Representative Democracy Research Articles

Liberal Democracy Promotion and the Observation of Democracy

ABSTRACT This article suggests that the observation of democracy is at the core of liberal democracy promotion. Broadly conceived, the observation of democracy is evident in the democracy reports published by international organisations and non-state actors and common meaning making about “target” states in democracy promotion. Based on an historical inquiry focused on developments in the Permanent Mandates Commission, Trusteeship Council and, to lesser degree, Freedom House, I argue that the observation of democracy stems from practices invented in colonial contexts and includes long-lasting epistemic and political hierarchies. Though organisations develop varying styles, observations of democracy show similar components and a common orientation towards Western understandings of representative democracy. My argument contributes to research on how contemporary practices are enabled by and reproduce (post-) colonial patterns and historical reflection on epistemic and political hierarchies in democracy promotion.

Limited Congruence: Citizens’ Attitudes and Party Rhetoric About Referendums and Deliberative Practices

Both citizens and political parties refer to novel participatory practices in the contemporary crisis of representative democracy. Survey data indicate a growing demand for such practices within the electorate, while political parties have also begun discussing them more frequently. However, previous studies on citizens’ attitudes and parties’ discourse on democratic innovations rarely speak to each other. It remains unclear whether citizens’ attitudes and parties’ discourse are congruent. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature and analyses the extent to which political parties reflect citizens’ attitudes towards referendums and citizens’ deliberation in their manifestos. We cover 15 political parties in Germany and the UK. Our analysis uses party manifesto data between 2010 and 2024, and data from surveys conducted on national representative samples. Our findings reveal that political parties and citizens rarely have congruent approaches towards referendums and deliberative practices. People’s enthusiasm about referendums is hardly reflected in parties’ rhetoric, but the latter reacts gradually to the public appetite for deliberation. There are visible differences between opposition parties and those in government.

The added value of including citizen perspectives in a transition management process towards climate neutrality. Insights from an experience in the Swiss Alps

When citizens do not feel included in transition processes, implementation can become very difficult. Hence, we used a survey to include the perspective of citizens in one such transition process towards climate neutrality in the Swiss Alps, and analysed how this enhanced its legitimacy.Initiatives that foster transformative change often adopt a transdisciplinary approach by involving stakeholders from various sectors of society. Although transdisciplinary projects often emphasize a representative selection, it does not change the fact that a few stakeholders might develop visions, strategies, and policies that could affect many. A legitimate and transparent process is vital to ensure public acceptance and a successful implementation. In this study, we explore how citizens can be involved in transition management initiatives, based on a transition process towards climate neutrality in the Swiss Alps. Here, local citizens evaluated the vision developed by selected stakeholders, as well as the legitimacy of the process. The results were incorporated into workshops with the stakeholders. Based on the survey and interviews with stakeholders, we evaluate whether and how citizens’ views informed the transition process. Overall, citizens supported the vision developed by the stakeholders. The latter, in turn, highly valued the citizens’ perspectives, but were unsure about how to best integrate them. We conclude that the inclusion of citizens at an early stage can increase the legitimacy and transparency of transition processes.

Trust the People? Populism, Trust, and Support for Direct Democracy

Populism is commonly understood as a response to frustrations with the functioning of modern democracy, while the use of direct democratic mechanisms has been hailed as a remedy for the ailing of representative democracies. Indeed, populism’s emphasis on direct citizen participation in decision-making is tightly linked to its distrust of representative institutions and the political elite as the cornerstone of mediated representation. Trust, however, matters for any functioning democratic institutional arrangement, and we contend that its role warrants more attention when considering the viability of alternative modes of decision-making such as referendums, particularly in the nexus of populism–democracy. Using original public opinion surveys implemented in Argentina, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, we distinguish among different objects of trust—elites, institutions, “the people,” or the society at large. We also explore citizens’ levels of trust in these objects and their association with institutional designs of direct democracy. Our results offer preliminary insights into the importance of horizontal and vertical trust relationships in shaping procedural preferences for different configurations of direct democracy.

