Contemporary Liberal Democracies Research Articles

Exploring the political frontier in Australian schools: Bernsteinian insights on Civics and Citizenship education

Contemporary liberal democracies face complex and disruptive challenges, such as toxic populism, culture wars, political polarization, religious fundamentalism, the climate emergency, global conflicts, and the influence of powerful social media platforms. This is the disconcerting world that young people are growing up in and need support in understanding and mediating. This paper critically analyses the Australian Civics and Citizenship education curricular response using the theoretical insights of Basil Bernstein to understand the types of citizens it aims to nurture. Through analysing the language of the Australian Curriculum, the processes and intellectual influences behind its creation, and specific curricular content descriptors, the paper illuminates the social and ideological assumptions embedded in its vision of educating for democratic citizenship. We argue that political education remains a domain that Australian curriculum framers, schools, and teachers have approached cautiously. The paper highlights the curriculum's inadequacy in addressing early twenty-first-century political imperatives related to democratic deconsolidation, falling short of Bernsteinian ideals.

On hypothetical consent, regret, and the capacity for autonomy: A response to Pugh's conceptual analysis of the child's right to bodily integrity

In this issue of Clinical Ethics, Jonathan Pugh rejects hypothetical consent-based conceptions of the child’s right to bodily integrity (RBI). Pugh also questions the relevance of adults’ regret of past bodily infringements in evaluating potential violations of children’s RBI. Pugh then argues that autonomy serves as the justification for our power to waive our bodily rights. Finally, Pugh claims that the child’s interest in developing the capacity for autonomy is key to evaluating potential RBI violations. In this article, I challenge each of these arguments. First, I argue that it is the circumstances of parents vis-a-vis their children (rather than the difficulties in determining hypothetical agents' values) that should lead us to reject hypothetical-consent-based conceptions of the child’s RBI in favor of best-interests conceptions. Second, I argue that adults’ regret of childhood bodily interventions is highly relevant for evaluating these interventions’ permissibility. Third, I reject the claim that autonomy is the primary justification for our power to waive our bodily rights. Finally, I argue that Pugh overstates the importance of the child’s interest in developing the capacity for autonomy, at least when it comes to debates in contemporary liberal democracies over interventions in children’s bodies.

The Plebs and Irony

The article examines, from the perspective of representation theory, the place of the idea of unrepresentable groups and individuals in contemporary liberal democracies. The author juxtaposes Ernesto Laclaus’ radical theory of populism with Michael Saward’s liberal theory of representative claims. The analysis traces the discursive shift from “demand-side” to “supply-side” representation theory, illustrating how the logic of this shift leads to an “inflation of representation”, where the representation obtained ultimately does not bring fulfilment. The author’s assumption is that the influence of new media creates a paradoxical situation in which the radical heterogeneity of the plebs returns at the level of individual experiences, revealing the internal contradiction of desires and interests of individuals. Although this becomes a source of potential abuse, it also harbours the potential for political subversion, identified in the article as the triumph of plebeian irony.

Political Extremism and Its Implications: An Inquiry into Violence, Struggle, and Self-Sacrifice

This research paper draws upon English novelist George Orwell’s observations on human proclivities toward struggle and self-sacrifice, as seen in his criticism of “Mein Kampf”, and uses them to explore the complex nature of political extremism. By analyzing the evolution of the political narrative since the 1970s, from economic to cultural issues, it investigates the foundations of extreme nationalism within contemporary liberal democracies. In order to show the features and motives of this phenomenon, the study observes several European far-right groups through the lens of extreme nationalism, uncovering similar themes of anti-globalization, immigration, and European Union views. It delves further into the examination of human beings by taking a closer look at the way culture shaped our development as a species and the fundamental urge for identification and belonging, providing insights into the psychological underpinnings of extreme beliefs and behavior. It also looks at the foundations of group violence, discussing it as a morally motivated behavior meant to maintain and preserve social ties and the concept of struggle as behavioral mechanisms exploited by extreme nationalists. To thoroughly assess the validity of Orwell’s ideas, the research combines the theoretical framework with a case study of the contemporary tendencies towards extremism in the U.S. political system. The analysis leads to the conclusion that George Orwell’s findings that the attractiveness of political extremism has its roots in basic features of human nature are still applicable in modern democratic societies.

