Democratic Deficiencies Research Articles

Perceptions of a Global Democratic Deficit: An International Survey Experiment

While scholars consider the global democratic deficit a key issue, we know little about citizens’ perceptions in this regard. To what extent and why do citizens perceive global democratic deficiencies? I conceptualize deficiencies absolutely and relatively—theorizing countries, knowledge, and framing as explanatory factors. Between 2018 and 2021, I conducted survey experiments on around 42,000 respondents in 17 highly diverse countries. Contrary to many scholarly assessments, I find that most people do not perceive major global democratic deficiencies, in the sense that global governance is generally not perceived as highly undemocratic in absolute terms and more democratic than developing democracies. However, the results vary by the object and aspect of inquiry: World politics (versus international organizations) and input (versus output) are perceived as less democratic. Plus, neither gains in relevant knowledge nor common framings affect public perceptions, which are thus quite robust. These findings add novel evidence to debates about global governance.

Unmasking the depoliticisation of ICT in digital competence frameworks for educators: a critical discourse study

ABSTRACT This study explores digital competence education by looking into how discourse in a typical digital competence framework for educators may or may not promote democracy in the way it features information and communication technology (ICT). The authors examined the Norwegian Professional Digital Competence Framework for Teachers, which is aligned with similar frameworks from all over the world and therefore offers insight into international discourse about ICT. They performed a critical discourse study (sociocognitive approach) to uncover inherent knowledge and assumptions about ICT. Findings show an adaptive approach to this technology, which is conveyed as a ‘tool’, ‘arena for participation’, ‘(communication) channel’ and ‘changing force’. Thus, there is a focus on participation in politics ON the internet. Politics OF the internet and ICT, however, is not mentioned, which indicates that the technology is naturalised and thereby kept away from democratic debate. This suggests a risk of democratic deficiency.

Legitimasi Demokratis dari Orkestrasi UNFCCC

Tujuan: Artikel ini dibuat dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui apakah orkestrasi sah secara demokratis atau tidak. Metode: Penelitian ini penulis memilih untuk menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan deskriptif. Hasil: Di sisi lain perdebatan tentang legitimasi dan defisit demokrasi politik internasional terus berlanjut. Sekretariat Konvensi Kerangka Kerja PBB tentang Perubahan Iklim (UNFCCC) secara progresif terlibat dalam proses orkestrasi yang berpuncak pada Perjanjian Paris 2015. Artikel ini akan membahas secara mendalam terkait upaya orkestrasi utama oleh UNFCCC baik sebelum dan sesudah Paris terbukti memiliki kekurangan demokrasi yang substantif, tidak terkecuali dalam hal partisipasi dan akuntabilitas. Kesimpulan: Dari pembahasan artikel ini bisa kita temukan pula tentang cara memperkuat legitimasi demokrasi orkestrasi.

Delayed arrival: planning, competition and conflict in the Rail Baltic terminal project in Tallinn, Estonia

ABSTRACT This article is an account of a planning process that is distributed and difficult to follow. By performing a thorough analysis of the design competition of the future Rail Baltic terminal in Tallinn, Estonia, it makes visible and critiques the decisions and dynamics enabled by the often-opaque processes of megaproject infrastructure planning and landmark design competitions. For this, the study first outlines a historiology of expectations for development created by new urban rail terminals. Then it relates the discourses of design, megaprojects and design competitions as trait-making processes with the potential to materialize future visions of society. The case study relies on expansive discourse analysis and in-depth expert interviews to trace key planning decisions, design strategies and stakeholder motivation impacting the planning of the Rail Baltic terminal and its role in the wider public realm of Tallinn. The study finds that the interlinked processes of megaproject planning and design competitions have inherent democratic deficiencies which can be counterproductive to benefitting the public realm. The results also suggest the need for a more socially responsible approach to planning infrastructure megaprojects.

An Evaluation of Predatory Governance in Uganda and Indonesia

The first part of this article theorises predatory governance in general and acmes some exceptions to the process. Subsequently, it reviews the characteristics of predatory governance literature in Africa and East Asia with emphasis on Uganda and Indonesia. The study shows how leaders utilise state resources and institutions for their self-interest and exclude the masses or tax payers who sustain such regimes. We show that, the extent to which regimes, influence policies on the general population politically or otherwise, creates inequality, poverty, unemployment, and bad governance. We, therefore, theorise that predatory governance is hinged on the idea that the state usually has limited capacity to protect citizen rights, the political and socio-economic spaces are usually controlled by the elites either through coercion, corruption or the use of violence. The impact of predatory governance and the developmental state as an approach for economic development has been discussed and we observe practical realities of vote-buying to win elections being a common practice in Uganda and Indonesia. In this understanding, both case scenarios portray an image of predatory behaviour. The study utilised secondary data to evaluate what predatory governance, its characteristics and impact. Findings show that predatory governance affects economic outcomes of a country, produces corruption, violence, nepotism, poverty, unemployment and shrinking democratic space and deficiencies to name but few.