US Higher Education's Civic Responsibility to Educate for Informal Political Representation

AbstractIn this paper, Caitlin Murphy Brust and Hannah Widmaier begin with the assumption that highly selective institutions of higher education in the United States have a duty to promote civic equality. They employ Wendy Salkin's theory of informal political representation to examine how highly selective institutions should go about promoting civic equality. According to Salkin's theory, someone serves as an informal political representative (IPR) when they speak or act on behalf of others, without having been selected to do so via a systematized selection procedure. Brust and Widmaier argue that as part of their civic educational missions, highly selective institutions should educate their students for informal political representation, and this includes equipping students to (1) serve as effective IPRs, (2) be responsible audience members to others' informal political representation, and (3) deliberate carefully and with open‐mindedness about when they should or should not take on the role of IPR. Brust and Widmaier examine two types of injustice that students from marginalized communities face at highly selective institutions, and they explore how education for informal political representation might ameliorate those injustices. The authors conclude by offering some practical suggestions to institutional policymakers and educators.

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.

Assessment of Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Commercial Sparkling Wines Obtained Through Ancestral and Traditional Methods

Sparkling wines produced using the ancestral method, also known as Pét-Nats, are gaining more and more market share these days. However, scientific information on these wines is very scarce. The aim of this study was therefore to compare the physicochemical composition and sensory characteristics of a representative selection of commercial sparkling wines produced using the ancestral and traditional methods. Ancestral sparkling wines were more heterogeneous than traditional sparkling wines, as some of them showed lower internal pressure, higher turbidity, higher color intensity and lower effervescence. These differences are probably due to the fact that the protocol for making sparkling wines using the ancestral method is not as well defined as that for traditional sparkling wines. However, the ancestral method has the advantage of being able to work with riper grapes and a lower sulfur dioxide dosage.

Large bore access for transcatheter aortic valve replacement, endovascular aortic repair, and thoracic endovascular aortic repair. A review of anatomic challenges and operative considerations.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), endovascular aortic repair (EVAR), and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) are standard and prolific procedures in the modern cardiovascular world, and appropriate delivery of these endoprostheses requires adequate understanding of the requisite large bore access. Percutaneous large bore access is the preferred route but may be accompanied by complications like thrombosis, hemorrhage, or inability to deliver the device. Anatomic limitations such as vessel tortuosity, small size, and heavy calcification may require alternative approaches for successful large bore access. This study aimed to better define large bore access, as well as to elucidate optimal adjuncts and alternatives to enable successful delivery of large bore endoprostheses. A systematic review for "large bore access" in the cardiovascular literature was conducted on PubMed and the Cochrane Library Central according to PRISMA guidelines. Identified articles were filtered and sub-selected for TAVR, EVAR, and TEVAR; studies related to other large bore interventions were excluded. A representative selection of 39 full-text studies included both cardiac and vascular studies and was critically interpreted to identify a consensus definition for large bore access, challenging anatomy, and adjuncts or alternative approaches to the standard transfemoral approach. Transfemoral access remains the first-line approach but in the setting of unfavorable anatomy, adjunct maneuvers (e.g. intravascular lithotripsy, endoconduits) or alternative approaches (supra-aortic, transcaval) help decrease morbidity, mortality, length of procedure, and overall health care cost in large bore access.

Was the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission an act of dispossession?

