Author: Nancy G. Bermeo Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691214131 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 282
Book Description
For generations, influential thinkers--often citing the tragic polarization that took place during Germany's Great Depression--have suspected that people's loyalty to democratic institutions erodes under pressure and that citizens gravitate toward antidemocratic extremes in times of political and economic crisis. But do people really defect from democracy when times get tough? Do ordinary people play a leading role in the collapse of popular government? Based on extensive research, this book overturns the common wisdom. It shows that the German experience was exceptional, that people's affinity for particular political positions are surprisingly stable, and that what is often labeled polarization is the result not of vote switching but of such factors as expansion of the franchise, elite defections, and the mobilization of new voters. Democratic collapses are caused less by changes in popular preferences than by the actions of political elites who polarize themselves and mistake the actions of a few for the preferences of the many. These conclusions are drawn from the study of twenty cases, including every democracy that collapsed in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in interwar Europe, every South American democracy that fell to the Right after the Cuban Revolution, and three democracies that avoided breakdown despite serious economic and political challenges. Unique in its historical and regional scope, this book offers unsettling but important lessons about civil society and regime change--and about the paths to democratic consolidation today.
Author: Hélène Landemore Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691212392 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 272
Book Description
To the ancient Greeks, democracy meant gathering in public and debating laws set by a randomly selected assembly of several hundred citizens. To the Icelandic Vikings, democracy meant meeting every summer in a field to discuss issues until consensus was reached. Our contemporary representative democracies are very different. Modern parliaments are gated and guarded, and it seems as if only certain people are welcome. Diagnosing what is wrong with representative government and aiming to recover some of the openness of ancient democracies, Open Democracy presents a new paradigm of democracy. Supporting a fresh nonelectoral understanding of democratic representation, Hélène Landemore demonstrates that placing ordinary citizens, rather than elites, at the heart of democratic power is not only the true meaning of a government of, by, and for the people, but also feasible and, more than ever, urgently needed. -- Cover page 4.
Author: Gerald M. Pomper Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317255119 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 229
Book Description
True American heroes need not have superhuman abilities nor do they need to act alone. Heroism in a democracy is different from the heroism of myths and legends, writes Gerald Pomper in this original contribution to the literature of U.S. politics. Through the remarkable stories of eight diverse Americans who acted as heroes by "just doing their jobs" during national crises, he offers a provocative definition of heroism and fresh reasons to respect U.S. institutions and the people who work within them. This new paperback edition includes photographs, an introductory chapter on American heroism after 9/11, a survey of the meanings of heroism in U.S. popular culture, and an original concluding theory of "ordinary" heroism.
Author: Ali Aslam Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0190601817 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 225
Book Description
Written with and for citizens who feel overwhelmed by political and economic forces outside of their control, Ordinary Democracy makes a compelling argument for the adequacy of democratic politics to address the challenges associated with neoliberalism and the growth of emergency politics. It rejects cynicism about democratic citizenship by focusing on the practices of ongoing movements, bridging the social detachment that has separated academic investigations of democracy and activists in the past in order to add another layer to the public philosophy produced within these movements.
Author: Karen Tracy Publisher: Penn State Press ISBN: 0271036907 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 266
Book Description
"Analyzes the practice and meanings of democratic decision making through an extended case study of school board meetings in one western U.S. community. Argues that for communication conduct in local governance bodies, reasonable hostility is a more promising ideal than civility"--Provided by publisher.
Author: Clara Irazábal Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1134326246 Category : Architecture Languages : en Pages : 265
Book Description
Clara Irazábal and her contributors explore the urban history of some of Latin America’s great cities through studies of their public spaces and what has taken place there. The avenues and plazas of Mexico City, Havana, Santo Domingo, Caracas, Bogotaì, SaÞo Paulo, Lima, Santiago, and Buenos Aires have been the backdrop for extraordinary, history-making events. While some argue that public spaces are a prerequisite for the expression, representation and reinforcement of democracy, they can equally be used in the pursuit of totalitarianism. Indeed, public spaces, in both the past and present, have been the site for the contestation by ordinary people of various stances on democracy and citizenship. By exploring the use and meaning of public spaces in Latin American cities, this book sheds light on contemporary definitions of citizenship and democracy in the Americas.
