Crisis Of Democracy Research Articles

Book review: Gi-Wook Shin and Ho-Ki Kim (Eds.), South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism and Polarization

Gi-Wook Shin and Ho-Ki Kim (Eds.), South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism and Polarization (Stanford: Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, 2022), pp. 451, $9.99. ISBN 978-1-931368-71-1 (ebook)

Peru’s leadership in the Lima Group: emergence and failure (2015–2021)

This research seeks to understand the factors that enabled Peru, a medium-sized country in Latin America, to take on a leadership role in the creation and development of the Lima Group—a multilateral mechanism whose main objective was to find a resolution to the democratic crisis in Venezuela—as well as the subsequent failure of this leadership. Using the analytical tools provided by Neoclassical Realism, this study argues that Peru’s leadership was made possible not only by the growing importance of the Venezuelan crisis on the international agenda since 2015 but also by changes in regional and global power dynamics. These shifts allowed a country like Peru to exercise such leadership and garner greater interest from the United States. Additionally, the presence of a favorable domestic political climate and clear national interests led the Peruvian government to view this leadership as beneficial, not only for the region but also for Peru itself. However, despite the Venezuelan crisis remaining on the international agenda due to Nicolás Maduro’s continued hold on power, the hardening of the U.S. stance on Venezuela and political changes at the regional level since 2018 fractured the Lima Group and undermined Peru’s leadership. Moreover, domestically, political changes led to heightened instability, weakening Peru’s external position. Finally, the surge in Venezuelan migration and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the priorities of Peru’s foreign policy, diminishing its focus on the Venezuelan crisis and contributing to the failure of its leadership.

Parliamentary debate and the construction of the national characteristics of Swedish parliamentarism

ABSTRACT This article examines how the characteristics of parliamentary debate were discussed in Sweden between the late nineteenth century and the Second World War, covering the period of parliamentary democratization and the interwar crisis of democracy. Focusing on the comments on the nature of parliamentary rebates in the printed press, as well as the ways in which MPs comment on debate while they speak in parliament, this article shows that there is a remarkable continuity in the ways in which Swedish parliamentary debate was viewed, as a compromising negotiation in parliamentary committees was elevated to a national characteristic of Swedish parliamentary culture both by the conservative critics of parliamentary democracy and the social democratic and liberal defenders of democracy. What was in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth centuries characteristically a conservative argument in favour of safeguarding the quality and independence of the working procedures of parliament against the consequences of democratization was in the 1930s turned into an argument against the threats that political extremism and totalitarian ideas posed to parliamentary democracy. The study shows that the Swedish style of parliamentary debate was continuously contrasted with the pro et contra style of debate in the British Parliament, which was deemed unsuitable to the Swedish constitutional tradition even if it sometimes gained support as an ideal type. The main examples of debates on parliamentary procedures discussed in the study deal with the question of open voting and the rights of the Speaker to regulate debates.

Protesting at the intersection of individual characteristics and obstacles to participation: an analysis of the in-person, online and pivoting styles

ABSTRACT Engaging with long-standing debates on the crisis of democracy, manifested as a downturn in civic involvement, this paper scrutinises the evolving landscape of protest participation. First delineating three distinct protest participation styles – in-person, online and what we conceive of as a pivoting style – we identify individual characteristics among protesters that are associated with each style and consider how different obstacles to participation are linked to these individual styles. Using novel survey data from six European countries, we show that online support can be a viable alternative for individuals unable to join protests due to obstacles they face. The online participation style is more common among people who lack connections with social contacts that can facilitate their participation. The in-person style is prevalent among older participants who are less frequent social media users while the pivoting style is more often realised among young, more biographically available people who are media omnivores. Participants who do not embrace the in-person style lack consensus mobilisation whereas those exhibiting a preference for the online or the pivoting styles face obstacles relating to action mobilisation. We conclude the article with a call for a more nuanced understanding of protest participation, as symptomatic of a transformation of democracy.

Populism and Democracy: Analysis on the Phenomenon of Populism in Indonesia and the Crisis of Democracy

This article first discusses the phenomenon of populism in Indonesia which has the potential to pose a threat to the democratic system in Indonesia. Of course, this article was written as a response to the populist movement which has recently been hotly discussed because populism is growing rapidly in the social and political system in Indonesia. The intention of this article is to provide advice to the Indonesian people, to understand the phenomenon of populism which has transformed into a political weapon and maneuver by political actors, for the benefit of their political groups or parties. This article will use literature study to collect data and information to lead to a discussion and conclusion. The aim of this article is to examine the phenomenon of populism in Indonesia which has the potential to become a serious threat to the democratic system. Then to provide education to the Indonesian people regarding the populist movement which uses all kinds of methods or certain instruments to perpetuate their power as political actors.

