Principles Of Democratic Governance Research Articles

Reviewing Southern Africa’s Status as a Developmental Region through Governance and Development

This case study discusses how the democratic governance principles and norms impact development in the SADC, and how institutional and structural reforms require greater participation by society to address the governance challenges encountered in this subregion of Africa. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to examine and assess the relationship between SADC’s governance, democratic principles and norms, development plans and processes. A comparative analysis was conducted using SADC’s key democratic achievement connected to policies, processes, and remaining challenges. Subsequently, the key causes of SADC’s slow development on the African continent were explored, focusing on the failure to institutionalise liberal democratic governance consistently during postcolonial transition periods, speculating SADC’s slow development. The findings suggest that SADC is impacted by democratic principles, norms, and processes, such as local governance, civil society, and decentralisation of power. Bearing in mind Southern Africa’s economic frailty, elevated levels of civil unrest and poor service delivery, SADC authorities require a strong sub-regional governance strategy supported by robust national programmes to determine and overcome the factors hindering the institutionalisation of democratic principles in SADC, and promote strengthened institutional capacity. The unambiguous progression towards the consolidation of democracy, within the SADC, has impacted the governance and development successes of the region, resulting in democratic values and practices remaining shallowly rooted, and slow progress toward open and transparent governance.

THE NATIONAL STATE IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION AND GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

The article provides a theoretical and methodological analysis of the processes of globalization and global democracy, examining how these processes alter the position, role, and functions of the modern nation-state while it contends with challenges posed by globalization yet strives to maintain its sovereignty.
 It is characterized that under the pressure of globalization, changes are occurring in the political and economic spheres that influence nation-states, leading to a gradual erosion of their sovereignty and increased susceptibility to economic influences from other states or transnational corporations.
 It is noted that the processes of globalization demonstrate the inability of states to fully protect their own interests and citizens from global economic and financial crises, informational impacts, environmental degradation, etc. In such circumstances, the nation-state is no longer the primary actor in the system of international relations, resulting in weakened centralized state institutions, shifts in the perception of state sovereignty, and the emergence of new structures within the global governance system.
 It is substantiated that global democracy, as a phenomenon introduced by the processes of globalization, is a form of implementation of the universal system of political democratic values as the basis for building a democratic society and the formation of public institutions that are the basis of democracy.
 It is determined that global democracy is a process of relations between states based on a certain value and normative basis that unites them and keeps them active in the field of certain relations, characterized by the improvement of interconnection between states through the formation of a single information space and the need for a new political order of the world.
 It is emphasized that the processes of globalization and global democracy are objective processes of convergence of political systems of the world, formation of a policy of common standards and approaches to solving common civilization problems.
 It is concluded that for Ukraine, in the context of globalization and global democracy, the main factors of strengthening its sovereignty are the establishment of relations with the international community on the principles of democratic governance, development of a competitive economy, democratization of all spheres of public life, socio-political unity of a civil nation, territorial integrity, and sustainable development of the state.

Big Little Election Lies: Cynical and Credulous Evaluations of Electoral Fraud

Abstract The ‘Big Lie’ in American politics has sparked intense concern about the erosion of public confidence in the integrity of US elections—raising questions about the legitimacy of the authorities, institutions, and principles of democratic governance. Cynicism generated from misinformation about trustworthy elections has attracted a growing body of individual-level social-psychological research in America and Europe. Another common problem found around the world, however, which has received far less attention, concerns credulous citizens who express considerable faith and confidence in flawed contests. This study theorises that at macro-level, the accuracy of any public judgments about trustworthy elections is likely to be mediated by the information environment in open and closed societies, as well as by the type of regime. To understand these issues, Part I summarises the conceptual and theoretical argument about trust and trustworthiness. Part II describes the sources of evidence. To apply the theory, data on public opinion is drawn from around 85 societies around the globe included in Waves 6 and 7 of the World Values Survey (2010–2022), with measures of electoral trust and subjective perceptions of electoral integrity among ordinary citizens. Institutional electoral performance indices are drawn from the Varieties of Democracy project (V-Dem 12.0). Part III analyses how far these independent estimates match public judgments of the trustworthiness of elections in each country – and how far such relationships are conditioned by the type of information society as well as by the type of regime. Part IV highlights the key findings and considers their broader implications for understanding the macro-level conditions for trust and trustworthiness.

