosopher born and trained in Germany, as well as in England and at Princeton where he now teaches as Roger Williams Straus Professor of Social Sciences at Princeton University and is also a fellow at the Berlin Institute of Advanced Study. The emphasis of this latest book by him is that democracy depends not only on maintaining liberty and equality but also on dealing with uncertainty. His previous book was What Is Populism? (2016) where he does not really emphasize, though he seems to recognize, that populism can be the expression of rational grievances of an aroused population, reacting against the rise of elites increasingly unaccountable in practice if not necessarily in theory. Peter Mair (2013), the late great Irish political scientist in Ruling the Void: The Hollowing of Western Democracy, became known for his comments on this very subject, of politicians who think more like civil servants concerned with keeping their jobs long enough to retire with nice pensions than in being leaders of social movements. Müller emphasizes more the unreasonableness of populist movements, their tendency to think of themselves as ‘the real people’, and therefore their tendency to scapegoat those they consider to be social outsiders, particularly immigrants and ethnic minorities, and therefore their tendency to ignore other sources of social problems requiring other solutions. As for such solutions, keeping out or even expelling these ‘outsiders’ is according to many economists a short-sighted solution to short-term economic problems that can be dealt with by economic growth, perhaps by using these same immigrants as cheap labor or by exporting certain

Once and Future Liberal:

Abstract: O livro O progressista de ontem e o do amanhã: desafios da democracia liberal no mundo pós-políticas identitárias de Mark Lilla examina o fenômeno da crise na esquerda estadunidense. Após sucessivas derrotas, Lilla critica a profunda desconexão do Partido Democrata com o americano comum. O resultado disso foi o trágico triunfo de Donald Trump e concomitante ao colapso do discurso dos direitos civis.

Humbang Hasundutan Regional Head Election In 2020: Empty Box Volunteer Political Communication Movement

Abstract: The occurrence of a single candidate in the 2020 Humbang Hasundutan District Head Election has spawned political communication to choose an empty box. The empty box volunteer political movement influences voters to vote for blank ballots in the name of ideal democracy. This study examines how empty-box volunteers convey their political messages in music to voters. Qualitative research methods with framing analysis approaches are used to analyze data or political messages in songs against political movements of empty box volunteers. Data collection techniques through literature studies show five songs about the Empty Boxes in the 2020 Humbang Hasundutan Regional Head Election. The results show that the Empty Boxes volunteers place the issue of Empty Boxes Democracy as the main issue with various frames of political messages in the Empty Boxes song. The five songs of empty box volunteer articulate, frame, highlight, and disseminate political messages on three themes, among others, ideal democracy, democracy becomes a movement for change and democracy against political elites.

Enfranchising migrants in Chile: a century of politics, elites, and regime changes

Abstract: Enfranchising migrants into the demos is a growing global trend, not exclusive to democracy. Analysing a country that has expanded migrant suffrage in both democracy and dictatorship, I address how and why Chile became one of the most inclusive countries worldwide for migrant voting rights. Chile was a pioneer for enacting select immigrant suffrage rights in relative democracy in 1925, expanded the rights in 1980 during dictatorship, then was a latecomer for granting emigrant voting rights in liberal democracy in 2014. Stepping away from analysing enfranchisement in consolidated democracies in the ‘Global North’, I unpack almost a century of elite-led top-down politics in Chile through historical analysis and taking 1980 enfranchisement as an extreme case. The evidence comes from constitutional laws, transcribed debates from constitutional commission sessions, scholarly literature, national censuses, and electoral data. The findings reveal the durability of migrant voting rights and a normative path dependence of who belongs as voters. Inclusivity requires not only continued implementation in elections but also rights survival through shifting ideology and political regime types.