AbstractThe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) has been described as one of the most comprehensive regional and national governance structures for Indigenous people in Australia. This paper looks briefly at its operational life between 1990 and 2005 and focusses on its abolition, arguing that this was an act of dispossession. The ATSIC was, for its time, a remarkable achievement for both the nation state and Indigenous people. Acting as an institution to both represent and deliver services to Indigenous people, the ATSIC model was, and could have remained, a powerful organisation for enacting critical change. Constructed and then removed by the nation state, the ATSIC's abolition dispossessed Indigenous people of a political framework dedicated to organising an Indigenous collective voice. This dispossession, different from earlier waves of dispossession from land, resources and cultural freedoms, can be understood by the application of critical Indigenous institutional analysis. Through its own structure and electoral representation, the ATSIC had made visible the quest for self‐determination and gave Indigenous people decision‐making powers not since replicated. Redirecting ATSIC's limited decision making back to government exposed the illusion of control. The ATSIC's abolition left a void in the growing capability of Indigenous people to self‐determine and a gaping hole in Australia's national political imagination.

Democratization and Peace after Civil War—What Difference Can International Engagement Make? Insights from Liberia

Abstract What role can international engagement play for the relationship between post-conflict democratization and conflict recurrence? Empirical evidence indicates that democratization risks triggering violence. Consequently, some scholars criticize the liberal peacebuilding approach, which centers on the promotion of democracy and competitive elections with the aim of fostering peace after civil wars. This article (1) illustrates the risks and potential of post-conflict democratization and (2) traces the effect of international support in this context. It builds on the existing literature yet goes beyond the concentration on peacekeeping forces and places particular attention on democracy promotion. The analysis draws on rich empirical data from Liberia, which is an ideal case to explore this relationship. Twice, democratic elections followed in the wake of a devastating civil war in Liberia. The first post-war elections in 1997 are often cited as an example of how externally induced democratization triggers renewed violence. The democratization process following the end of the second civil war in 2003, in contrast, is regarded as having strengthened peace. The analysis shows that international (democracy) support constitutes a key explanatory factor in the Liberian case by reducing and even substituting for the weakness and lack of credibility of local democratic institutions and procedures.

Conservative turn and political identity: challenges to democracy in Indonesia after presidential election 2019

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to examine the conservative shift and identity politics: challenges to democracy in Indonesia after the 2019 presidential election. In this research, the author uses a political sociology approach as a perspective in conducting the analysis. The research method in this study uses a qualitative approach by emphasizing literature review data or literature studies related to the theme in the article. The available data is used as the basis for exploration by using sentences that are connected to form phrases and qualitative analysis. It is known that in political life, ethnic identity is used as a vote banker. Meanwhile, Islamic conservatism and populism are religious forces that disrupt electoral democracy. Issues of identity politics, conservatism, and Islamic populism will continue to grow if moderate Islamic forces such as Muhammadiyah and NU do not emerge in political and religious life.

AI versus AI for democracy: exploring the potential of adversarial machine learning to enhance privacy and deliberative decision-making in elections

AbstractOur democratic systems have been challenged by the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and its pervasive usage in our society. For instance, by analyzing individuals’ social media data, AI algorithms may develop detailed user profiles that capture individuals’ specific interests and susceptibilities. These profiles are leveraged to derive personalized propaganda, with the aim of influencing individuals toward specific political opinions. To address this challenge, the value of privacy can serve as a bridge, as having a sense of privacy can create space for people to reflect on their own political stance prior to making critical decisions, such as voting for an election. In this paper, we explore a novel approach by harnessing the potential of AI to enhance the privacy of social-media data. By leveraging adversarial machine learning, i.e., “AI versus AI,” we aim to fool AI-generated user profiles to help users hold a stake in resisting political profiling and preserve the deliberative nature of their political choices. More specifically, our approach probes the conceptual possibility of infusing people’s social media data with minor alterations that can disturb user profiling, thereby reducing the efficacy of the personalized influences generated by political actors. Our study delineates the boundary of ethical and practical implications associated with this ‘AI versus AI’ approach, highlighting the factors for the AI and ethics community to consider in facilitating deliberative decision-making toward democratic elections.