Author: Roderick P. Hart Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1108422640 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 375
Book Description
Based on a highly original analysis of 10,000 letters to the editor from 1948 through the present, Civic Hope is the most capacious history to date of what ordinary Americans think about politics and how they engage in argument.
Author: Neville Alexander Publisher: University of Kwazulu Natal Press ISBN: Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 232
Book Description
An Ordinary Country: Issues in the Transition from Apartheid to Democracy in South Africa disputes the notion of a "miracle" transition in this country. It argues that the new South Africa had to happen in the way it did because of the specific history of the country and the players involved. While it identifies some of the turning points at which critical choices were made by local and international forces, it shows why, in retrospect, the known decisions were made rather than other possible ones. Alexander explores a range of issues in post-apartheid South Africa including national identity and the rainbow nation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the role and status of language, showing the volatility, the tentativeness, and the fluidity of the situation that is evolving. In looking ahead at probable developments, An Ordinary Country predicts that South Africa will develop, or stagnate, as a "normal" bourgeois democratic social formation for the next generation, at least until the inevitable alternatives to the prevailing system of political economy regain their credibility.
Author: Julien Talpin Publisher: ECPR Press ISBN: 1785520806 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 168
Book Description
Schools of Democracy offers a vivid analysis of the long-term impact of engagement in participatory budgeting institutions in Europe. While democratic innovations flourish around the world, there have been great hopes for their potential to revitalize representative government and solve the increasing apathy of the public. Based on a rich ethnographic study in France, Italy and Spain, this book shows how participatory institutions can encourage personal involvement, by creating the procedural and social conditions conducive to the formation of a competent and involved citizenry. Rather than deliberation itself, it seems that informal discussions and interactions between a diverse public allow mutual learning and the beginning of a political trajectory for people at the margins of the public sphere. However, this book also shows that citizens can become disappointed by the little decision-making power they are granted, as they leave the process often more cynical than before. Contains: A unique study on the long-term individual impact of engagement in participatory institutions. While most research deal with short-term impact, Schools of democracy addresses impact of participation after two years of engagement. Unique access to the black box of participatory institutions. While research on democratic innovations generally opt for an externalist perspective, Schools of democracy details the routine of deliberative interactions, showing how ordinary citizens speak up in public assemblies. From this perspective, the book offers incredibly rich empirical material – coming from ethnographic research – on how participatory democracy works. An original theoretical framework to the study of the individual impacts of participatory engagement. While most research are based on an implicit rational choice perspective, the pragmatist perspective adopted here sheds a different light on the studied phenomenon, stressing the co-construction of actors and their environment.
Author: Christian W. Haerpfer Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0198732287 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 515
Book Description
Democratization is the first textbook to focus on the "global wave of democratization" that has been occurring since around 1970. Bringing together leading authors from diverse international backgrounds, it introduces students to the theoretical and practical dimensions of the subject in an authoritative, accessible, and systematic way. The book takes into account the international factors that affect politics at the level of the nation state, showing students the direction in which the discipline is moving. It is accompanied by an innovative companion website that provides numerous resources for students and instructors. Democratization covers several key themes including: 1. Theories of democratization and their relation to democratic theory; 2. Critical prerequisites and driving social forces of democratic transition; 3. Pivotal actors and institutions involved in democratization; 4. Conditions for democratic survival, the consolidation of newly democratized countries, and the analysis of failed democratization; 5. Demonstrations of how these factors have played a role in the different regions in which the global wave of democratization has transplaced authoritarian and communist systems; 6. Possible futures of democratization worldwide.
Author: Nancy G. Bermeo
Author: Hélène Landemore
Author: Gerald M. Pomper
Author: Ali Aslam
Author: Karen Tracy
Author: Clara Irazábal
Author: Roderick P. Hart
Author: Neville Alexander
Author: Julien Talpin
Author: Christian W. Haerpfer