Failing through: European migration governance across the central Mediterranean

Abstract: Both today and under Gaddafi’s authoritarian rule, externalised migration controls have played a crucial role in EUropean irregular mobility governance across the Central Mediterranean. Offloading migration management on Tripoli is puzzling due to the fragility of its institutions, the ill-preparedness of its security forces, and widespread abuse against migrants. Why have European member states and EU institutions relapsed to relying on Libyan forces to govern irregular migration? In this paper, we argue that the EU has failed through the migration crisis in the Central Mediterranean by drawing on already established albeit ineffective and contentious policy tools. The collapse of Libya’s state apparatus, European Court of Human Rights’ censure of Italy’s illegal pushbacks and public opinion pressure temporarily displaced but did not fundamentally change EUrope’s restrictive approach to irregular mobility governance. While some new and less restrictive border enforcement policies were developed in response to the soaring death toll, this humanitarian turn was short-lived. By combining the mechanism of failing forward with institutionalist insights, our concept of failing through explains why the EU and its member states soon backslid into pre-existing institutional arrangements like bilateral agreements with Libyan authorities notwithstanding their problematic legal, ethical and political implications.

Populism and civil society: The challenge to constitutional democracy By AndrewArato, Jean L.Cohen, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2022

Abstract: ConstellationsEarly View BOOK REVIEW Populism and civil society: The challenge to constitutional democracy By Andrew Arato, Jean L. Cohen, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2022 Ross Poole, Corresponding Author Ross Poole [email protected] New School for Social Research, New York, USA Correspondence Ross Poole New School for Social Research, New York, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author Ross Poole, Corresponding Author Ross Poole [email protected] New School for Social Research, New York, USA Correspondence Ross Poole New School for Social Research, New York, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 06 June 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.12694Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation

Political opportunities, not migration flows: why the EU cooperates more broadly on migration with some neighbouring states

Abstract: Why is the EU cooperating more on migration issues with some third countries than others? What explains this variation? In recent years, the EU has intensified its institutionalised cooperation with third countries in the area of migration, although to different degrees. The extent of migration cooperation is measured in this article by conducting a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. It looks at the conditions that have triggered more or less cooperation in 23 countries of the Eastern and Southern EU neighbourhood up to 2015, a key moment in the external relations. Theoretically, the article draws on five factors to explain the different levels of cooperation: (1) migration flows; (2) the state of democracy in the partner country; (3) existing relations with the EU; (4) economic dependence of the partner country on the EU; (5) administrative capacities of the partner country. The article advances the argument that a third country’s existing relations with the EU or the state of democracy in combination with a high level of economic dependence on the EU are the key factors for understanding why some third countries cooperate more. The number of migrants originating from or transiting through a third country is only of secondary importance.

Humanism and democracy in comparative education

Abstract: This article argues that contemporary education policies promoted by UNESCO and the OECD are embracing two distinct post-humanist visions, which I call the ‘sustainable futures’ and the ‘techno-solutionist’ strand. I will relate these strands to two conflicting agendas of education after World War II: the humanistic-emancipatory perspective represented by UNESCO, and the ‘economics of education’ movement, which was dominant in the OECD. I argue that comparative education scholars would be well advised to draw on the humanistic and democratic traditions of the field in critically analysing the range of promissory visions and master narratives that have emerged recently which carry de-humanising tendencies and represent a challenge to democracy.

Scandinavian experiments in democratic education

Abstract: This article is the first of four articles exploring democratic schools co-founded by teenage students in Norway and Sweden. Our larger project explores the relationship between democracy in education and educational dialogism. Both democracy in education and educational dialogism are partially rooted in the idea that education should be a personal meaning-making practice where the participants can create and organize their lives in ways that make sense to them and explore their interests, values, and desires. We describe the processes of founding two schools – one in Oslo, Norway, and the other in Gothenburg, Sweden – in which students practiced the right to democratic governance. We describe the process of the founding of these schools against the background of the students’ movements in the late 1960s and the 1970s and the social and political conditions in Norway and Sweden at that time. We explore the students’ perspectives on the possibility, desirability, and legitimacy of the students’ voices in ethical-ontological dialogues in which the participants jointly examine their relationships with the world, with others, and with themselves. Further, we explore the forms of democratic school governance that Norwegian and Swedish students created and identified tensions that appeared between the legitimacy of individual students’ rights to ownership of their learning, teachers’ ownership of teaching, and the conventional normative educational policies in Norway and Sweden.