Polarization, Populism, and the Crisis of American Democracy

American democracy is in crisis. The emergence of affective polarization and populism has contributed to a divided America in which both sides perceive every election as an existential threat to their ways of life, values, and democracy itself. Central features of liberal democracy, including the right to vote, the system of checks and balances, and presidential transitions of power, appear to be collectively under threat in ways they have not been since the Civil War. Scholars diverge on both the sources of and responses to the crisis. For some, the problem is too much democracy, and the solution is less. For others, the problem is too little democracy, and the solution is more. This review offers a synthesis of the contrasting accounts of American democracy in crisis and advances a third alternative of better democracy as a key to escaping the crisis.

State of Democracy in Central Europe after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The central question of this article is why Russian military aggression in Ukraine has failed to strengthen support for democracy and cooperation with partners in some Central European countries. In addition, the article examines the link between military conflict in the immediate neighbourhood and the crisis of democracy. Based on a review of the extensive literature on the crisis of democracy, the article integrates findings from several opinion polls conducted in Central European countries. Looking primarily at the Visegrad countries, clear patterns emerge in responses and attitudes towards Russia. We can see the influence of the political discourse in these countries, the narratives used by political elites and, more recently, war fatigue and economic consequences. The article argues that a military conflict in the vicinity of democratic countries exacerbates the crisis of democracy. The information warfare that is part of this conflict and the susceptibility of the political elite to the dissemination of enemy propaganda undermines trust in democratic institutions and democracy.

Can Democracy Be Saved by Economic Policy? The Burden of Bidenomics

ABSTRACT: Heightened economic insecurity has been a factor in the turn to right-wing authoritarianism in the United States and elsewhere. "Bidenomics" has been framed to suggest economic policy can create movement away from right-wing authoritarianism toward more liberal democratic sentiment. We distinguish the crisis of democracy from the rise of populism. We argue that Bidenomics may reduce the appeal of populism if it targets those "left behind," but addressing the crisis of democracy is a burden Bidenomics alone cannot bear. To raise the likelihood of buy-in to democracy, there must be significant political change as well.

Charter Cities and de-democratization in the neoliberal age

This paper analyzes how recent processes of de-democratization resonate, materialize, and sustain themselves in the urban context of Latin America, focusing on the phenomenon of Charter Cities. I argue that the city and city building play a central role in political struggles, and understanding disputed over the territory is central to grasping particularities of the crises of democracy in the South.

Ethnic and racial violence and violations in the context of the Brazilian democratic crisis: a study of Black and Quilombola populations

ABSTRACT This article addresses the question of how the recent political context of Brazil shapes violations of various kinds against Quilombola communities in Brazil. Using data from online news sources, we track violations from 2016 to 2020 related to land disputes, physical attacks and threats, and environmental issues. We show that, despite the legal rights accorded to these communities since the 1988 constitutional reform and subsequent processes of democratisation, vested interests in the agricultural lobby and a later authoritarian turn, especially after 2016, led to a dismantling of social and economic policies for Quilombos. The violations suffered by these communities result from the denial of their collective identities as constitutional subjects and the non-recognition of their dignity, which are the product of historical processes of inferiorisation that have treated some people as non-subjects or not eligible to bear rights, based on colonial classifications but still present in the dominant society.

Demokrasi, Governance, dan Oligarki: Konglomerasi Media MNC Group Keterlibatannya Melancarkan Capres Ganjar Pranowo Pada Pemilu 2024

This article discusses the issue of the MNC group as oligarchic media and the news it displays only appears to be based on political interests. The media oligarchy influences political contestation, the latest political reality shows that the Perindo Party supports presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo in the 2024 presidential election and also utilizes television media as a political capital and political campaign infrastructure in the 2024 presidential election. This research aims to explore the phenomenon of the MNC Group media conglomeration which siding with the coalition of presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo to form an oligarchy that can influence the governance system. This research adopted a qualitative research design and data collection was carried out through literature reviews from various journals and online publications of articles related to this issue. Research findings show that the MNC Group as the media broadcaster broadcasts broadcasts on television only for political purposes, this has resulted in a democratic crisis because the media no longer has independence, and this phenomenon states that there is a media oligarchy in Indonesia which makes Indonesia bad governance. The research results contribute to a better understanding of democracy, media oligarchy, and cultural hegemony in political media.