Balancing mission creep, means, effectiveness and legitimacy at the World Anti-Doping Agency

Established in 1999, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was an ambitious project to harmonise anti-doping regulations globally. Since its creation, WADA has engaged in additional activities such as investigating doping allegations, managing whistleblowers and coordinating with national and international customs organisations. These activities demonstrate ‘mission creep’, a term denoting that WADA’s purpose has broadened from its original responsibilities. Lawrence (2008) argues that the relationship between an international non-governmental organisation’s legitimacy to regulate an issue and mission creep is related to its means (i.e., physical and non-physical resources) and effectiveness. This article explores how WADA’s mission creep has influenced its perceived legitimacy as the regulator of anti-doping, globally. Following analysis of 14 interviews with occupationally and globally diverse anti-doping professionals, three themes were identified: code implementation, representation, and conflicts of interest. It is argued that the legitimacy of WADA to regulate anti-doping has been weakened due to tensions created by responding to emerging challenges in order to maintain legitimacy, whilst trying to secure means. These tensions have diverted resources to new activities and, therefore, reduced WADA’s effectiveness in other activities; paradoxically undermining its legitimacy. Consequently, it is advised that WADA prioritises its responsibilities, looks for additional sources of means and addresses democratic deficiencies.

Understanding participation and participatory governance through the repository of Milena Dragićević Šešić's work

Participatory agenda in arts and culture represents a cutting-edge issue in the discourse of cultural policy. It has been seen as one which could fulfil the widening gap between the promise and failure of cultural democracy and influence democratic deficiencies that culture is facing. This paper focuses on clarification of the term participation and participatory governance in culture from its theoretical origin to its articulations and interpretations in the field of culture specifically. Methodologically, the paper builds on the analysis of literature and policy framework. In the literature analysis of the diverse conceptualisations of the participation in the field of culture, most specifically, participation in the sense of power devolution, the paper explores the repository of work by Milena Dragićević-Šešić and her contributions to the theoretical framework of the participation discussion. These contributions unravel the legacies and understandings of participation and participatory governance in culture and cultural policy from the perspective of (post)transitional context and countries in development.

The elephant in the room: illiberal politics in Montenegro

ABSTRACTMontenegro is at the same time considered both a success story as the leader of European integration in South-Eastern Europe and a country with severe democratic deficiencies. This paper builds upon the theory of democratic backsliding and uses theory-building process tracing to detect and analyse systematic patterns in the illiberal policies that the governing party uses to maintain its position in power. The three typical cases examined here reveal that assuring external control and maintaining the pretence of legality seem to be important elements of illiberal policies and that independent institutions and European standards are often used to assert and maintain control.

What sort of changes did the Spitzenkandidat process bring to the quality of the EU’s democracy?

In the 2014 and 2019 European elections, not only were parliamentary seats at stake, but more importantly, European citizens were given the opportunity to indirectly decide who would captain the ship of the European Commission for the next five years. Ahead of the elections, based on Article 17(7) of the Treaty on European Union, the European political parties nominated their lead candidates ( Spitzenkandidaten) for the Commission presidency and ran personalised, presidential-style campaigns across the member states. Although discarded in 2019, the Spitzenkandidat process brought about several political and institutional changes, while aiming to cure the EU’s democratic deficiencies. The process was conceived in 2014 as a way to make the selection of the Commission president more transparent and legitimate. At the same time, the level of politicisation was increased, with inter-institutional changes being implemented. The role of the European political parties was strengthened from that of being service providers to being proactive campaigners.

Transnational civil society and informal public spheres in the nuclear non-proliferation regime

Scholars charting the emergence of transnational public spheres often focus on the socio-spatial sites that are generated by civil society organisations in their interactions with the institutions of global governance. These sites can reflect either strong public spheres within the formal decision-making structures of international regimes, or segmented and general public spheres on their periphery. In practice, they all suffer key democratic deficiencies in the ability to either communicatively generate public opinion or achieve collective will-formation. I argue that if civil society organisations can successfully weave together both general and segmented public spheres on the periphery of international regimes, their individual democratic deficiencies could be addressed. To demonstrate evidence of these interconnected ‘informal public spheres’, I turn to the nuclear non-proliferation regime, where public deliberation has been largely invisible and ineffectual within the formal decision-making structures of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The emergence of a new civil society organisation-led ‘humanitarian initiative’ on the periphery of the regime, comprising multi-stakeholder initiatives in conjunction with civil society organised social forums, reflects the interconnection of segmented and general public spheres. This innovative initiative has effectively enhanced transnational public debate on disarmament, while gaining crucial political traction within the regime.