Reformation Public Administration in Ukraine in the Context of European Integration: Current State, Problems and Priorities

"The research is focused on the problem of reforming public management in Ukraine. An analysis of the current state of reforming public management in Ukraine has been carried out. It has been substantiated that the reformation of public administration and local self-government should be carried out in accordance with European standards and democratic governance principles. The legal framework for reforming public administration and local self-government has been analyzed. It has been emphasized that the current state of development of Ukrainian legislation in this area requires a critical rethinking of the existing norms, overcoming contradictions and inconsistencies between them and indicates the need to adopt a number of new legislative acts. The analysis of the current state of reforming public management in Ukraine has shown that most public authorities have been formed in independent Ukraine; there were changes in organizing the work of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, central and local executive authorities, and the system of local self-government bodies; the processes of modernizing the public service are underway; a number of positive steps have been taken towards reforming public administration and local selfgovernment, and the decentralization reform was actively implemented in 2014-2021. The necessity of further optimization of the central executive authorities’ system, modernization of the public service and human resource management, and completion of decentralization processes was emphasized. The main provisions of the Strategy for Public Administration Reform of Ukraine for 2022-2025 and the Concept for Reforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Organization of Power in Ukraine were analyzed, as well as other strategic and conceptual documents adopted in Ukraine for the purpose of implementing public management reform. The theoretical construction of a new model of public management based on European principles and standards has been substantiated. Strategic priorities for reforming public management in Ukraine in the context of European integration have been identified."

Campus Governance in U.S. Universities and Colleges

The governance of universities and colleges in the United States basically follows the concept and spirit of democracy embraced by the nation from its birth. The systems and practices in place at most U.S. institutions of higher learning include collaborative, representative, or collective decision-making arrangements known as shared governance. However, these systems and practices are hardly uniform due to the diversity of governance patterns that reflect the unique and different history, needs, and mission of a particular institution. Sometimes they are differentiated from, and contrasted with, corporate, business, and more authoritarian or centralized forms of institutional governance.
 In contrast with university governance elsewhere in the world—that can range from strong central government control to private self-regulated operations—the U.S. forms of campus governance have emerged in a country that does not have centralized authority over education. U.S. institutions of higher learning respond to a variety of controls and interests that are on display variously at public, private non-profit, private for-profit, and religious universities. Governance, authority, and administration are spread across a wide spectrum of players, including governing boards; presidents, chancellors, and other administrators; the academy/faculty; administrative staff; campus committees; students; and, even some external factors.
 Shared governance is not a perfect formula or panacea for university administration and decision-making. It does, however, provide a methodology, system, and concept that can help guide the leadership of a university as it approaches the administration and conduct of its educational responsibilities. In today’s higher education environment, the term governance is rather expansive. In one sense, it means top-down governance that is the rightful role and authority of an institutional board charged with overseeing policy, programming, performance, and executive guidance and evaluation. But, it also variously means the use of institutional strategies, operations, and components to distribute, disseminate, and “share” authority and responsibilities for a university’s administrative, management, and decision-making functions, i.e., “on-campus governance.” In this respect, shared governance “borrows” many of the attributes and principles of democratic government. In any case, shared governance, in its many forms and applications, is widely practiced in U.S. universities, including Delta State University.

Decentralisation, entrepreneurialism and democratization processes in urban governance in Tamale, Ghana

ABSTRACT A concept of urban governance involving decentralization, entrepreneurialism and democracy (DED), and designed to promote sustainable and inclusive urban development, is proposed as an instrument of participatory, multi-stakeholder engagements and relationships, on the one hand, and the alignment of policy with gaps that emerge from practice, on the other. This concept is used to assess urban governance practices in Tamale, Ghana. The study identified substantial policy–practice gaps, especially with respect to the application of decentralization and democratic governance principles, although entrepreneurism made clear contributions to the development in particular of informal sectors that dominate the city’s economy.