Justice and the Democratization of Finance

What would it mean for the institutions of finance to be democratized? I explore this question from a broadly Rawlsian conception of justice. In the first part of the paper I outline Rawls’s theory of justice. In the second part I briefly review what Rawls had to say about justice in the economic sphere. Notably, he thought that his conception of justice can only be realized in either “Property-Owning Democracy” or “Liberal Socialism.” I briefly explore the nature of these two “regimes,” before turning my attention to the institutions of finance, and in particular banking. In the third part I discuss the role of finance in contemporary liberal democracies, the social and political power that private banks are endowed with in such societies, and what problems this engenders from the perspective of justice. In the fourth part I argue that, among other things, the democratization of finance would entail wide dispersal of power and control over decisions about finance and investment. In the fifth and final part of the paper, I argue that there are reasons to believe that both of Rawls’s just economic regimes would fail with respect to the distribution of power and control in the economy.

Rządy prawa jako straszak: spory o tzw. mechanizm warunkowości

The rule of law principle is one of the pillars of contemporary liberal democracies. It is also a common value shared by the individual member states and the European Union. A vital element of the rule of law is to ensure access to effective legal protection carried out by independent, impartial and independent courts.Despite nominally existing axiological unity, as well as formally adopted high standards of justice in Poland and the EU, a dispute over the understanding of the rule of law begin in late 2015. The main focus of the conflict has been the profound changes to the Polish judicial system. One of the unveils of the crisis came to light with the work on the EU budget for 2021-2027, complemented by the Next Generation EU recovery programme and conditionality mechanism. The latter allows the EU to take special measures in cases when breaches of the rule of law principles affect or seriously risk affecting the EU budget or the EU’s financial interests. The conflict between the European Union and the Republic of Poland is primarily ideological and politically driven. The discrepancies with regard to the shape, meaning and principles of the third power seem to stem from the adoption of different paradigms –liberal and populist –in approaching the role of the judiciary in a democratic state.

Populism and Protest Intensity: A Cross-National Analysis

Populist studies are increasingly interested in the effects that populism has on the politics of contemporary democratic systems. This article analyzes the relationship between populist parties and politicians and the intensity of political protest. Arguing that populists generate feelings of anger and outrage at establishment politicians, develop close relationships with social movements, and instigate further polarization and resistance from the opposition, the existence of populist actors in a political system is believed to generate more political protests. Using a unique dataset of populist parties in European, Latin American, and North American countries, cross-national testing demonstrates strong positive correlations between the presence of populists in power and anti-government demonstrations, testifying to the effect that populists have on protest activity. Tests for the existence of populist parties in the opposition, however, reveal no empirical support for increased levels of political protest, implying that the strongest effect only comes once populists come to power. These results provide necessary nuance to our understanding of the destabilizing effects of populism and its consequences for contemporary liberal democracies.

Basic equality: A Hegelian resolution

AbstractContemporary political philosophers often take for granted that for political purposes all humans are to be considered of equal worth. The difficulty, as Bernard Williams observed, is to find an interpretation of this claim that does not collapse into absurdity or triviality. I show that the principal attempts to solve this problem all beg the question against an Aristotelian proponent of natural hierarchy. I then explore existing proposals for dissolving the problem of basic equality, whether by denying the need for justification altogether or by reframing justification in either ostensive or coherentist fashion, showing that each fails to account for our sense that basic equality is objectively true. In response, I outline a Hegelian approach that treats the commitment to basic equality as a social fact that constrains philosophical reasoning in contemporary liberal democracies. By itself that might suggest complacent conservatism or cultural relativism, but I argue that practices and institutions that reflect and foster a commitment to basic equality have a distinct value in permitting reciprocal recognition and thereby enabling us to make a distinct class of normative claims on one another. This Hegelian resolution of the problem is dialectically superior to its rivals and therefore warrants further development.