Does decentralisation make a difference? Comparing the democratic performance of central and regional governing systems in the United Kingdom

Decentralisation is frequently justified in terms of representation and participation, with its advocates emphasising the capacity of regional institutions to remedy the democratic deficiencies of the centre. Yet empirical examinations of the democratic performance of regional governing systems are scarce, and there is no analysis that systematically compares the operation of different tiers within the same state. This article responds to this significant lacuna. Drawing upon the tools of cross-national comparison, it develops an analytical framework that evaluates the effects of regional and national institutions on the dispersal of electoral payoffs. This framework is applied to the United Kingdom, to compare the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales with Westminster. Through this analysis, the article provides important empirical insights regarding the difference wrought by decentralisation and, in turn, contributes to a burgeoning body of literature that offers a more critical assessment of the relationship between decentralisation and such democratic goods.

The Clash of Solidarities in the European Union

The term solidarity is used extensively in the current political debate in Europe. Many times, the European Union is accused of a “lack of solidarity”. But is this really the case? From the perspective of political theory, Jurgen Habermas convincingly argues that solidarity beyond the nation state is indeed possible - even without a European demos. Since solidarity was artificially constructed within the nation state, it could very well expand into a form of transnational solidarity. However, the European Union is a complex sui generis institution, characterized by its multi-level governance. This paper therefore complements Habermas’ conception by Andrea Sangiovanni’s reciprocity-based internationalism which differentiates more detailed between national, member state and transnational solidarity. Moreover, the paper argues that the democratic deficiencies and the economic liberalization in the European Union led to a fourth form of solidarity: a revived solidarity with the nation state. The current situation within the European Union is thus not the result of a lack of solidarity. On the contrary, there is plenty of solidarity around. However, the parallel existence of these different forms of solidarity could not persist without conflicts under the given discourse where solidarity is framed as a zero-sum game. Hence, the European Union does not suffer from a lack of solidarity but rather from a clash of multiple solidarities.

Milices Maï-Maï, Dénonciation De L’impérialisme Et Politisation Des Masses Rurales Au Maniema (RDC)

Based on a documentary inquiry aimed at reconstructing the processes of denunciation of imperialism associated with the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD)’s war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), by the maï-maï militia of Maniema, the article examines under the lens of historical criticism (heuristic and hermeneutic) the politicoideological contents of the essential documents whose impact on the rural masses remains crucial: their over-politicization of the latter. The study shows how a political mobilization that initially targeted awareness-raising for the recruitment of new combatants among rural Congolese youths has reactivated the protesting reflex of the rural populations both towards the rebels and their Rwandan allies, and maï-maï combatants. The repeated abuses of the maï-maï militias have thus brought down the nationalist mask which their ideological propaganda maintained until then. The pervasive activism of youths and especially the emergence of radicalized groups confirm the thesis of political violence as an indicator of democratic deficiencies of a weakened state through processes of globalization badly assumed in the African Great Lakes area.

Advances in social movement theory since the global financial crisis

The social movement literature in Western Europe and North America has oriented much of its theoretical work towards micro-, meso-, and macro-level examinations of its subject of study but has rarely integrated these levels of analysis. This review article broadly documents the leading theoretical perspectives on social movements, while highlighting the contributions made in recent years with regard to the wave of protests across the globe – typified by the Occupy Movement and the ‘Arab Spring’ – and grievances that are relatively novel in qualitative or quantitative form such as austerity, precarity, and a sense of democratic deficiency. While these novel social processes have invigorated the specialized arena of ‘social movement studies’ and generated a resurgence of work on social movements beyond the field, this article argues for the need to interconnect levels of analysis in order to develop a more insightful account of contemporary contentious politics.

Urgent Reforms Taking Their Time in the Republic of Macedonia

Since 2001, the Republic of Macedonia had gone through several waves of international and national actions, which resulted in requests of the international community, primarily by the European Union, for systemic reform processes. The first wave came with the Ohrid Agreement, which brought armed ethnic-based conflict to an end. The second one emerged due to the usual association and accession commitments of a candidate state since 2005 and implementation of the Road Map for Visa Liberalisation between February 2008 and July 2009. The third wave came out of a severe political crisis in 2015, which had revealed a series of systemic and democratic deficiencies – from illegal interception of communications and political pressure against the judiciary, to violations of media freedoms and principles of fair elections. In June 2015, a Senior Expert’s Group summarised a set of recommendations for the European Commissions in a document titled: Urgent Reform Priorities for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This paper analyzes Macedonian slow path of reforms, affected by deficient inter-ethnic confidence, political tensions, decentralisation, administrative and political culture in the Macedonia and shortcomings within the of the rule of law.

