Democratic Culture Research Articles

A Study on Effective Leadership Style and School Effectiveness Improvement

The objective of this research study is to analyze and comprehend principals and other stakeholders in school leadership philosophies and styles.Value the opinions of various stakeholders regarding the efficiency of the educational system, how these opinions relate to the leadership style used, and how this impacts the general educational atmosphere effectiveness, how they connect to a leader's style, and how it impacts the general learning environment in the classroom. The population consisted of head teachers, teachers, parents, administrators, and students from all types of schools either government or non government sector consisting male and female. The convenient sampling technique was followed and 1354 questionnaires were approached and the responses of 1000 stakeholders were analyzed. To understand the situation at different levels, a questionnaire, and In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted. Teachers have a positive view of democratic leaders as being dependable,receptive, accommodating, involved, and friendly. It is recommended to emphasising the concepts of empowerment, teamwork, and participatory approaches in the media, it is crucial to foster a democratic culture in the classroom.

The Development and Validation of Qualitative Value Indicators of Region-Based Community Dance for Cultural Urban Regeneration

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate qualitative value indicators of region-based community dance for cultural urban regeneration. To this end, the conceptual structure of local-based community dance was explored and evaluation indicators were developed by deriving questions related to this. The specific research procedures and results are as follows: First, a literature review and Delphi survey were conducted to obtain factors and questions regarding qualitative value indicators. Consequently, four factors of local singularity, convergent creativity, sustainability, and community culture were obtained with 43 questions. Next, a preliminary survey targeting 122 people who have participated in representative local dance festivals (the ‘Wonju Dynamic Dancing Carnival’, ‘Cheonan World Dance Festival’, and ‘Andong Maskdance Festival’) in Korea was conducted to determine the relationship between the factors and questions. Multi-dimensional value indicators with 30 questions in four factors were obtained from an exploratory factor analysis using SPSS version 25.0. Then, the main survey, targeting 341 people who have participated in three representative local dance festivals in Korea, was conducted to verify the validity of the value indicators. Finally, evaluation indicators of 26 questions (seven questions for regional uniqueness, five questions for convergent creativity, seven questions for sustainability, and seven questions for community culture) were developed from a confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS version 24.0. Additionally, the contents evaluated by each factor are as follows: Firstly, ‘Local Singularity’ is a factor in whether the evaluation target sufficiently contains the unique characteristics of the region. Secondly, ‘Convergent Creativity’ is a factor in whether the evaluation target converges the indigenous culture (traditional culture) and acceptance culture (modern culture) of the region well. Thirdly, ‘Sustainability’ is a factor in whether the evaluation target contributes to the sustainable development of the region. Fourthly, ‘Community Culture’ is a factor in whether the evaluation target contributes to the formation of community culture in the region. This study is significant in that it emphasises the potential possibility of community dance, which can contribute to cultural urban regeneration based on the perspectives of cultural democracy. Therefore, the results of this study are expected to be extended and applied to various types of community dance in the future. Moreover, it is further forecasted that this study will suggest the meaning of the qualitative valuation of art and culture for a variety of subjects, such as policy experts and administrators, as well as for directors, choreographers, and participants in community dance.

Democracy for the Few

A review and application of Degenerations of Democracy, by Craig Calhoun, Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar, and Charles Taylor (hereafter, CGT); Liberalism and Its Discontents, by Francis Fukuyama; and How Democracies Live, by Stein Ringen. A strengthened liberal democratic culture is essential for the health and vitality of democracy. This culture is made up of three components: a cluster of liberal values (rule of law, freedom, equality, and reason), a democratic governing system grounded in popular sovereignty, and a collective experience of shared respect for liberal values and democratic institutions. Has this culture lost its strength? Is the collective experience and belief in democratic legitimacy disappearing? Are liberal values increasingly contested? All of the theorists under review address these questions. And for all, the answer is “yes, but….” They make strikingly similar arguments about the sources of this culture’s strength, the causes of its current weakness, and how it can be strengthened. The general thrust of these books is this: a strong liberal democracy rests on three cultural foundations: the strength of social bonds, the level of deliberative civil discourse, and the level of economic equality. The main challenge to this threefold foundation’s strength is neoliberalism, which all authors agree has led to liberal democracy’s decline. I draw on this argument as a guide to assess the strength of liberal democracy in a small population living in rural Alpine County, California. I find that although it is relatively small and isolated, the drivers of democratic decline have found their way into this tiny community. Some aspects of liberal democratic culture have remained strong (voter turnout and volunteerism are high, and many citizens serve in elected office and on government committees); others, however, have weak roots that were never cultivated and continue to weaken further (equality, inclusion, open debate). Finally, I suggest that to strengthen liberal democracy, citizens must participate in it and leaders must work for the good of the entire community, not just the few.