Analyzing the Role of Populism in Democratic Backslides: Venezuela’s Case Study Based on Max Weber’s Theories

Populism is overwhelmingly cited by political researchers as a major factor that leads to democratic backslides in recent years. Venezuela is a prime example of democratic degradation resulting from populist ideologies promoted by President Hugo Chavez. This study focuses on exploring the role of populism in Venezuela’s democratic backslide through Max Weber’s theories of charismatic leadership, which adds nuance to the discussion of populism. An analysis based on the connection between populism and excessive charisma presents Hugo Chavez’s consolidation of power and subsequent democratic breakdown in Venezuela. This paper concludes that populism in Venezuela has led to political polarization and Hugo Chavez’s cult of personality, which are made possible by Chavez’s appeal to a sense of national crisis. Ultimately, Hugo Chavez’s populist agenda deconstructed the Venezuelan democratic system and paved the path for the rise of authoritarianism. The conclusions in this paper regarding the destructive effects of populism on Venezuelan democracy can provide useful insights for political researchers and policymakers in contemporary liberal democracies.

Remarks on Johan van der Walt’s Concept of Liberal Democratic Law

This article engages with Van der Walt’s concept of liberal democratic law. Firstly, it shows that his concept is significantly influenced by Hans Kelsen’s theory, mainly by Kelsen’s democratic political theory but also by Kelsen’s legal theory (insofar as the latter is considered to be related to the former). Secondly, it demonstrates that he goes also beyond Kelsen’s theory by considering necessary for the sustainability of liberal democratic law an adequate social state. Given this, I argue that there is, to an extent, a proximity to Hermann Heller’s social Rechtsstaat theory. Thirdly, it shows that – although the socio-economic level is, to an extent, considered – he leaves unexplored the rise of independent technocratic institutions in the economic governance framework of contemporary liberal democracies (the independent central banks, like the European Central Bank, being the main example). I argue that this issue needs to be explored in order to reach a realistic understanding of liberal democratic law (an understanding that Van der Walt aims at).

President Biden's administration towards the quality of democracy and the rule of law in Poland

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim is to analyze and evaluate the attitude of the American administration to the issue of compliance with the principles of democracy and the rule of law in Poland in the context of the war in Ukraine.
 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The main question is whether the war in Ukraine influenced the approach of President Biden’s administration to the issue of the quality of democracy and the rule of law in Poland? The analysis is carried out in the perspective of the concept of quality of democracy. The author interviewed American researchers and used the method of analyzing the content of text sources.
 THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The first part covers a theoretical framework for the quality of democracy and the rule of law. The second part presents a synthetic presentation of the main elements of the dispute in Poland around these values. The next two parts cover the approach of the American administration to legal changes in Poland affecting the quality of democracy and the rule of law.
 RESEARCH RESULTS: The war in Ukraine silenced American criticism of Poland. This is because the US strategic security interests take precedence over other values and interests. However, when the war in Ukraine is over, this problem may return and weigh heavily on Polish-American relations, especially if Democrats remain in power.
 CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The political and legal dispute in Poland concerning the quality of democracy and the rule of law contributes to the international discussion on this topic. In the mainstream Western literature, there is a serious criticism of the actions of the Polish authorities, sometimes conducted without taking into account the weaknesses of contemporary liberal democracy. The illiberal trend in Poland and other countries in the region, especially in Hungary, fuels criticism of these actions.

Political activation and social movements: Addressing non‐participation in Aotearoa New Zealand

AbstractThe decline of participation in traditional civic political processes, like voting in elections and writing to elected representatives, continues to deepen in contemporary liberal democracies. However, civics comprise only one avenue for political participation. Social movements also play a key role in influencing political affairs by exerting pressure on established institutions from outside rather than within. ‘Political activation’ is key to understanding and addressing non‐participation in both movement and civic settings alike, yet activation in movement settings, like non‐participation more generally, remains under‐researched. This article seeks to address this imbalance by exploring ways of using political activation theory to synthesise research on the fields of political participation and non‐participation, in both civic and social movement contexts. After reviewing the literature on activation, which favours political participation in civic settings, I then juxtapose this existing scholarship with a case study focused more on non‐participation and social movements as they are understood by movement organisers in Aotearoa New Zealand. In so doing, I demonstrate how civics, social movements, participation and non‐participation can be better understood together to advance scholarship on why people do or do not engage with politics.

