Consensus Democracy Research Articles

Multinational and Multimodal Character Framing of Political Candidates in Online News: Do Political and Media System Classifications Matter?

An evolving body of research generally referred to as visual politics has brought the heavy research focus on linguistic modalities of political communication closer to parity with visual emphasis. The study reported here transcends this schism by joining momentum toward multimodality as an ontological departure point for research. We expanded an existing visual instrument into a multimodal one and provided evidence that it reliably captures character framing of political candidates (stateliness, compassion, mass appeal, ordinariness, and sure loser) in German, Polish, and United States commercial online news. We focused on election coverage in these countries because they represent three distinct political and media systems (democratic-corporatist, polarized-pluralist, and hybrid) of the Global North. The quantitative content analysis sample we used spans 2,688 online news stories with seven political candidates identified in 6,560 cases across six modalities (still images, moving images, frozen video images, text, audio, and superimposed text). We found support for the hypothesis that political and media system latencies affect how news media frame the character traits of political candidates in both visual and linguistic modalities. Specifically, the competitive tendencies of majoritarian democracies manifested more clearly as candidate-centered, simplistic, and polarizing character framing in US media content than in journalistic output of multiparty consensus democracies. For example, US news media were more consistent in their portrayal of election winners and losers than German and Polish news media, emphasizing stateliness, compassion, and ordinariness in the winner while unambiguously assigning the negative sure loser frame to the election loser.

Switzerland: Political Developments and Data in 2023

AbstractIn 2023, Switzerland's profound integration into the globalized world was particularly evident, fundamentally challenging the notion of political sovereignty. Yet, this interconnectedness also means that Swiss domestic rules strongly reverberate around the world, such as in the case of policy failure regarding financial regulation. This article explores how global developments shape Swiss politics, from campaign dynamics ahead of the 2023 federal elections to externally imposed legislative agendas. Even the notorious “Swiss” direct democracy no longer solely reflects citizen‐initiated proposals as further evidenced that year. The article also underscores the inertia of Swiss‐style consensus democracy in gearing up its institutional design for polycrisis. It concludes with a discussion of two major political issues: the collapse of Credit Suisse, one of Switzerland's two leading banks, which marks the most far‐reaching shake‐up of the global banking sector since the 2008 financial crisis, and a potential break‐through in the longstanding stalemate in Swiss–EU relations.

Electoral Systems in Sudan: In Quest for an Appropriate Type

This article reviews the types of electoral systems applied in Sudan since independence – in both democratic and military rules. It goes beyond that to touch on the general features of electoral behavior as well. It employs historical and descriptive approaches to examine some facts pertaining to the reality of elections and hindrances to democracy in the Sudan: <i>First</i>, the democratic process has been obstructed several times by military coups and regimes. <i>Second,</i> children who grew up under al-Bashir's Militant Islamic Regime (MIR) were deprived form exercising democracy or know anything about voting. <i>Third,</i> the lack of continual political participation hindered the process of accumulating political awareness that could enrich the formation of political culture. <i>Fourth,</i> the tribal influence in the socio-political life in many parts of the country, had negatively affected the political behavior of the ordinary people as well as the politicians. This political reality shatters any hope for proper democracy to work in the country. This essay argues that for such pluralism and ethno-cultural multiplicity entails the adoption of consensual democracy. However, it believes that this consociationalism should be supported by the Proportional Representation type of elections –along with federalism and presidential system.

Africa and the prospects of rotational democracy

AbstractSharing of social, economic, and political opportunities is crucial for the stability of many African states. Democracy has been identified as an inclusive framework that allows individuals to freely contest for these opportunities. However, in Africa, democracy appears not to work as compared to Western democratic societies. Some African political philosophers blame the problem on liberal democratic type practiced in the continent, which is modeled after the hegemonic socio‐political discourse in Europe and North America. Thus, it is argued that workable democratic model for Africa must be embedded in the continent's cultural and historical nuances. Consequently, initial effort by the Ghanaian philosopher Kwasi Wiredu appealed to the nonpartisan Consensus Democracy of traditional Akan society. But it is doubtful that the consensual model, which was successful in the mono‐ethnic traditional Akan society, will produce the same effect in a multi‐ethnic society as the modern African states. At present, ethnicity inter alia remains a major obstruction to democratization of the continent. Africa needs a democratic model that takes its rigid multi‐ethnic character into account instead of uncritically imposing global democratic knowledge to African situations or totally disregarding local knowledge of democracy. Therefore, I investigate how ethnicity inter alia can be accommodated in democratic practice. An experimental model called “Rotational Democracy” is introduced based on the traditional African social practice of One Cup, which embodies the phenomena of power rotation and rationing of the traditional society. The article demonstrates how indigenous knowledge can be the starting point for democratic practice in Africa.