Quasi-Quisling: co-design and the assembly of collaborateurs

In recent years, various critiques of participative approaches to design processes have been presented. Participatory urban planning has been subject to a specific form of criticism, which posits that such processes are ‘post-political’, inasmuch as they merely legitimise the power and political agendas of elites. In reviewing a case of participatory urban planning in Gothenburg, Sweden, this article suggests that actor-network theory can be operationalised as an alternative means to account for democratic deficiencies of co-design practices. It thus uses the concept of translation to describe how the original interests of participants may be betrayed, as successive translations cause objectives to drift. It also suggests that the key agency in these unfortunate betrayals is not human, but emerges through the material modes of collaboration. The article thus endeavours to contribute to the debate on how co-design processes may become more effective means to democratise urban planning and design.

The Three Levels of Citizenship within the European Union

European Union citizenship is derived from Member State nationality. This fact often has been considered a “birth defect” to be overcome by either disconnecting EU citizenship from Member State citizenship or by reversing the relationship in a federal model so that Member State citizenship would be derived from that of the Union. I argue in this essay that derivative citizenship in a union of states can be defended as a potentially stable and democratically attractive basic feature of the architecture of the EU polity where EU citizenship is perceived of as one layer in a multi-level model of democratic membership in a union of states such as the EU. This perspective is not a defense of the status quo, but rather allows for—or even requires—a series of reforms addressing a number of inconsistencies and democratic deficiencies in the current citizenship regime.Most academics writing about Union citizenship tend to compare it to that which they know best: Nation State citizenship. It then comes as no surprise when they conclude that the current construction of EU citizenship is internally incoherent, externally not sufficiently inclusive, and also lacking in democratic legitimacy. To a certain degree, I agree with this criticism; however, such authors often apply the wrong standard of comparison and therefore are likely to promote faulty solutions. As the EU Treaties clearly have spelled out since the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam, EU citizenship is complementary or additional to Member State nationality without replacing it. National citizenship is a constitutive element of EU citizenship and therefore cannot serve as an external standard of comparison.

The voice of the majority : The role of the group of 77 in the UN General Assembly

The staying power of the United Nations is remarkable. For nearly 70 years, UN membership has grown rapidly after newly independent countries joined its ranks. It is encouraging too that no country has felt a strong enough urge to leave the organization in spite of its democratic deficiencies. The composition and working methods of the Security Council, in particular, are sources of discontent for many, as is the failure of the UN to implement certain General Assembly resolutions. Nevertheless, international decision-making has never been as inclusive as it has been in the last few decades, especially in the Assembly, thanks in no small part to the commanding role played by the Group of 77 (G-77), the largest bloc at the UN.

Harakî Salafism in Norway: ‘The Saved Sect’ Hugs the Infidels

The article is a study of the Norwegian Salafi organization Islam Net, which aims at defining Islam Net in terms of recent research on European Salafism and assessing its capacity for public civic engagement. With reference to de Certeau’s concept of discourse, and Habermas’ concepts of democratic legitimacy and religion in the public sphere, it is found that Islam Net’s capacity for civic engagement is severely restricted by its non-acceptance of human rights-based values, since this non-acceptance justifies for public institutions to deny the organization presence and refuse dialogue with Islam Net. From Habermas’ viewpoint this is a potential democratic deficiency, since it may weaken the legitimacy of democracy among Islam Net’s members.

The Perspective of a Small Member State to the Democratic Deficiency of the ESM

The adoption and ratification process of the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM Treaty) has produced deep debates about this process and the European Union; about the (lack of a) link between the two; about democratic processes which allegedly have been short-circuited in the rush to a political/financial mechanism; about the rule of law and the rule of finance and expediency.Three decades ago, Estonia was part of a different constellation. Now, a part of the EU for the better part of the last decade, the debate about small versus large, about rules for all and procedures for some raise issues which touch not only Estonia; they are ones which can cross the borders into other economic associations and unions, such as the CIS or the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC or EurAsEC).The authors of this article seek to address some issues regarding the democratic legitimacy of the ESM Treaty. Several of the legislative choices made in the ESM Treaty have passed without sufficient public debate or transparency. A thesis is presented here that some solutions adopted by the ESM Treaty have a dubious value in the context of EU law as well as in the progress of democratization of the EU. The article pinpoints a shift in the voting powers to the detriment of smaller Member States. Above all, the legal foundations of judicial review by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) are questioned. The article reaches a generalized conclusion that deviation from the current decision processes and standards of democracy can be justifiable only if such a change is supported by the general public.