Teoria demokracji a polaryzacja. Czy spolaryzowane społeczeństwo może być demokratyczne?

THEORY OF DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL POLARIZATION: CAN A POLARIZED SOCIETY REMAINS DEMOCRATIC?
 Polarization is a totalizing political tool. While the us versus them division has long fueled political competition, polarization is taking systemic struggle to the next level. Polarization divides the political landscape into two camps, where a compromise can only be found within a given group. The political scene in 21st century Europe is polarized. However, how does this situation affect European values and democratic principles of the rule of law, which protect the stability of democratic systems? Is a polarized state a place where citizens can fully enjoy the benefits of democracy? Can a polarized society reconcile political conflict with democratic values? The article analyzes the phenomenon of political polarization in theoretical terms related to the democratic principles, both classical and those of the contemporary liberal democracies. At the same time, using the example of Poland and other countries, the effects of polarizing actions and their impact on the internal political scene and the social situation are shown.

A Messianic Life Can Be Lived Rightly: Democracy contra the Capitalist-Sovereign Order

Liberal democracy is far from being the ideal form of democracy. In liberal democracies, every aspect of the individual’s life is heteronomous to the forces of the state and capitalism. From biopolitics to necropolitics, the cycle of people’s lives in contemporary liberal democracies is administered and controlled constantly, from beginning to end. This essay examines the works of Giorgio Agamben, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin to find an inspiration for a radical form of democracy. After engaging with the three intellectuals, the essay proposes a different conception of democracy as a possible form of messianic life/existence that interrupts the predominant flow of life. This possible democratic life/existence deactivates and suspends the structures of domination in the contemporary world, i.e. the laws of sovereignty and capital. The essay starts by providing a critique of liberal democracy and exemplifies the impossibility of a genuine democracy in this form of governance by using Michel Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, Achille Mbembe’s necropolitics, Agamben’s bare life, and Adorno’s administered society. After this critique, the essay conceptualizes a democratic state of existence to potentially negate the domination of the status quo through Adorno’s philosophical reflection on the “wrong life”, Agamben’s ideas (particularly his messianism and form of life), and Benjamin’s messianic politics.

Popular Republicanism versus Populism: Articulating the People

In problematic ways, populism has become a catch-all formula used with discretion to capture all kinds of discontent with democratic politics today. Populism is not only an essentially contested, but also an unavoidably blurred concept. Its recurrent use as a weapon to discredit all kinds of projects that challenge contemporary liberal democracies has led to a situation in which protest movements that aim at democratic renewal end up being conflated with opposite tendencies whose objective is a reactionary scaling down of democracy. Against this background, this article argues that both for political and for analytical purposes, the key point for distinguishing between “progressive” and “regressive” projects that address the crisis of democracy is to determine how such projects conceive of the identity of the people. Invoking the people is not per se an attribute of populism, but ultimately a feature of all kinds of democratic politics. What does make for a critical difference, though, is how peoplehood is articulated in the process of collective mobilization. The distinction becomes particularly relevant with regard to current debates on how to tackle the issue of diversity and democratic integration in Europe and North America. To substantiate this relevance, the article introduces the concept of popular republicanism, which is fleshed out by discussing two recent examples: Catalan sovereignism and the Kurdish-Turkish HDP.

