The Burden of Democracy PDF Download

Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download The Burden of Democracy PDF full book. Access full book title The Burden of Democracy by Pratap Bhanu Mehta. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.

The Burden of Democracy

The Burden of Democracy PDF Author: Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN: 9387326446
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Book Description
After nearly seven decades of its existence, there is a pervasive feeling that India's democracy is in crisis. But what is the nature of this threat? In this essay, republished now with a new foreword from the author, Pratap Bhanu Mehtareminds us what a bold experiment bringing democracy to a largely illiterate and unpropertied India was. He argues that the sphere of politics has truly created opportunities for people to participate in society. Looking at various facts, he also finds that persistent social inequality on the one hand and a mistaken view of the state's proper function and organization on the other have modified and hindered the workings of democracy and its effects in innumerable ways. Posting the quest for self-respect as democracy's deepest aspiration, this essay explores how inequality and the crisis of accountability have together impeded collective action to achieve such an end. To recover this sense of moral well-being and responsibility, Mehta suggests, is the core of the democratic challenge before us. Optimistic, lively and closely argued, The Burden of Democracy offers a new ideological imagination that throws light on our discontents. By returning to the basics of democracy it serves to illuminate our predicament, even while perceiving the broad contours for change.

The Burden of Democracy

The Burden of Democracy PDF Author: Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN: 9387326446
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Book Description
After nearly seven decades of its existence, there is a pervasive feeling that India's democracy is in crisis. But what is the nature of this threat? In this essay, republished now with a new foreword from the author, Pratap Bhanu Mehtareminds us what a bold experiment bringing democracy to a largely illiterate and unpropertied India was. He argues that the sphere of politics has truly created opportunities for people to participate in society. Looking at various facts, he also finds that persistent social inequality on the one hand and a mistaken view of the state's proper function and organization on the other have modified and hindered the workings of democracy and its effects in innumerable ways. Posting the quest for self-respect as democracy's deepest aspiration, this essay explores how inequality and the crisis of accountability have together impeded collective action to achieve such an end. To recover this sense of moral well-being and responsibility, Mehta suggests, is the core of the democratic challenge before us. Optimistic, lively and closely argued, The Burden of Democracy offers a new ideological imagination that throws light on our discontents. By returning to the basics of democracy it serves to illuminate our predicament, even while perceiving the broad contours for change.

Disasters and Democracy

Disasters and Democracy PDF Author: Rutherford H. Platt
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610912632
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 343

Book Description
In recent years, the number of presidential declarations of “major disasters” has skyrocketed. Such declarations make stricken areas eligible for federal emergency relief funds that greatly reduce their costs. But is federalizing the costs of disasters helping to lighten the overall burden of disasters or is it making matters worse? Does it remove incentives for individuals and local communities to take measures to protect themselves? Are people more likely to invest in property in hazardous locations in the belief that, if worse comes to worst, the federal government will bail them out? Disasters and Democracy addresses the political response to natural disasters, focusing specifically on the changing role of the federal government from distant observer to immediate responder and principal financier of disaster costs.

Fragile Democracies

Fragile Democracies PDF Author: Samuel Issacharoff
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107038707
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 311

Book Description
This book examines how constitutional courts can support weak democratic states in the wake of societal division and authoritarian regimes.

The Judge in a Democracy

The Judge in a Democracy PDF Author: Aharon Barak
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400827043
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 355

Book Description
Whether examining election outcomes, the legal status of terrorism suspects, or if (or how) people can be sentenced to death, a judge in a modern democracy assumes a role that raises some of the most contentious political issues of our day. But do judges even have a role beyond deciding the disputes before them under law? What are the criteria for judging the justices who write opinions for the United States Supreme Court or constitutional courts in other democracies? These are the questions that one of the world's foremost judges and legal theorists, Aharon Barak, poses in this book. In fluent prose, Barak sets forth a powerful vision of the role of the judge. He argues that this role comprises two central elements beyond dispute resolution: bridging the gap between the law and society, and protecting the constitution and democracy. The former involves balancing the need to adapt the law to social change against the need for stability; the latter, judges' ultimate accountability, not to public opinion or to politicians, but to the "internal morality" of democracy. Barak's vigorous support of "purposive interpretation" (interpreting legal texts--for example, statutes and constitutions--in light of their purpose) contrasts sharply with the influential "originalism" advocated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. As he explores these questions, Barak also traces how supreme courts in major democracies have evolved since World War II, and he guides us through many of his own decisions to show how he has tried to put these principles into action, even under the burden of judging on terrorism.

Political Bubbles

Political Bubbles PDF Author: Nolan McCarty
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400846390
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
How governmental failure led to the 2008 financial crisis—and what needs to be done to avoid another similar event Behind every financial crisis lurks a "political bubble"—policy biases that foster market behaviors leading to financial instability. Rather than tilting against risky behavior, political bubbles—arising from a potent combination of beliefs, institutions, and interests—aid, abet, and amplify risk. Demonstrating how political bubbles helped create the real estate-generated financial bubble and the 2008 financial crisis, this book argues that similar government oversights in the aftermath of the crisis undermined Washington's response to the "popped" financial bubble, and shows how such patterns have occurred repeatedly throughout US history. The authors show that just as financial bubbles are an unfortunate mix of mistaken beliefs, market imperfections, and greed, political bubbles are the product of rigid ideologies, unresponsive and ineffective government institutions, and special interests. Financial market innovations—including adjustable-rate mortgages, mortgage-backed securities, and credit default swaps—become subject to legislated leniency and regulatory failure, increasing hazardous practices. The authors shed important light on the politics that blinds regulators to the economic weaknesses that create the conditions for economic bubbles and recommend simple, focused rules that should help avoid such crises in the future. The first full accounting of how politics produces financial ruptures, Political Bubbles offers timely lessons that all sectors would do well to heed.

Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained

Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained PDF Author: Arthur D. Robbins
Publisher: Acropolis Books (NY)
ISBN: 9780967612768
Category : Democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained: The True Meaning of Democracy explores democracy in its historical context, identifies the various meanings attached to this important word and sets the stage for the realization of democracy in our current society.

A Free Nation Deep in Debt

A Free Nation Deep in Debt PDF Author: James MacDonald
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691126326
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 580

Book Description
For the greater part of recorded history the most successful and powerful states were autocracies; yet now the world is increasingly dominated by democracies. In A Free Nation Deep in Debt, James Macdonald provides a novel answer for how and why this political transformation occurred. The pressures of war finance led ancient states to store up treasure; and treasure accumulation invariably favored autocratic states. But when the art of public borrowing was developed by the city-states of medieval Italy as a democratic alternative to the treasure chest, the balance of power tipped. From that point on, the pressures of war favored states with the greatest public creditworthiness; and the most creditworthy states were invariably those in which the people who provided the money also controlled the government. Democracy had found a secret weapon and the era of the citizen creditor was born. Macdonald unfolds this tale in a sweeping history that starts in biblical times, passes via medieval Italy to the wars and revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and ends with the great bond drives that financed the two world wars.

The Myth of Democratic Failure

The Myth of Democratic Failure PDF Author: Donald A. Wittman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226904238
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
In The Myth of Democratic Failure, Donald A. Wittman refutes one of the cornerstone beliefs of economics and political science: that economic markets are more efficient than the processes and institutions of democratic government.

The Burden of Democracy

The Burden of Democracy PDF Author: Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Publisher: Penguin India
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
After Nearly Six Decades Of Its Existence, There Is A Pervasive Feeling That India S Democracy Is In Crisis. But What Is The Nature Of This Threat? In This Essay Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Reminding Us What A Bold Experiment Bringing Democracy To A Largely Illiterate And Unpropertied India Was, Argues That The Sphere Of Politics Has Truly Created Opportunities For People To Participate In Society. But, Looking At Various Facets, He Also Finds That Persistent Social Inequality On The One Hand, And A Mistaken View Of The State S Proper Function And Organization On The Other, Have Modified And Hindered The Workings Of Democracy And Its Effects In Innumerable Ways. Positing The Quest For Self-Respect As Democracy S Deepest Aspiration, This Essay Explores How Inequality And The Crisis Of Accountability Have Together Impeded Collective Action To Achieve Such An End. To Recover This Sense Of Moral Well Being And Responsibility, Mehta Suggests, Is The Core Of The Democratic Challenge Before Us. Optimistic, Lively And Closely Argued, The Burden Of Democracy Offers A New Ideological Imagination That Throws Light On Our Discontents. By Returning To The Basics Of Democracy It Serves To Illuminate Our Predicament, Even While Perceiving The Broad Contours For Change. Interrogating India Is A Series That Looks Critically At The Common Sense Prevailing On Some Of The Most Pressing Issues Of Our Times. Provocative And Incisive, It Has Essays On Themes Ranging From Secularism, Political Representation And Nationalism, To Corruption, Terrorism And Language, Which Figure Prominently In Today S Middle-Class Discourse. Passionate, Accessible And Opinionated, These Reflections From Some Of India S Best Minds Should Help Us Make Better Sense Of The Public Debate On These Issues While Hopefully Provoking Us To Respond To The Challenges They Present.

Capitalism and Democracy

Capitalism and Democracy PDF Author: Thomas A. Spragens, Jr.
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN: 0268200157
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Book Description
This book serves as an introduction to the ongoing political debate about the relationship of capitalism and democracy. In recent years, the ideological battles between advocates of free markets and minimal government, on the one hand, and adherents of greater democratic equality and some form of the welfare state, on the other hand, have returned in full force. Anyone who wants to make sense of contemporary American politics and policy battles needs to have some understanding of the divergent beliefs and goals that animate this debate. In Capitalism and Democracy, Thomas A. Spragens, Jr., examines the opposing sides of the free market versus welfare state debate through the lenses of political economy, moral philosophy, and political theory. He asks: Do unchecked markets maximize prosperity, or do they at times produce wasteful and damaging outcomes? Are market distributions morally appropriate, or does fairness require some form of redistribution? Would a society of free markets and minimal government be the best kind of society possible, or would it have serious problems? After leading the reader through a series of thought experiments designed to compare and clarify the thought processes and beliefs held by supporters of each side, Spragens explains why there are no definitive answers to these questions. He concludes, however, that some answers are better than others, and he explains why his own judgement is that a vigorous free marketplace provides great benefits to a democratic society, both economically and politically, but that it also requires regulation and supplementation by collective action for a society to maximize prosperity, to mitigate some of the unfairness of the human condition, and to be faithful to important democratic purposes and ideals. This engaging and accessible book will interest students and scholars of political economy, democratic theory, and theories of social justice. It will also appeal to general readers who are seeking greater clarity and understanding of contemporary debates about government's role in the economy.