Associações e democracia cultural: proposta de dois ideais-tipo

Entre a crise financeira de 2007-2008 e a crise pandémica da Covid-19, o bairro dos Anjos, em Lisboa, ofereceu uma particular concentração de espaços públicos que promoviam concertos, exposições, aulas de dança, bares, etc. Muitos destes espaços não têm fins lucrativos e promovem a democracia cultural combatendo assim a gentrificação. A partir de visitas ao bairro, análise documental e entrevistas com dirigentes, voluntários e outros atores chave, identificam-se dois ideais-tipo das missões destes espaços: o cultural-entretenimento e o cultural-ativista. Concluímos salientando que ambos nos permitem doravante monitorizar a influência da participação destes espaços na reconfiguração urbana.

Satire as the Comic Public Sphere: Postmodern “Truthiness” and Civic Engagement

Satire as the Comic Public Sphere: Postmodern “Truthiness” and Civic Engagement

Creative Economy and Sustainable Development: Shaping Flexible Cultural Governance Model for Creativity

With the development of cultural democratization, countries have attached increasing importance to the protection of cultural rights and the promotion of sustainable cultural development. The establishment of a flexible cultural governance model may release the transformative force of culture and creativity, gradually spread cultural values and ideas into governance, and shift activities to more sustainable behavior. This research was divided into two stages. In the first stage, CiteSpace was used to conduct a co-citation analysis of documents published between 2013 and 2022 in the Web of Science database. The results were combined with existing cultural development and value indicators from many countries to design cultural impact indicators suitable for evaluating the sustainable development of creative industries. In the second stage, a questionnaire survey was conducted on the cultural industry, the creative economy, and cultural consumption. Through statistical analysis, six dimensions were obtained, and 20 indicators were cultural sustainability, cultural democracy, cultural innovation, cultural industrialization, cultural vitality, and cultural policy systematization. The cultural governance framework of the creative economy and sustainable development was established through AMOS software. This study found that the humanistic rationality of cultural governance has a significant improvement and stable role in promoting the governance of cultural policies. Adjustable cultural impact indicators are effective cultural practices for shaping and framing creative industries, which should be invented, stabilized and improved.

Energy citizenship: A critical perspective

The centrality of energy for daily life entails that citizens' relations to energy need particular attention, to the extent that it might merit a specific concept of energy citizenship. However, the academic literature on energy citizenship has remained small even if it is growing, the concept itself underspecified, and focused on a narrow set of topics that leave many core social science insights on both citizenship and energy governance unaddressed. In this perspective, we analyze the concept of energy citizenship as it is used in the current energy research literature and develop reflections on how and why current approaches do not seem to trigger further specification of the concept. We carry this discussion forward by refining the concept and proposing a new agenda for future energy citizenship research areas. We conclude with three primary outcomes that require more attention when juxtaposing energy and citizenship: the question of who counts as a ‘citizen’ in energy citizenship initiatives, interrelations between democratic cultures and citizenship, and diverse citizenships enacted among various kinds of energy infrastructure.

The role of colaborative learning in the education for democratic citizenship (case of Georgia)

Secondary schools of Georgia continue to be dominated by teacher-oriented models, which are insufficient to raise citizens who are active, informed and responsible. The process of multifaceted development of each student requires the use student-oriented pedagogy that focuses on developing the competencies for their active participation. The data collected from target group (374 teachers) by questionnaires were processed by statistical software package R. More than 120 variables were used in the study. The correlation matrix with polychoric correlation coefficients was used to select the variables participating in the analysis. The research revealed a positive correlation between the systematic, purposeful and confident application of the practice of collaborative teaching approach and strategies by Georgian school teachers and the development of civic competencies in students. Particularly, collaborative teaching reinforces in students: (a) affiliation to school, their integration and perception of themselves as members of the school community; (b) acceptance of different groups and cultures, respect for and observance of different views; (c) reduction of racism, chauvinism, and religious intolerance and development of a tolerant attitude; and (d) autonomy and self-organization, formation of a positive attitude towards the learning process. The collaborative learning process promotes both the democratic culture of the school and the social and civic competency of the students.