Paradox of Criminal Provisions Formulation Regarding Reporting of Political Party Campaign Funds in the 2024 General Election

Political parties as a form of organization whose scope is the political field make it a primary position in modern democracy which is required to be in line with democratic norms and election principles. The characteristics of political parties as legal subjects (subjectum juris) of corporations/public legal entities that can also act in the private sphere that are attached to legal consequences for all actions or deeds, and legal relationships, both in the administrative, civil, and criminal spheres. One of the actions or legal acts of political parties in the Election is the legal obligation to report campaign funds honestly, accountably, and transparently in accordance with the principles of organizing elections as a legal act that has the potential to have administrative and criminal consequences. In several formulations of criminal provisions of the Election Law which are specifically formulated for political parties as legal subjects (subjectum juris) of corporations, although the construction of the articles does not explicitly mention political parties, but refers to the phrase Election Participants which consists of 5 Articles, namely Article 496, Article 525 Paragraph (2), Article 526 Paragraph (2), Article 527, and Article 528 Paragraph (1) of the a quo Law. One of the actions or legal acts of political parties that has the potential to be subject to criminal penalties is the provision of Article 496 of the a quo Law related to election participants who intentionally provide false information in the Election campaign fund report, which constructively-holistically reaps problems in the actions or legal actions of political parties as election participants as well as the problem of deadlocked norms in related articles in the a quo Law.

Incompleteness: Remarks on Arendt Method

Hannah Arendt is commonly criticized for defining action as an end in itself, of horizontal power and of councils as an alternative to representative democracy that is unrealistic and unrealizable. In contrast, I show how much Arendt was concerned about the dangers of these concepts: the replacement of action by fabrication, of power by domination and violence, and the impossibility of a council democracy in the face of a highly administrative and depoliticized society. Arendt shows how these hybrid forms revealed their pure forms as a hidden tradition in revolutionary situations. The supposed incompleteness and failure of a struggle for another society can therefore be understood as a recurring possibility and reality and thus as a specific condition of the political. The critique of the hybrid form also includes the critique of modern scientific thought and political thought.

The (Il)legitimacy of Constitutional Amendments in Africa and Democratic Backsliding

Abstract In many African countries with hegemonic-party or de facto one-party systems, political leaders have historically exploited ostensibly proper constitutional amendments to undermine constitutionalism, a practice raising questions about the legitimacy, or lack thereof, of such amendments. This article argues that amendment legitimacy is contingent on achieving ‘broad consensus’, a concept endorsed by the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. Traditional amendment procedures, such as supermajorities and referendums, while crucial, have proven to be imperfect proxies for ensuring such broad consensus. To more effectively safeguard the core constitutional rules of democratic governance, this article contends that political parties must be recognised as key sites of power division and checks and balances. Accordingly, constitutional amendment procedures should require some level of cross-party approval for key amendments, thus preventing individual political groups, regardless of their dominance, from unilaterally altering fundamental rules of the game. This approach would not only enhance the legitimacy of amendments but also serve as a safeguard against contemporary forms of democratic backsliding, where incumbents exploit formal processes to undermine democratic competition. While this process might make constitutional changes more difficult, it would apply only to a narrow set of fundamental aspects of constitutional democracy. Moreover, it does not necessarily conflict with popular self-governance (and its majoritarian expression), but instead calls for an inclusive re-imagining of majoritarianism.

Application of Natural (Plant) Fibers Particularly Hemp Fiber as Reinforcement in Hybrid Polymer Composites - Part III. Investigations of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Composites Reinforced with Hemp Fibers

ABSTRACT The article is the third part of a multi-directional analysis of the possibilities, advisability and validity of using natural plant fibers (NPFs) as a reinforcement for polymer structural composites that can be used in the shipbuilding industry in Poland. As a result of the analysis of macroeconomic indicators and natural and non-natural factors regarding NPFs, a representative selection of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) was made as the raw material to be used to reinforce these composites. Methods and test results are presented enabling comparison of the physical and mechanical properties of the new pro-ecological construction material–hemp fiber reinforced polymer (HFRP), reinforced with fabric made of unmodified and chemically modified hemp fibers.