Socioeconomic Development Aspects of Democratic Governance across Selected Countries

Abstract: There is a need to question the main socioeconomic, political, and cultural aspects of crime rates in a cross-country context. In this context, Dumitrescu and Hurlin’s (2012) Granger causality method, which is not common in the criminological literature, is used – which does not ignore cross-sectional dependence. Moreover, we generate an indicator of “democratic governance” using principal component analysis (PCA) from “government effectiveness” and “voice and accountability.” The key advantage of using PCA is to avoid multicollinearity and make better inferences with dimensionality reduction. The democratic governance contains 93.5% common variance and is equally affected by both governance indicators. The key findings of our study underscore that crime rates are significantly Granger caused by economic growth, democratic governance, unemployment, and urbanization. The intuition drawn from the findings of this paper and the previous researchers’ contribution is that crime can be reduced as a product of good governance. Moreover, the findings revealed that urbanization and democratic governance Granger causes each other. Therefore, urbanization can make countries converge to democratic governance. What the study is unable to say is the dynamic relationship between variables; however, the current evidence offers relevant policy guidelines.

Social-democratic imaginaries of transformations in conservative gender regimes

Abstract: Social-democratic gender regimes are imagined in social politics and feminist scholarship in reference to Swedish social democracy. The mainstreaming of gender equality through all policy domains, but especially state provided social care sets Sweden apart as a model for gender equality policy in Europe and the world. Through an examination of the transformation of the German gender regime, this article questions whether state provided social care is the only or even the best possible way to shift unpaid care labor from women in the domestic sphere to public provision. In Germany and other conservative gender regimes, state financed and densely regulated welfare markets are carving a pathway to change which neither depends on state provision or competitive markets. The article utilizes institutional methodologies for studying change to analyze German welfare market policy impacts on the conservative gendered division of labor, to explore the alternative feminist imaginaries that may lead to more disruptive change, and how these changes might constitute a different variety of social-democratic gender regime. Through an original empirical analysis of recent policies to shift early child care, elder care, and domestic labor to paid work, the analysis shows that the German conservative gender regime is in transformation, though by layering new forms of paid care labor on to the unpaid (and underpaid) labor of women in the home. The same policies however, open the door for ‘real utopian’ alternatives, and a different logic of social democratic gender regime in Germany, rooted less in state provision as in Sweden, and more in local and mutualistic arrangements of caring and cooperation.

Great Expectations: The Democratic Advantage in Trade Attitudes

Abstract: abstract:Why is trade with some countries more popular than with others? Linking the literature on regime type and trade cooperation with the literature on trade attitudes, the authors argue that the domestic political institutions and cooperative reputations of foreign states condition the willingness of the public and policy elites to deepen trade cooperation. Using survey experiments fielded on the American public and a unique sample of US foreign economic policymakers, the authors show that respondents prefer trade with democracies over trade with nondemocracies by large margins. Further, they find that this democratic advantage stems from a strong expectation that democracies will be more reliable and consistent cooperation partners. This study provides one of the first direct and causally identified tests of the mechanisms underlying theories of the political economy of regime type and international cooperation. Although the article focuses on the case of trade attitudes, the argument is general, suggesting that support for cooperation in other issue areas is conditional on similar factors.