Countering online hate speech through legislative measures: The Ethiopian approach from a comparative perspective

ABSTRACT It is apparent that the phenomenon of online hate speech is increasing at a meteoric rate. Meanwhile, governments around the world are resorting to legislative measures in an attempt to address this pernicious social problem. Yet, while much of the discourse has been on how these legislative efforts may inadvertently affect individuals’ right to freedom of expression in established liberal democracies, little is known about the collateral costs of similar trends in developing countries with a burgeoning democratic culture. For this reason, it is imperative to assess how and to what extent legal frameworks for the moderation of user-generated online content may portend dire consequences for freedom of speech in non-democratic countries like Ethiopia, where there are distinct media and socio-political environments. Using comparative legal research methodology, this research article seeks to offer an overview of the legislative responses to online hate speech in different jurisdictions, drawing from normatively preferable policy frameworks, to provide some insights into how gaps in the new Ethiopian hate speech and disinformation prevention law can be filled.

L’UNESCO e la ‘democratizzazione della cultura’. Siti archeologici nel centro antico di Napoli tra accessibilità e fruizione inclusiva

The ancient city center of Naples, UNESCO heritage site since 1995, constitutes a complex palimpsest, in which inhabitants and tourists coexist. It is the result of numerous ancient and modern overwriting, vitiated by a fleeting distinction between the public and private dimensions, by tampering and abuses, which conditions the methods of conservation and use of archaeological sites which in many cases are inaccessible, forbidden, hidden by other constructions. The proposed contribution, highlighting the reasons that led the ancient center of Naples to its inclusion in the world heritage list, intends to highlight how international recognition has facilitated the inclusive policies of built heritage with reference to archaeological sites. This also in the light of a process of 'democratization of culture', supported in the most recent UNESCO directives, which has contributed to expressing criticalities and potentialities and which looks at the restoration of archaeological evidence as a tool for physical, sensorial, and cultural accessibility.

The new era leadership for the public sector? Entrepreneurship, effectiveness, and democracy

ABSTRACT Amidst severe global crises, governments are under pressure to deliver appropriate outcomes to society and create a resilient future. Therefore, public managers started to consider the benefits that entrepreneurial leadership may offer; however, some scholars argue that entrepreneurial leaders act anti-democratically. Using data from Australia (n = 104,471), this study investigates whether entrepreneurial leaders enhance the effectiveness of public organizations, while also upholding democratic principles. The results suggest that the adoption of entrepreneurship by public managers positively influences the ability of both achieving organizational goals and enacting a democratic culture where staff is consulted and participates openly in decision-making.

The church, human rights and democracy in Africa

ABSTRACT Although the relationship of Catholic mission to colonialism in Africa is a controversial one, it cannot be denied that the Church was instrumental in the progress of African peoples and nations. Drawing inspiration and guidance from the corpus of Catholic Social Teaching, the Church plays a key role in continuing to inspire Africans to the higher goals of human rights and Democracy. A Catholic social imagination, through which Catholics communicate the social demands of their faith as they engage social questions and envision social possibilities in Africa’s pluralist societies, needs to be promoted. The task before the Catholic Church in Africa is to move this rich deposit of faith from being the Church’s best-kept secret to the marketplace of ideas that can constitute the moral foundation for our politics. Helping to frame the moral direction of public policy in the various young or tottering democracies in Africa is a noble vocation that makes the Church remain a critical collaborator in building sustainable and just democratic cultures on the continent.

Gemeinsames Erbe, getrennter Aufbruch. Verfassung, Demokratie und Verfassungsgerichtbarkeit nach 1918

In Central Europe, the new democratic era of 1918/1920 began as the ʺwinnersʺ of the world war for some and as the ʺlosersʺ for others. Czechoslovakia participated in the peace negotiations on the side of the Allies, while Austria and Germany had no comparable negotiating power. In the culture of democracy and constitution of the interwar period, however, it was not only this status that played a role. Often underestimated was the continuing tradition of the rule of law from the Habsburg period. This article takes a synthetic look at this interweaving history of constitutional cultures through the lens of the work of Hans Kelsen and his colleagues.