A History of IATEFL

You would be forgiven for walking past this book in a bookshop – after all, how gripping is a history of an association likely to be? – but in fact, you would be missing a treat, because, in its own understated way, A History of IATEFL is a real page-turner. Shelagh Rixon and Richard Smith have put together not just a thorough historical account of how the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language was formed and how it grew into what it is today, but also a fascinating story of the squabbles, the plotting, and the occasional full-blown revolts that went on in the early days between the founders and those who wanted IATEFL to take a more radical path. There were some colourful figures and some big egos involved, but more importantly, the infighting reflected deep-rooted, passionately held disagreements about the English language, English language teaching, and principles of democratic governance. While the last 30 years have seen fewer public fights, the tensions remain, because, of course, the disagreements remain: questions about the ownership of English, the best way to teach, and the running of the organization are as hotly disputed now as they were then. So what we have here is not just a good reference work, but also a very good yarn.

Democratic Governance, Self-Fulfillment and Disability: Web Accessibility Under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the First Amendment

The Americans with Disabilities Act celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2015. Enacted by Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, the ADA was designed to ensure that people with disabilities are given “independence, freedom of choice, control of their lives, the opportunity to blend fully and equally into the rich mosaic of the American mainstream.” The ADA defines the kinds of public and private spaces that must provide access and accommodations to the disabled. Missing from that list, because of the ADA's timing, is the Internet, effectively shutting the disabled out of the rich marketplace of ideas online. This article examines both the case law surrounding this omission and delays by the executive and legislative branches in extending the ADA to the Internet. It argues that making the Internet a “place of public accommodation” under the ADA is supported by First Amendment principles of democratic governance and self-fulfillment.

Neoliberalization and mega-events: The transition of Rio de Janeiro’s hybrid urban order

ABSTRACTThe current developments in Rio de Janeiro in the wake of the 2014 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games have accelerated the transition from a hybrid urban order to a new urban order of intensified neoliberalization and commodification. This transition is a complex and contradictory process that entails both rollback and rollout features of neoliberalism, as well as a permanent restructuring of sociospatial relations and political arrangements. By discussing the ongoing policies and politics of urban restructuring, we examine the creative destruction of urban structures, institutional arrangements, and regulations of urban space with the transformation of 3 sites in Rio de Janeiro—Barra da Tijuca, the port district, and the South Zone. The process of variegated neoliberalization generates new modes of production and reproduction, which threaten the principles of democratic governance and universalization of rights to the city.

Globalization and Democratization in Nigeria’s Quest for Democratic Governance in the Fourth Republic

Following the trend of global democratic change, Nigeria like many other developing countries struggle to abandon military rule for democracy. The fifteen years of fourth republic democratic experiment in Nigeria have been characterize with misfortunes of good democratic governance. Several efforts made to consolidate good democratic governance in the country were simply thrown away. The expectations of Nigerians in 1999 when democracy return after fifteen long years of military rule were high. However these expectations and optimism were unfortunately quashed. The paper critically investigates this situation and assess the challenges surrounding the quest for effective democratic governance in the country within the era of global democratic change. In conclusion the paper emphasize on restructuring attitudes, institutions and resources towards the principles of democratic governance. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n1p386

Democratic Governance for Inclusion: a Case Study of a Greek Primary School Welcoming Roma Pupils

ABSTRACTThe focus of this paper is how changes in school governance in one state primary school in a city in central Greece have resulted in a significant degree of inclusion for Roma children. This inclusivity runs counter to the disturbing occurrence of the social and ethnic segregation of a group of locally resident Roma children within schools. This paper reports from a case study that took place in one primary school with a large number of Roma pupils in a city in Greece. We argue for the importance of democratic governance as a pedagogic approach and as a method for the inclusion and empowerment of disadvantaged groups within educational settings. We initially define democratic governance by highlighting the human rights framework that underpins it. We describe the historical and social context of the research field before discussing the school routine and the methods the teachers adopt so as to contribute to Roma inclusivity in the classroom. Our account is informed by an interview conducted with the school’s head teacher and various stakeholders’ narratives. This paper suggests that positive educational initiatives designed to include the parents and children of disadvantaged groups like Roma communities can succeed. We argue that when core principles of democratic governance extend beyond the school and into other community political structures, progress towards inclusion is possible.