,Konsens‘ und ,Kompromiss‘ in der Schweiz

Abstract In Swiss media, one can easily find statements that evaluate consensus and compromise positively and present them as typical of Switzerland. At first glance, these statements seem to fit perfectly with the assessments of numerous political scientists, according to whom Switzerland is a prime example of a consensus democracy. This article explores the characteristics of contemporary political discourses on consensus and compromise in Switzerland and identifies the underlying political concepts of ‘consensus’ and ‘compromise’ by use of methods from discourse analysis and conceptual history. These methods are applied to dictionaries and digital corpora covering media, parliamentary, and government language usage in Switzerland. Whenever possible, corresponding German data are also analyzed for comparison. The analysis shows that Swiss political discourses on consensus and compromise are characterized by linguistic patterns that cannot be found in corresponding German discourses to the same extent. These results strongly suggest a connection between the political discourses on consensus and compromise, the respective concepts, and the elements of consensus democracy in the Swiss political system, a finding which has various potential applications.

The consensus-clarifying role of deliberative mini-publics in constitutional amendment: A reply to Oran Doyle and Rachael Walsh

Abstract Oran Doyle and Rachael Walsh’s article “Constitutional Amendment and Public Will Formation: Deliberative Mini-Publics as a Tool for Consensus Democracy” is a welcome addition to the literature on Ireland’s efforts to integrate deliberative citizen-involved structures into its constitutional amendment process. We agree that the Citizens’ Assembly on abortion played a role in shaping the legal position that ultimately emerged in Irish law; we disagree, however, with the authors’ account of how that occurred. In particular, we do not believe the Irish experience supports the claim that deliberative mini-publics help to build the consensus for constitutional amendment. On the contrary, on each occasion where amendment processes incorporating a deliberative element have succeeded in Ireland, there has been clear evidence of an enduring pre-existing public consensus over the core of the amendment proposed. We suggest that the potential value of deliberative mini-publics might more accurately be seen as one of consensus-clarifying rather than consensus-building. While a mini-public may be unlikely to create a novel constitutional consensus, it can have a significant—potentially causal—role in converting a general and disparate desire for change into a specific form. That, in our view, is what occurred with the repeal and replacement of Ireland’s constitutional position on abortion. We argue that a careful analysis of the process provides tangible evidence that the Assembly affected the outcome in clear and specific ways: its significant impact was not in creating a constitutional consensus that had previously been absent, but rather, we argue, in putting on the agenda, and coalescing support around, a specific form of legal change.

Does the Reform of the Parliamentary and Presidential Threshold Strengthen the Presidential System in Indonesia?

The attempt to purify Indonesia's multiparty presidential system was only reflected after the Third Amendment to the 1945 Constitution. However, it took work to implement it. In practice. Various measures have been taken, including party alliances and introducing voting barriers in parliamentary elections. Therefore, analysing the relationship between electoral thresholds and their ideal proportions in the form of legal-political reforms to strengthen the Indonesian presidential system is interesting. This is in line with the purpose of this study, which is to uncover and analyse the legal politics of electoral thresholds in an attempt to strengthen the presidential system of government in Indonesia. The approach adopted in this study is a theoretical approach with legal, conceptual, comparative and historical approaches. This study concludes that the legitimate political renewal of the electoral vote threshold is not closely related to efforts to strengthen Indonesia's system of multiparty presidential government. The ideal way to reform the legal, political threshold for electoral votes would be to set the parliamentary threshold at 2.5%, but at the same time tighten controls over the parties participating in the election, and the 2.5% threshold serves as President to maintain a balance between the parliamentary and presidential thresholds. In addition, it is also important to strengthen consensus (consensus democracy) among coalition political parties. There is still a desire to abolish the presidential threshold through the People's Representative Council (DPR) instead of the Constitutional Court (MK).