Конституционный смысл «Устава Страны Казахов» Б. Сырттанулы (С.Б. Алашинского)

At the beginning of the twentieth century there were two directions of the national liberation movement in the Kazakh steppe, whose representatives assessed the possible ways of liberation of the Kazakh people from colonial dependence in different ways. The national-religious intelligentsia preferred the Islamization of the population in the family of the Muslim peoples of Russia, which, as a powerful cohesive religious force, would be able to break the chains of colonial dependence and lead the peoples to freedom and independence. Another direction of the national liberation movement is represented by the so-called ‘Westerners’ – the advanced national intelligentsia, which absorbed the ideas and values of the European humanitarian and democratic culture. The ideological foundations and postulates of these movements were fundamentally different, although their ultimate goal – the liberation of the people from colonial dependence, was the same. In strengthening the foundations of the ideology of the "Westerners", the essay on the history of the Kazakhs by A.N. Bukeikhan Kirghiz and the Charter of the Country of the Kazakhs developed by B. Syrttanuly on the initiative of the former played a key role. At the same time, in A. Bukeikhan’s essay, the lands originally inhabited by Kazakhs, and in the Charter of the Country of Kazakhs, the constitutional model of a parliamentary republic is presented, whose jurisdiction should be extended to this territory. Thus, the marginal boundaries of the Kazakhs’ residence were to become the state borders of the Republic of the Country of the Kazakhs.

Демократическая культура как качество личности будущего педагога

Демократическая культура как качество личности будущего педагога

Студентський парламент: досвід Харківського національного педагогічного університету імені Г. С. Сковороди

In the article, the author drew attention to the problem of the formation of professionally significant personality characteristics of the future teacher: the active life position of each student in social life, the level of his democratic culture, participation in the social life of the community, the city. The author noted that work in the student parliament serves as a guarantee for the formation of leadership qualities and the development of the professional orientation of the individual. The research was carried out in accordance with the axiological approach, the principles of the educational direction of the educational process, and the mutual responsibility of the participants of the educational process. The methods of analysis (historical-pedagogical, systemic, surveyanalytical), generalization, content analysis of reports on the work of the student parliament of the H. S. Skovoroda KhNPU. This self-governing structure plays a significant role in students gaining experience in self-organization and positive actions in the social environment. In the student parliament everyone, depending on their desire, skills and abilities, chooses the direction they want to pursue. Members of the student parliament actively participate in the organization of student projects at the level of the university and individual faculties, are participants and winners of various student tournaments, contests, olympiads, circles, participate in the preparation and holding of informative webinars, scientific and practical conferences. The student parliament of H. S. Skovoroda KhNPU is structured and carries out its work systematically. An important aspect of the activity of the student parliament is involvement in the implementation of the universityєs mission and vision. An important area of activity of the student parliament of H.S. Skovoroda KhNPU is professionally oriented scientific work. The article defines the following promising directions of activity of the student parliament: creation of conditions for self-realization of students in the interests of the individual, society, institution, and the state; promotion of various forms of social activity, public initiatives, socialization of the young generation; improvement of living conditions and leisure time of students; formation of students’ skills and qualities necessary for developing an active life position, organizational and leadership traits, and creative approaches to solving problems. Implementation of these tasks, improvement of the main directions of educational and educational work, implementation of new projects and activities will significantly increase the brightness of student life, develop an active life position and creative abilities of the students.

Analyzing the Challenges Facing the School Curriculum in the Context of the Information Society

The impact of information technology (IT) on society is broad and profound, and people living in the information society need to be lifelong learners and constantly adapt to cope with the rapidly changing present and future. The education system in every country faces challenges and problems in developing and implementing the curriculum. There is a general consensus that the curriculum is the central vehicle of schooling, but consensus does not mean that curriculum development has become a real driving force in school development. Curriculum tends to lag behind social change and is relatively closed and conservative, so the school curriculum in the context of the information society is facing a great challenge of change. In the information society, the new media represented by the Internet is shaping a new social culture with its own logic, and cultural monopoly and authority are further subverted and dissolved. Some scholars have pointed out that the change of cultural communication media from oral to written to electronic and then to data is a process in which cultural resources are constantly shared and cultural democracy is constantly expanded. The impact of information technology on society is broad and profound, and individuals living in the information society need to become lifelong learners, constantly adapting to cope with a rapidly changing present and future. Education systems in every country face challenges and problems in developing and implementing curricula.