The State of Malapportionment in the World: One Person, One Vote?

Malapportionment — the discrepancy between the share of legislative seats and the share of the population, or electorates, within a given geographical unit — violates one of the fundamental principles of democratic government, namely, “one person, one vote.” It also leads to undesirable governance in several ways. Despite its importance, relatively little research exists on this topic. This study attempts to fill this gap by highlighting two aspects. First, we provide the most extensive dataset of malapportionment currently available, accumulating data from 83 countries and 216 elections. This dataset compares the following measures of malapportionment: (1) the Loosemore–Hanby index-based measure provided in Samuels and Snyder (2001), called MALSS, in this study, (2) the ratio of largest-to-smallest districts, or the max–min ratio (MALMAXMIN), and (3) MALGINI, which employs the calculation method of the Gini index. Our analyses show that MALSS and MALGINI are highly correlated, but MALMAXMIN yields a highly different value in comparison with MALSS and MALGINI. Second, our regression analyses, using a new database we developed, show that most of the factors that previously argued to influence the degree of malapportionment are not robustly significant, except for the single-member district (SMD) electoral formula.

The ‘Kafkaesque Accountability’ of International Governance in Kosovo

This article explores the institutionalized and legalized forms of ‘unaccountability’ evident during the United Nation's protracted and extensive administration of Kosovo, which were implemented to protect the UN from liability in case the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo was accused of human rights violations in Kosovo. Two mechanisms were put in place to review the accountability of international governance in Kosovo: the Ombudsperson Institution and later the Human Rights Advisory Panel. This article highlights how the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo systematically restricted and obstructed the operation of these mechanisms, by constraining the space for the independent and meaningful investigation of cases, by invoking immunity safeguards, and by failing to cooperate and remedy human rights abuses caused by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. This article argues that avoiding accountability for human rights abuses can seriously undermine the legitimacy of UN peacekeeping missions, establishing negative practices and losing the trust of the local population, which ultimately encourages undemocratic practices among weak and fragile local institutions. At the global level, any attempt to take on greater international responsibility without accountability harms the prospects for establishing global institutions structured around the principles of democratic governance.

It Wasn’t in My Contract: Security Privatization and Civilian Control

An increase in the use of private military and security contractors over the last two decades has sparked a debate over whether their employment enhances or detracts from government control of its security agents. Although there is a rich literature on civilian control of military agents, there is still disagreement on the operationalization of control, and there has been little attempt to apply these theories to private actors. This article contributes to both discussions by offering a synthesis of theories of control and comparing features specific to public versus private agents that may affect control. The author offers the hypothesis that the principles of democratic governance are likely to be more secure when policy is carried out by public agents.

The European Union and Democracy Promotion in Bad Neighbourhoods: The Case of Central Asia

This article examines European Union democracy promotion in Central Asia. It is found that the policy is high on rhetoric but remains low on delivery. Relatively low levels of assistance were found, concentrating mainly on good governance instead of democratisation. Furthermore, strong instruments are hardly used; even the principle of positive conditionality lacks observance. Three explanatory propositions are outlined, one drawing on the EU's multi-level system of governance, one on the structure of resonance among the target societies and one on the resource relations between the EU and the Central Asian states. In conclusion it is argued that the EU's political agenda in Central Asia is driven more by security and its self-interests than by the norms and principles of democratic governance.