The Concept and Practice of Democracy in Zimbabwe: A Call for Consensual Democracy

With the coming of independence, a new form of governance: majoritarian democracy was adopted in Zimbabwe just as it was suggested as the best in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. The British rule that influenced the adoption of majoritarian democracy in Zimbabwe argued that it enables transparency and fosters checks and balances on corruption. We argue that, in a democratic system, functioning from a majoritarian perspective, there ought to be space of enjoying freedoms and rights. There ought to be sufficient representation and contribution of citizens in democratic procedures and organisations. For many, a good democratic system should speak to their bread and butter issues: their socio-economic well-being. However, these have not been enjoyed by the masses in Zimbabwe. The political atmosphere is a sad one; politics is practised for the sake of gaining power and controlboth in the ruling and opposition parties, something that is immanent in multiparty under majoritarian democracy. This study seeks to outline these ills and address them with a suggestion of embracing consensual democracy as it was conceptualised by Kwasi Wiredu. The central argument is that democratisation has failed due to a well curated system that seem to prioritise rivalry in politics as opposed to nation building. The study suggests that consensual democracy can address persistent political ills in contemporary Zimbabwe and build a unified and prosperous nation. The essential tenets that can enable this emanate from a historical record of political thought in indigenous Zimbabwe, characterised by the conceptualisation of rational deliberation in decision-making and inclusiveness: a consensual system in politics.

A Comparative Analysis of the Implementation of 'Consensus Democracy' in China and Switzerland

The Consensus Democracy Theory, put forward by Lijphart, emphasizes the construction of a multi-consensus democracy. Switzerland is a typical country putting consensus democracy theory into practice. Its consensus democracy belief is rooted in its historical development and domestic political practice, and has become a typical case of practice and research. China also has the soil of consensus democratic theory, that is, the exploration and practice of the fundamental political system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. As one of the three basic political systems in China, the practice of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) system has prominent significance for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Swiss democracy shares similarities with CPPCC because of the same theoretical model between China and Switzerland. On the other hand, differences exist resulting from different social systems and historical development. Exploring the similarities and differences is of positive significance for the further development of socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

Reciprocal Communication and Political Deliberation on Twitter

Social media platforms such as Twitter/X are increasingly important for political communication but the empirical question as to whether such communication enhances democratic consensus building (the ideal of deliberative democracy) or instead contributes to societal polarisation via fostering of hate speech and “information disorders” such as echo chambers is worth exploring. Political deliberation involves reciprocal communication between users, but much of the recent research into politics on social media has focused on one-to-many communication, in particular the sharing and diffusion of information on Twitter via retweets. This paper presents a new approach to studying reciprocal political communication on Twitter, with a focus on extending network-analytic indicators of deliberation. We use the Twitter v2 API to collect a new dataset (#debatenight2020) of reciprocal communication on Twitter during the first debate of the 2020 US presidential election and show that a hashtag-based collection alone would have collected only 1% of the debate-related communication. Previous work into using social network analysis to measure deliberation has involved using discussion tree networks to quantify the extent of argumentation (maximum depth) and representation (maximum width); we extend these measures by explicitly incorporating reciprocal communication (via triad census) and the political partisanship of users (inferred via usage of partisan hashtags). Using these methods, we find evidence for reciprocal communication among partisan actors, but also point to a need for further research to understand what forms this communication takes.

Confronting and agonistic: what democracy requires of curricula

This paper draws upon the philosophical reconstruction of John Dewey to examine the demise of democracy by neoliberal elites as described by the likes of Noam Chomsky, who like Dewey, identifies that a key weakness of democracy is that the ontology or being of people has become largely apathetic. We consequently find ourselves living in a period of “post-democracy” as theorised by Crouch, Mouffe, and Rancière, who identify that imposed consensus by politicians and the media discourages people from dissenting and being agonistic. A major consequence of this is that the masses are diverted from challenging the hegemony of neoliberalism and instead focus upon much lesser issues related to cosmopolitanism. From this analysis, it is identified that what democracy requires of curricula—if they are to offer educational experiences—is that students should embody agonism as a way of thinking. According to Dewey, the method of democracy is to bring conflicts into the open rather than pretend they do not exist, and that the most important conflict is between the super wealthy and the working poor. Therefore, curricula ought to be designed to habituate students to grow in an agonistic way of being in order to challenge the presumed “consensus democracy” that is being used to marginalise the very real conflict the public has with neoliberal hegemony.