A paradigmatic dialogue-disagreement in a democratic school: A conceptual analysis of a soul-searching assembly meeting

Abstract: In this article, I attempt to conceptually analyze points of disagreement among the students of the first democratic high school in Norway, The Experimental Gymnasium of Oslo (EGO). The clashes and disagreements among the students started heating up immediately after the school was opened in the fall of 1967. As they were learning how to run their school, the students discovered profound differences in their views of education and its purposes. Their deep disagreements about the meaning of education and conflicts about their school practices almost broke up their school right at the very start of its existence. Their different understandings of education erupted in a passionate and dramatic general assembly meeting, which they later referred to as the Soul-Searching Assembly. This four-and-a-half hour-long meeting was recorded and its transcript was published (Hem & Remlov, 1969). In this article, I analyze the dialogues from the assembly, looking for the students’ diverse ideological and conceptual positions, views, desires, and underlying values. The tensions and clashes the students voiced echo the profound paradigmatic differences in conceptualizing education throughout the modern history of education, from the Enlightenment until now, a few decades into the 21st century. The purpose of my analysis is to examine these paradigmatically different views and the concerns behind them. These radically different paradigmatic, conceptual, and axiological positions have an effect on what we may consider being good, ethical, just, and true for human existence, human relationships, and human rights in general, and especially in education. The EGO students’ intensive and urgent ontological need to explain their very different positions to each other allowed me to take a closer look into the tensions and conflicts still existing in the larger cultural-historical public sphere of discourse on education.

Dewey, Implementation, and Creating a Democratic Civic University

Abstract: Thinking begins in . . . a forked-road situation, a situation that is ambiguous, that presents a dilemma, that poses alternatives.

Conspiracy Theories and Democratic Legitimacy

Abstract: ABSTRACT Conspiracy theories are frequently described as a threat to democracy and conspiracy theorists portrayed as epistemically or morally unreasonable. If these characterizations are correct, then it may be the case that reasons stemming from conspiracy theorizing threaten the legitimizing function of democratic deliberation. In this paper, I will argue the opposite. Despite the extraordinary epistemic and morally unreasonable claims made by some conspiracy theorists, belief in conspiracy theories is guided by internal epistemic norms inherent in believing. By utilizing the insights of the Peircean epistemic defense formulated by Cheryl Misak and Robert Talisse, I take it that these epistemic norms implicitly commit the theorist to an open democratic society.

Digital Participatory Planning: Citizen Engagement, Democracy, and Design

Abstract: tation, concentrates on specific cases reflecting experimental urbanism: Masdar City, an eco-city in Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong’s smart city agenda. The apocalypse, the third section, portrays the results of the experiment, particularly considering the role of artificial intelligence (AI), where cities become autonomous, taking on lives of their own. At the end of Shelley’s Frankenstein, the protagonist must confront what he has produced and the consequences of his actions. The outcome of the experiment is a living, independent, and flawed creature that transforms into something he could not have anticipated. In Cugurullo’s Frankenstein, he examines the challenges of sustainability posed by so-called eco-cities and smart cities, highlighting the elements of their flawed condition. He then examines the growth of urban experiments related to advances in AI that encourage autonomous systems as components of city operations. Cugurullo describes the development of autonomous cities: Spaces, spawned from years of ecoand smart city experiments, in which varied forms of AI from robots to digital platforms execute urban behaviors that have typically been performed by humans. Cugurullo concludes by pointing to the end of the city, not in the sense of a worldwide catastrophe destroying urban development, but rather as the end of these places primarily organized, governed, and sensed by human intelligence. Though dealing with the future, Frankenstein Urbanism does not attempt to foretell it. Rather, the analysis of past and contemporary urban experiments helps to comprehend and critique the current directions of urban development patterns. Victor Frankenstein’s story serves as a cautionary tale: The outcome of Frankenstein’s experiment spirals out of control and proves fatal. Similarly, showing how the transition from ecoand smart to autonomous city planning is leading to the creation of urban environments that humans can only partially comprehend, manage, and, in some cases, be compatible with, Cugurullo warns us that cities and plan-making should exercise caution as they head into the future. He also contends that eventually, we all will need to adapt to the consequences of these experiments. Viewing city development through the lens of Shelley’s early science fiction makes for good storytelling as well as thoughtful analysis of the case studies of Masdar City and Hong Kong. Like many portrayals of future cities, this is a dystopian tale and a fascinating journey for planning practitioners or academics interested in the past, present, or future structure of cities. Cugurullo’s Frankenstein holds open the chances for us to better understand our assumptions, improve upon the science, or choose not to experiment at all. I do not think planners (or Frankenstein) should opt for the latter. Finally, Shelley’s comparison of Victor to Prometheus has interesting connotations for urban planners given that in Greek mythology, Prometheus (derived from forethinker) empowers humanity through technology and knowledge. Forethought and empowerment are topics very familiar to planners and offer a less dismal message than what is usually associated with Frankenstein’s monster.