The European Union and Democracy Promotion in Africa: The Case of Ghana

This article contrasts European Union (EU) democracy promotion policy in Africa with the reality of its implementation in Ghana. The rhetorical vigour of EU democracy promotion policy is outlined initially, followed by an investigation into EU democracy and governance assistance in Ghana, inclusive of European Community and member states' support. It is found that the policy is high on rhetoric but remains low on delivery. It is argued that if policy performance is poor in Ghana, a favourable political environment, then it is unlikely to be better elsewhere in Africa. Three explanatory propositions of the rhetoric-reality gap are outlined, one bureaucratic, one political and one economic, and then applied to the Ghana case. Conclusions are two-fold. First, the EU's political activities in Africa are driven more by its self-interests than by the norms and principles of democratic governance. Second, democracy is narrowly conceived by the EU, being more concerned with limiting state power than extending pop...

Building dynamic democratic governance and HIV‐resilient societies

HIV epidemics continue to spread around the world. Although most responses have emphasized medical approaches, the HIV and AIDS situation could be further improved by applying good governance principles. In analyzing national responses to HIV and AIDS from Brazil, Thailand, and Uganda, common factors consistent with democratic governance principles can be found. These factors are the strategic vision of political leaders, timely responses, strong and effective civil society participation, multisectoral mobilization, balancing prevention and treatment approaches, respecting human rights, and transparency. By building knowledge‐bases, advocating policy improvement and taking strategic actions for programmatic responses, countries in South‐East Asia have developed an Early Warning Rapid Response System which applies good governance principles for multisectoral actions in building HIV resilience. Engaging the construction sector to prevent HIV can ensure sustainable returns on economic investments. In mobilizing non‐health sectors such as agriculture and construction, broader strategic action programmes can be devised to complement the efforts of the health sector in mitigating socio‐economic crises aggravated by HIV and AIDS. The article concludes that the democratic governance approach is an essential option worth pursuing because it makes a critical contribution to reversing the relentlessly expanding trend of the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

Reflections on the Protection of the Rights of the Individual: Form and Substance

In the absence of a written constitution in Israel, the protection of fundamental rights of the citizens depends upon a variety of legal sources. In the course of resolving questions concerning individual rights, the courts rely upon statutory law as well as basic principles of democratic government and concepts of individual freedoms as expressed in the Israel Declaration of Independence and in international covenants.In the Draft Basic Law: Rights of the Man and the Citizen (hereinafter referred to as the Draft Basic Law), which has passed the first reading in the Knesset, the fundamental rights will be embodied into a written Basic Law. This Basic Law together with the Basic Laws already enacted and those in preparation will eventually become the Constitution of Israel. The chapter by chapter legislative policy for enacting Israel's Constitution was laid down in 1950 by the Knesset in what has become known as the Harari Resolution. In the last eight years the drive for legislating Basic Laws, i.e., the chapters of the future Constitution, has gained momentum. It is hoped, therefore, that the day when the State of Israel will have a Constitution is not very far off.The Draft Basic Law extends its protection over the basic civil rights commonly recognized by civilized nations and their constitutions and by international covenants. But social rights, except for the freedom of workers to “associate in labour unions for the protection and furtherance of their economic and social interests”, which is explicitly provided, are not dealt with in the Draft Basic Law.

The Bellarmine-Jefferson Legend and the Declaration of Independence

The Bellarmine-Jefferson legend dates from the article of Mr. Gaillard Hunt, entitled “Cardinal Bellarmine and the Virginia Bill of Rights,” which appeared in the Catholic Historical Review, October, 1917, pp. 276–289. The article sets forth that Jefferson was indebted to Cardinal Bellarmine for the principles of democratic government embodied in the Declaration of Independence, and also embodied in the Virginia Bill of Rights. The alleged discovery seems now to be accepted in Roman Catholic periodicals as a fixed fact. Mr. Hunt's article, which was also issued in separate form, demands attention from the position which Mr. Hunt occupied as chief of the Division of Manuscripts in the Congressional Library at Washington and for his Life of Madison and other works. He was a convert to the Roman Church. He died in 1924. All subsequent treatments of the Bellarmine-Jefferson theory start with Mr. Hunt's assertions.