Embracing the Wisdom of Ancient Greece in the Era of Personalized Medicine-Uncertainty, Probabilistic Reasoning, and Democratic Consensus.

Further improvements of outcome after solid organ transplantation will depend on our ability to integrate personalized medicine in clinical routine. Not only better risk stratification or improved diagnostics, also targeted therapies and predictive markers of treatment success are needed, as there is a virtual standstill in the development and implementation of novel therapies for prevention and treatment of allograft rejection. The integration of clinical decision support algorithms and novel biomarkers in clinical practice will require a different reasoning, embracing concepts of uncertainty and probabilistic thinking as the ground truth is often unknown and the tools imperfect. This is important for communication between healthcare professionals, but patients and their caregivers also need to be informed and educated about the levels of uncertainty inherent to personalized medicine. In the translation of research findings and personalized medicine to routine clinical care, it remains crucial to maintain global consensus on major aspects of clinical routine, to avoid further divergence between centres and countries in the standard of care. Such consensus can only be reached when experts with divergent opinions are willing to transcend their own convictions, understand that there is not one single truth, and thus are able to embrace a level of uncertainty.

Majoritarian and consensual patterns in political news: A longitudinal British-Dutch study of expressions of media logic (2000-2020)

Much of the mediatization literature argues that the increased occurrence of expressions of media logic in political news coverage is driven by supranational factors including marketization, and postulates that contextual factors such as the national democratic model can explain the marked variations between countries. However, the relationship between such structural conditions and the occurrence of media-content elements in news coverage remains underexplored. In response, we compare the incidences of seven content expressions of media logic across a classic majoritarian democracy (UK) and a classic consensual democracy (the Netherlands). Innovatively, we additionally incorporate the dynamic political constellation of the two national governments. Our logistical regression analysis of 1463 newspaper articles shows that, as expected, these content expressions of media logic occur more often under majoritarian than under consensual styles of government. Our results further reveal that the political constellation of national governments offers a more refined explanation for how coverage behaves than the less dynamic variable of adopted democratic model.

Lived experiences of educators and leaders in multi-academy trusts in England: The colonisation of schools, the erosion of community engagement and the need for alternative futures

Reconceptualising the neoliberal project in education as a process of colonisation, this paper considers the effects of what the authors argue amounts to a reconstitution of schooling in England. This argument examines how the narrative about education’s liberatory purposes in support of human flourishing that gained particular prominence in the social democratic consensus following 1945, is becoming eroded and subjugated by a neo-colonial imaginary. This disavows past connections to local communities and undermines a democratic polity. The ontological colonisation of schools and teachers by ways of working rooted in neoliberalism is examined by drawing on research on the lived experience of schools and Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) and the narratives of educators and leaders who are part of them. The narratives illustrate how such neo-colonial processes appear to appropriate and reconstitute teacher identities and shape schools’ connections with their communities. The authors analyse and interpret narratives of those in schools and the spaces to re-construct and re-imagine possible alternative futures.

Polytheism as Political Form: Schmitt, Cassirer, Blumenberg

This article revisits the intersection of myth and political theology through readings of relevant texts by Carl Schmitt, Ernst Cassirer, and Hans Blumenberg. At stake is the question of whether myth can inform a concept of political polytheism that avoids the absolutist threat to democracy of Schmitt’s monotheistic brand of political theology. To answer this question, the present essay proceeds in three steps. It reconstructs the Schmittian model in contrast to polytheistic concepts of the political, then traces the notion of the myth of the state in Cassirer’s and Blumenberg’s work. Finally, it shows how Blumenberg arrives at a preliminary yet operative model of political polytheism that goes beyond conceptions of the liberal democratic consensus and reveals a political form of resistance to power.