Treading the Narrow Path – Rethinking Democratic Education in Times of Polarization

Abstract This essay examines the relationship between knowledge, politics, and education in the context of the global crisis of democracy and the growing prevalence of political polarization. Focusing on the issue of vaccine hesitancy, I explore how citizens’ reference to knowledge and values shapes their political judgements and argue for the importance of education in facilitating informed and reasoned decision-making. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s dialectical account of politics and knowledge, I highlight the limitations of reducing political debates to a quest for ‘right knowledge’, arguing that it neglects the coordination of diverse values and interpretations that is essential to democratic processes. To do so, I discuss ‘educationalization’ of the political during the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein the dissemination of empirically grounded information became a strategy to generate public consent. However, my essay cautions against the hegemony of empirical knowledge, which can lead to despotic politics and the proliferation of misinformation. To ensure differentiated and reasonable judgements in uncertain situations and conflicts, I turn to Arendt’s concept of reflective and political judgement, emphasizing the ability to imagine others’ perspectives and construct general principles. The educational task, therefore, encompasses not only conveying factual knowledge but also nurturing reflective judgement that strikes a balance between factual truth and divergent interpretations, values, and interests.

Em um momento contrarrevolucionário, o que vem a seguir?

The worldwide rise of the far right has drawn attention to the ‘crisis of democracy’. Beyond recent conjunctural aspects, it is possible to trace the criticism of the social aspects of democracy back to the origins of neoliberalism, understood as a counter-revolutionary political movement. The question of democracy has moved to the centre of the work of left-wing movements, which requires reflection on the political content of bourgeois democracy and the ways of acting in a counter-revolutionary moment. This paper deals with Rosa Luxemburg's formulations on the importance of democracy and on the actions of the socialist movement in periods of political reflux through her work on the Russian Empire. By critically recovering the ideas of the Polish revolutionary, it seeks to contribute to the formulation of possible responses to contemporary political challenges.

Citizens’ assemblies in Brazil: an analysis of the role of mini-publics on building democratic participatory climate public policies

This article aims to explore how Brazilian city-level public officials have used citizens’ assemblies to implement climate policies effectively in communities where other emergencies require political action. We analyze the implementation of citizens’ assemblies on climate change in three Brazilian cities in different regions, with distinct demographic densities, social development rates, and mayors’ political affiliations. Cities are where people experience the most consequences of climate change. In the Brazilian context, the Bolsonaro federal administration has weakened both environmental and citizen participation policies. This adds to previously known challenges for policy making in the issue, including countering the interests of some industries and the construction sector. Citizens’ assemblies are a democratic innovation that promotes the inclusion of the population in the development of public policies, particularly in times of democratic crisis. In this study, we examine the implementation process of citizens’ assemblies in Brazil through interviews and documentary analysis of experiences implemented by the Brazilian NGO Delibera Brasil. This research offers valuable insights into the role of citizens’ assemblies as catalysts for informed and participatory climate policymaking in Brazilian municipalities.

Democracy in crisis: geopolitical shifts and us challenges in Middle East and North Africa

Democracy in crisis: geopolitical shifts and us challenges in Middle East and North Africa

A historical turn in the study of media governance. A research agenda for Europe in times of democratic crisis

The liberalization of the media stands very much at the forefront in public, policy and academic concerns on how our current model of media governance affects democracy. But the discussion on the effects of media liberalization has obscured the vital question why liberalization was able to become the dominant media governance paradigm in the first place. This research note makes the case for a historical turn to answer this question. It argues that it is essential to contextualize media liberalization in the history of contemporary democracy in Europe rather than see it primarily through the perspective of technological innovation or top-down promotion of neo-liberal policies. It explores how three insights in historiography might form the core of a research agenda for media governance that takes history seriously. These include (a) the study of actors from below that pushed for reform outside the realm of government; (b) the influence of ideas on shaping institutional reform and (c) reading history forward rather than project today’s assumptions and outcomes into the past. Jointly, this historical turn will not only provide an enhanced understanding of how past reforms shaped the present, but also enlighten prospects for future changes of media governance paradigms.