The Apple Cart & On the Rocks: Is Bernard Shaw a Supporter of Reformative Dictatorship?

ABSTRACT George Bernard Shaw’s political comedies, The Apple Cart and On the Rocks, explore loopholes of representative democracy and Shaw’s prospect for reformative dictatorship as an alternative. The Apple Cart reveals the political apathy of English people with all good social welfare in the late twentieth century, which naturally leads to the parliamentary politics controlled by powerful conglomerates. In On the Rocks, representative democracy fails to address extreme unemployment, and the reform plan of the prime minister, Sir Arthur, faces opposition from both the labor class and the conservative. Therefore, Shaw hints at the temporary necessity for reformative dictatorship within constitutional limits.

Slum upgrading and participation: Insights from a marginalized neighbourhood in Buenos Aires

This paper rethinks participation in slum upgrading beyond a well-established dichotomy of “top-down” and “bottom-up” processes and instead proposes a relational and strategic approach to urban transformation. Based on qualitative research with a small informal settlement, Barrio Saldías, in Buenos Aires, that fell off the city government's agenda, this paper explores the role of participation in promoting upgrading from the margins. It argues that Saldías differs from instances of community-led upgrading due to the central role of party brokers and political representatives (especially from the local state) alongside residents, all of whom participate together in a political climate dominated by the discourses of citizen participation and slum upgrading. Rather than collapsing these experiences into the logic of clientelism, participation is centred as the articulatory logic based on a shared desire and commitment to transforming urban space, towards multiple political ends. Participatory upgrading in Saldías exceeds the narrow focus of project-centric approaches and draws on a wider trajectory of participation in Buenos Aires. It demonstrates this through an analysis of three moments of participatory upgrading in Saldías.

How can we accept ‘our’ decisions?: an experimental study on lottocracy, epistocracy, and electoral democracy

Abstract Lottocracy and epistocracy have received deeply insightful attention as political regimes. Herein, by conducting an experiment using an online survey, we explored the extent to which public opinion is receptive to political decisions under various regimes regarding two environmental policies: education policy and environmental tax policy. By doing so, we examined whether the presence of tax burdens affected the acceptability of political regimes, i.e., electoral democracy, lottocracy, and epistocracy. Our results revealed that decisions based on lottocracy and epistocracy were significantly less acceptable than those based on electoral democracy. Nevertheless, lottocratic and epistocratic decisions were more acceptable regarding the issue of environmental tax policy. The difference was mainly attributed to people's rejection of environmental tax policy offsetting their rejection of lottocracy and epistocracy. This suggests, first, that decisions based on electoral democracy increase policies' acceptability if they do not involve taxation, and second, that the status of whether or not a decision is electoral does not significantly affect policy acceptability if taxation is involved, whereas on the other hand, people are sensitive to differences between the regimes if the policy does not involve taxation.

The Establishment of Economic Dirigism In Maritime Trade of Turkey, 1923–1950

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the establishment of the republican regime in Turkey in 1923, the policy of economic dirigisme began to dominate the markets step by step. This article aims to analyse the effects of economic dirigisme on maritime trade for a quarter of a century and furnishes an illustrative case delineating how the government’s favoured economic policy attenuated the developmental prospects of maritime commerce. Throughout this temporal span, endeavours advocating a laissez-faire market policy found themselves systematically marginalized, as the juggernaut of economic dirigisme unfolded. The corollary of this policy was a precipitous decline in the operational efficiency of maritime trade. The proclivity for deploying antiquated ships escalated the inherent risks of maritime accidents. Legislative initiatives, exemplified by the promulgation of cabotage laws and the imposition of onerous taxes, erected formidable impediments that curtailed the operability of foreign-flagged vessels in Turkish ports. Concurrently, the waning trade potential cast a pall over the developmental trajectory of Anatolian cities.