Critical Reflections On Wiredu’s Consensual Democracy

This paper argues that Kwasi Wiredu’s consensual democracy is an inadequate alternative to liberal democracy in contemporary Africa because it neglects the beliefs in supernatural realities underpinning governance and political decisions in traditional societies on the continent. The paper holds that as evident in their worldviews and activities, traditional Africans do not depersonalise entities or segregate physical realities from spiritual ones. Deploying historical and conceptual analyses, the paper contends that, essentially, the deficiency of Wiredu’s argument lies in his declining to acknowledge the roles oaths and covenants play in the sustenance of Africa’s traditional governance systems. The paper thus holds that Wiredu’s discountenancing of the role of beliefs in supernatural realities in African societies generally may have resulted in this gap in his understanding of indigenous African political thought and practice.

Finding common ground: The delicate balance of political compromise in democracy

Finding common ground: The delicate balance of political compromise in democracy Associate Professor of Political Communication, Mariken A.C.G. van der Velden, explores the complexities of political compromise, including its impact on political representation and citizen support. Political compromise plays a crucial role in representative democracies, especially in multiparty consensus democracies. In such systems, nearly all political decision-making is subject to compromise among political parties. Political theorists have long emphasised the significance of compromise for liberal democracy. They argue that compromise is essential because it reflects a pluralistic view on partisanship and acknowledges the legitimacy of competing political claims for the common good.

System polityczny Szwajcarii, czyli przypadek jedyny w swoim rodzaju

POLITICAL SYSTEM OF SWITZERLAND OR ONE OF A KIND CASE Switzerland has a unique political system, because of its institutional curiosities and unique democratic procedures. It seems that everyone should be surprised by the same state construction that dialectically combines confederation with federation. The Swiss political system represents a rare model of assembly government, known also as parliamentary-committee system. Its main trait is the lack of power division as a foundation of democratic order. Bicameral parliament – the Federal Assembly, composed of the National Council as representation of people and the Council of States representing the cantons acts as supreme authority and appoints all remaining federal institutions. The mode of election of the National Council is based on strict proportional representation without electoral thresholds and with maximal openness of the whole electoral process. The Federal Council that is popularly considered as government is executive institution and always has seven members. The Swiss governments acts as a collective body without prime minister. One of the members of the Federal Council serves as president. He has only formal procedural duties and has no political prerogatives. And, what is important, contrary to the name of his office, the president is not head of federation, because this role falls to the entire Federal Council. Four strongest political parties of country are represented in the government, and in a result of this, the permanent cooperation of the Swiss system makes a unique consensus democracy.

The "Consent " in the cultural and civilizational development of Kazakhstan (socio-philosophical analysis)

The article provides a socio-philosophical analysis of approaches to defining the essence and content of the concept of consent as an idea, problem and principle. It applies a phenomenological methodology that allows us to record the phenomenon of consent and how it takes place. The concept of harmony in Kazakhstan's cultural and civilizational development is an important aspect in overcoming economic, socio-cultural and political crises, gaining socio-political and economic stability by the state. Only a public system based on the consent of citizens can effectively use the opportunities, resources and mechanisms for further development and qualitative transformation of all spheres of public life. Achieving social harmony is necessary since the main goal of social modernization is to enter the orbit of sustainable development. A multi-ethnic and multi-religious Kazakhstan can achieve this goal only by gaining civil peace and democratic consensus. Therefore, efforts should be made to organize and implement a discourse on a wide range of socially significant topics to achieve constructive social agreement.

Switzerland: Political Developments and Data in 2022

AbstractIn 2022, Switzerland's notorious fame as an “island of bliss” was significantly challenged by a sequence of numerous unprecedented large‐scale crises. While the country has managed to phase out most COVID‐19 protective measures already in the year's early weeks, the 202 Russian invasion of Ukraine internationally discredited neutrality—that is, one of the traditional pillars of Swiss identity. This article traces how Switzerland muddled through crisis after crisis. Moreover, it shows how domestic politics was affected by the distinct interconnectedness of the federal and regional (i.e., cantonal) electoral arenas, an above‐average number of direct‐democratic ballot proposals, as well as by the resignation of two out of seven members of the Federal Council. The article concludes by discussing two major and highly controversial “elephant‐in‐the‐room” issues that are continuing to shape the Swiss political discourse: Swiss–EU relations and institutional reforms to gear up Swiss‐style consensus democracy for future crises.