Big Lies, Drag Shows, and Legal Fictions

Today, the United States faces a relentless offensive of lies and falsehoods, as we grapple with the fallout from election denialism and conservative forces work tirelessly to advance anti-LGBTQ laws that directly challenge the validity of LGBTQ identities. Although it may be appealing to dismiss these shocking lies and falsehoods as legal fictions, they are nothing of the sort. They are not legal fictions in the traditional sense because they are not offered as patently false statements. More importantly, such characterization disregards the uniquely constitutive power of the law. This article builds on my earlier observations regarding a similar misuse of the term “legal fiction” in the context of chattel slavery and the doctrine of discovery. By revisiting the controversy in a contemporary frame, it offers an opportunity to study, in real-time, the attempted construction of legal regimes that rest on errors, lies, and the relentless demonization of the Other. It concludes that just as there was nothing fictive about repressive legal systems that spanned centuries and brutalized millions, there is nothing fictive about our current democratic crisis. To the contrary, it is imperative that we remain clear-eyed about the nature and power of the falsehoods that undergird both the Big Lie and the new anti-LGBTQ laws in order to develop effective strategies to refute them. We dismiss them as legal fictions at our peril.

Political Autobiography and Race: The Case of Barack Obama

This article analyses how Barack Obama employs the concept of race in his three autobiographical books. Even though they complement each other chronologically, these are three very different works. Dreams from My Father (1995) is semifictional and shares similarities with African-American versions of the Bildungsroman and autofiction. The Audacity of Hope (2006) is a campaign book that downplays race. A Promised Land (2020) is a presidential memoir warning of impending democratic crisis. In each of these works, Obama puts the concept of race to use in very different ways, with genre playing an important part in the process.

Australia’s national(ist) history curriculum: history education as a site of attempted de-democratisation

AbstractThis paper explores the contested content of the Australian history curriculum to understand the curriculum’s national(ist?) purpose and investigate if national histories can be taught in a way which combats the anti-democratic forces at play in our culture. This question will be explored through analysis of the three topics in the Australian Curriculum: History 7–10, which have a strong focus on Australian history specifically, and semi-structured interviews with secondary teachers on pedagogies for history and instilling democratic dispositions in students (UniSQ ETH2023-0315). Since Prime Minister John Howard’s call for reform of the curriculum to ensure that the national narrative “is one of heroic achievement” (Howard, 2006), the conservative right’s desire to have the curriculum deliver a singular, nationalist narrative has become increasingly more extreme. We risk an “acute crisis of democracy” (Repucci and Slipowitz, 2021, p. 1) as our students are taught a singular narrative that silences First Nations peoples and other cultural minorities. The best defence against this nascent de-democratisation of Australian history classrooms is found in the vital work of history teachers as curriculum workers. If teachers adhere to the curriculum directives focused on historical thinking skills, our students must consider “different perspectives” and use a “range of sources” (ACARA, 2023a) to make evidence-based decisions about our past. The teaching of critical thinking and the use of varied evidence which considers a range of perspectives and assesses their reliability serves as a bulwark against the monocultural assault which seeks to control the content of the curriculum. If we ensure our next generation of citizens have the skills to make informed and critical choices rather than be blind adherents to a nationalist monomyth, our pluralistic liberal democracy will not only survive but thrive.

The Crisis of Democracy and the Legitimate Rule of Law: Kelsen, Populism, and the Politics of Recognition

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: This essay examines how deliberation and recognition contribute to our understanding of democracy as a form of government combining two sources of legitimacy, one based on a legal procedure and the other based on ideological faith commitment.
 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: Although joint deliberation about policy aims and recognition of person’s political identities are often assumed to be complementary (Habermas, 1996; Honneth, 2014; Taylor, 1994), I argue that this need not be the case. Political identities oriented by faith commitments pose a challenge to deliberation oriented by rational compromise. A one-sided emphasis on deliberation or recognition as exclusive sources of democratic legitimation threatens to debase the res publica to an arena of identity politics whose populist proclivities are antithetical to liberal democracy. Exacerbating this trend is the phenomenon of political polarization caused in large part by the economic stratification and socio-cultural fragmentation of a global, digital form of capitalism. My method for examining and resolving the problem relies on notable philosophers who have written about the legal and political implications of deliberation and the politics of recognition: Charles Taylor, Jürgen Habermas, and Hans Kelsen.
 THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The paper begins by summarizing the importance of recognition for political life and its ambivalent humanistic and nationalistic (and sub-nationalistic) senses (Part 1). I then turn to Kelsen’s critique of recognition as incompatible with the rule of law, followed by his qualified endorsement of recognition, understood as a necessary political ethos underwriting a liberal, deliberative form of democracy (Parts 2 and 3). Turning to our contemporary democratic crisis, I show how structural transformations within and between political parties and the public sphere have given rise to authoritarian forms of populism (Part 4). I conclude by noting how imperatives within digital capitalism produce ambivalent effects regarding the restoration...