Elity pod presją negatywnych emocji

The aim of the article is to reflect on the phenomenon of populist resentment towards elites in contemporary liberal democracies. This form of resentment is claimed to lower the quality of democracy, both in regard to its procedures and social bonds, thus deepening the crisis of the system. One of the paper’s aims is to explore this phenomenon as a structure composed of negative social emotions. This part of the analysis is conceptual and theoretical in character. The article then considers the dynamics and mechanisms of the resentment against elites. In this part of the text, the phenomenon is viewed through the lens of the social and cultural context in which it is rooted, as well as from the perspective of individual experiences. Because instances of social resentment manifest themselves mainly in words, this is illustrated using examples from the public debate in Poland regarding elites. The paper concludes with two hypotheses formulated with respect to the multilevel and multidimensional character of this form of resentment.

Islamism, Political Islam, and the Need for Critique

Abstract This article is about Islamism (or political Islam) as a challenge for contemporary liberal democracies. Islamism is portrayed as an ideology that favors one specific religion as supreme and that is a threat to freedom of speech. The author makes a plea for distinguishing a. the religion of Islam, b. Muslims as a group, and c. the political ideology of Islamism. Regarding the dangers of Islamism, some sociological research about the convictions of Muslims is discussed (Koopmans, Esposito) and the most recent case from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg—E.S. v. Austria (2018: 38450/12)—is analysed, which renders all criticism of Islam and Islamism difficult, if not impossible.

Justice in Transactions: A Public Basis for Justifying Contract Law?

Abstract This paper challenges Peter Benson’s claim that his theory of justice in transactions can provide a public basis of justification in the Rawlsian sense specifically worked out for contract law. It argues that Benson’s distinct conception of the contracting parties and their relationships makes it an unlikely candidate for public justification in contemporary liberal democracies that are characterized by the fact of a reasonable pluralism of worldviews. Moreover, Benson’s method of deriving principles of contractual justice from existing contract law doctrines and principles risks pre-empting any critical potential for normative contract theory. In addition, its quasi universalism seems difficult to match with the political autonomy of citizens in democratic societies. Finally, Benson’s understanding of contract law as separate from politics appears at odds, not merely with Rawlsian political justice, but with the very idea of public justification.

Deprivation of the future: towards the social relevance of depression in post-Soviet authoritarian democracies. The case of Belarus

The article addresses the question as to whether the transition of post-Soviet societies to capitalist democracy has led to the same kind of depressiveness that has been diagnosed by Western scholars and intellectuals with regard to Western societies. Taking Belarus as an example, I argue that the latest political history and the (g)local economic situation as well as the cultural characteristics of the Eastern European post-Soviet countries form a specific complex of conditions that define affective modes of both social and individual life. Drawing on various empirical materials, the article examines how depression as both an individual and public feeling can be shaped by particular conditions and characteristics of Belarusian society that developed under an authoritarian regime. In order to approach depression as a complex phenomenon that combines individual and social aspects, I suggest the theoretical frame built on a combination of phenomenological and sociocritical perspectives. The article results in clarification of what is the principal difference between the social production of depression in contemporary (neo)liberal democracies and that in Belarusian authoritarian democracy.

Gölgeli Demokrasi Çağının Ekolojik Eleştirisi

21. yüzyıl kimi iktisadi, siyasi ve toplumsal krizlere gebe olduğu gibi insanlık ve dünya için çok daha büyük bir tehdit olarak ekolojik krizle de karşı karşıyadır. Bu krizin atlatılması için bilim insanları çeşitli teknik ve uzmanlık gerektiren çalışmalar yapmaktadır. Oysa, krizin kökeni çok daha temelde, politik bir zeminde tartışılmalıdır. Bu makale bu savdan hareketle, ilk olarak gölgeli olarak nitelendirdiği çağdaş liberal demokrasinin temel dayanaklarını toplumsal ve siyasal yönden eleştirel olarak incelemektedir. Gölgeli demokrasilerin kavramsal ve fonksiyonel bir kriz içinde olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu suretle de çalışma, ekolojik kriz ile gölgeli demokrasi anlayışı arasında ilişkiler kurmaktadır. En nihayetinde çalışma Murray Bookchin'in toplumsal ekoloji kuramı perspektifinde gölgeli demokrasiden ideal bir demokrasiye geçiş için gerekli anlayış değişimine vurgu yapmaktadır.