ГОРОДСКОЙ ГОЛОВА: РЕТРОСПЕКТИВА В КОНТЕКСТЕ СЕМЕЙНОЙ ПЕРЕПИСКИРЕЦЕНЗИЯ НА КНИГУ: МАРГАРИТА АГЕЕВА. УФИМСКИЙ ГОРОДСКОЙ ГОЛОВА АЛЕКСАНДР МАЛЛЕЕВ:ИСТОРИЯ В ПИСЬМАХ. УФА: ИНФОРМРЕКЛАМА, 2020. 448С.: ИЛ.

The new book by Margarita V. Ageeva presents the family correspondence of the Ufa mayor A.A. Malleev and studies his biography. The epistolary finding and the specific historical context of the story introduce different aspects of the history of urban administration and the everyday life of the provincial nobility in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The book has become an original contribution to regional historiography, and its author has revised some of the conclusions of his predecessors, based on a metahistorical narrative. Information about the origin and genealogical relations of the family surname sheds light on the formation of the official elite in the eastern provinces as a result of the industrial development of the region in the 18th century and the reforms of local government and the court system in the post-reform period. The epistolary material recreates a portrait of personal qualities of the modernizers and testifies to the formation of new personnel in the provinces – the carriers of a genuine democratic culture. The author analyzes the influence of ethical views of officials on managerial decision-making as a central problem poorly developed in institutional history. The author traced it on the example of the events of the 1905 revolutionary crisis in Ufa. The discourse of private correspondence contains a lot of valuable evidence on the family life of the Malleevs, their religious identity and methods of raising children, on cultural and everyday life of the urban elite of a provincial town. The style and spelling of the letters, as well as the turns of phrase and the accepted spelling of certain words at that time, have remained unchanged, which increases the value of the source. The literal capture of the smallest details of everyday history make the book a practical tool for museum workers, fashion historians and other professionals.

‘The whole process of gender’: a feminist culture of militancy in southern Brazil

Women in the Movement of Rural Women Workers (Movimento de Mulheres Trabalhadoras Rurais or MMTR) in southern Brazil envisioned a social movement that represented their interests both as women and as small farmers and agricultural workers, while also allowing for a plurality of voices and strategies. This article describes the feminist and democratic culture of militancy that these women sought, from the 1980s through to the 2000s, and shows how difficult it was to establish and sustain such a culture. These women not only confronted the deep, ongoing difficulties of challenging gendered social relations, but also the pain, shame and silencing that intertwined with gains in voice and equality. They also confronted larger social movements whose leaders understood power differently to the way these women did. For the women described in this article, women’s activism requires a deep form of democracy where all voices are heard. Paradoxically, in the context of rural Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil and the panorama of movements that are active there, the rootedness in the everyday lived experience that made the movement relevant to women who advocated for this form of democracy also kept them from taking on powerholders within the movement who chose to ally with larger, more hierarchical movements, sacrificing significant forms of autonomy and voice in the process.

Neoliberalismo e crise da educação ocidental. Causas, consequências e oportunidades para a mudança

Abstract The crisis of neoliberalism is the crisis of the West, unable to redirect its course and threatened by internal and external contradictions. The emergence of the postmodernism has generated a new uncritical ethos that relativises Western rights and freedoms. The invasion of capitalist mercantile logic into the school, under the neoliberal paradigm, has displaced any political training from the school, contributing to contemporary cultural relativity. In the present work we will review the course of neoliberalism from its origins to the present day, and we will analyse its impact on the Western school. This journey is carried out from a critical approach. Two main consequences are detected: the substitution of knowledge by labour competences, and the promotion of a homogeneity that benefits competitiveness, but deteriorates democratic culture. We conclude with the requirement for schools to abandon relative narratives and embrace democratic values in order to improve the coexistence and the political participation.