Democracy or dictatorship? The moral call to defend Ukraine

Abstract: This essay is a reflection on the Ukraine war grounded in moral motives to empathetically support an attacked victim (whether at the individual or national level). It entails a critique of the moral abstraction of the geopolitical perspective and an analysis of Putin’s imperial Eurasian ideology, including Dugin’s cultural essentialism and the biopolitical strategies of its implementation. Current calls for peace, ceasefire or diplomacy appear problematic in this light. The need to articulate normative principles orienting negotiations with morally acceptable results becomes apparent, as they both justify the use of effective military means of empathetic solidarity and limit the dangers of an unchecked militarization and bellicose attitudes in this conflict.

Mobilizing in the Interest of Others

Abstract: Abstract A new moral political economy will revise capitalist democracy to ensure flourishing for all. Its principles derive from the recognition that humans are social animals who benefit from reciprocity and cooperation. We argue for attention to mobilizing strategies and governance arrangements that facilitate prosocial behavior and overcome the divisions-racial, political, and otherwise-that block awareness of common interests. We advocate for an expanded and inclusive community of fate whose members see their interests and destines as intertwined.

Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy

Abstract: "Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy." The Journal of Development Studies, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp. 1–3

Engaging the next generation: authoritarian regimes and their young diaspora

Abstract: Abstract Recent scholarship on diaspora engagement and transnational repression has investigated how authoritarian regimes seek to engage, govern and control their diasporas. Recognizing that diasporas are diverse and that homeland states thus devise different strategies in relation to different groups, this research has—to a large extent—focused on the varied positions held by regime supporters and dissidents. Inter-generational differences, however, have not been studied in this context. Drawing on established frameworks theorizing extraterritorial authoritarian practices, this article explores the ways in which second-generation diaspora—or diaspora youth—is either included as subjects, patriots and clients, or excluded as outlaws and traitors by authoritarian regimes. Drawing on the literature on transnationalism and second-generation migrants, and using examples from empirical cases, we argue that the skills, resources and multi-sited embeddedness of the second-generation diaspora can make them particularly interesting targets for transnational engagement—or repression. We draw attention to specific strategies for mobilizing the support of diaspora youth, but also note that some techniques to control or repress extraterritorial subjects are less efficacious in relation to this generation.

Populism and Critical Incidents in Journalism: Has Bolsonaro Disrupted the Mainstream Press in Brazil?

Abstract: Despite the increasing number of studies examining the conflicts between the media and populist leaders, understanding how such clashes prompt shifts in journalism norms and practices remains to be thoroughly explored. Based on a literature review and the discussion of an extensive array of examples characterizing the Brazilian media setting, this article provides a qualitative assessment of how Jair Bolsonaro's rhetoric and actions have triggered a “critical incident” in our mainstream journalism. We consider four dimensions currently experiencing transformations: the media's (1) institutional responses and campaigns, (2) production of the news, (3) production of editorials, and (4) how media professionals have reacted to populist attacks. There is evidence that journalism has increasingly become a central topic in news texts. We have also cataloged changes in news production routines (e.g., the editors’ hesitancy to send reporters to cover some political events), the use of editorials to reinforce metajournalistic discourses, and shifts in how professionals make sense of their work. Our findings contribute to the broader literature by investigating how traditional borders and values of journalism are renegotiated during institutional crises. In addition, our analytical framework can be applied to other media settings experiencing similar tensions and help underpin the construction of empirical variables to understand meaningful changes in the field. Lastly, this study considers the possible effects that change in norms, routines, and practices can have on the democratic roles of journalism.