Democratic Organization Research Articles

Женщины в праворадикальный партиях ФРГ

Introduction. The increasing role of women in all spheres of public and political life in the modern Federal Republic of Germany, which is characteristic of the twenty-first century, has also affected the right-wing part of the political spectrum, which is traditionally oriented towards "male values". More and more German women who hold nationalist, anti-Semitic, racist, and anti-migrant views are not only voting for the extreme right as part of a general political trend, but are also active in right-center parties gradually penetrating their leadership structures at various levels. At the same time, they are openly oriented towards the experience of democratic "traditional parties", in which women at the beginning of the 21st century occupy not just an equal position with men, but often a leading position. Materials and Methods. The study is based on the analysis of sources, primarily party founding and pre-election programs and statutory documents, as well as statistical materials and German press. A systematic comprehensive approach, specific-historical and comparative-historical methods were used. Analysis. The article considers the evolution of women's influence on the politics of right-wing radical organizations in Germany, which implies a partial transition from the position of "combat friend" to a certain independence and even the formation of "women's" politics proper, in which much is borrowed from democratic organizations, albeit with reliance on methods and values traditional for the far right. Results. Based on the results of the study, we can conclude that at the beginning of the 21st century, the role of women in right-wing radical organizations in Germany is gradually increasing. There are women on the boards of many center-right organizations. Nevertheless, they still occupy mostly secondary positions, accepting the political dominance of men. Women leaders operating in the right-wing radical spectrum remain the exception to the rule.

Organizational Democracy: Investigating Dimensions, Impact, and Methodology via a Literature Review

Organizational Democracy: Investigating Dimensions, Impact, and Methodology via a Literature Review

Pages from the History of the Democratic League of China in the Late Republican Period

This article concerns the origins, development and activities of one of the oldest Chinese democratic parties — the Democratic League of China from its inception to the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. New documents and materials discovered in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, in particular, the Bulletins of the Information Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on foreign policy issues, shed light on little-studied questions about the role and place of this democratic organization in the Chinese revolution. Under patriotic slogans, the Democratic League united in its ranks both non-partisan public figures and political parties and groups with various views, from nationalist to pro-communist. Despite the diverse political composition of small parties and groups, the league turned into a coalition trying to find a “third way” between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the ruling Kuomintang party. The growing authoritarianism of the Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek and the implementation of pro-Japanese policies by the Kuomintang members undermined the foundations of the national anti-Japanese united front and undermined the war of resistance. These circumstances repelled the country's patriotic forces from the Kuomintang. The Kuomintang's suppression of the democratic movement led to a reorientation of the Democratic League's policies. The League publicly announced cooperation with the CCP until the complete collapse of the reactionary Kuomintang government, for democracy, peace and independence of the country. The work of the Democratic League helped to unite the broad groups of the population into the patriotic movement for a new China. After the formation of the People's Republic of China, at the suggestion of Mao Zedong, the league was preserved, its leaders received posts in the government. Currently, members of the Democratic League are mainly engaged in cultural and educational work.

The Idea of Democracy and Its Embodiment in the Middle Ages

In mass consciousness the dark Middle Ages is still represented as an epoch of undivided domination of monarchic regimes, whereas besides the well-known medieval city-states which inherited the traditions of antique democracy, in the Middle Ages there were many institutions where elements of democratic organization can be seen, especially if we understand democracy in an expanded sense, as a principle of power distribution in opposition to the concentration of power in one hand. Such elements can be seen in feudal liberties, in various forms of church institutions, in the election of heads of universal powers (popes and emperors), in the practice of political formations and city corporations, and finally in the theory of separation of powers, which in the Middle Ages prescribed a combination of powers, and was later elaborated by Montesquieu and other thinkers. Ultimately, many of these ideas have survived to our time and are embodied in today’s experience.

Influence of Organizational Democracy on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Digital Transformation: Mediating Effects of Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment for Smart Services

This study investigated the influence of organizational democracy on organizational citizenship behaviors in digital transformation, by considering the mediating effects of job satisfaction and organizational commitment for smart services. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to investigate the factors, which was followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis to test the hypotheses. The sample consisted of 144 full-time employees of the largest bank in North Cyprus. The findings suggest that organizational democracy had a significant positive direct effect on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment, whereas the direct effect on the organizational citizenship behaviors was not significant. The mediating effect of organizational commitment was found to be significantly positive. Job satisfaction was found not to be a significant mediator. The indirect effect of organizational democracy on the organizational citizenship behaviors was significant.

HISTORICAL ASPECT OF THE ESTABLISHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT MODELS ON THE EXAMPLE OF GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND

Entry. The article is devoted to the historical aspect of the formation and development of local self-government models in countries such as Germany and Switzerland. Local self-government in these countries has its own characteristics and principles of implementation, which are determined by the form of territorial organization, but can be applied to the construction of social relations in Ukraine. For Ukraine, as a state that is characterized by European legal standards for building local self-government, the experience of European states in this direction is interesting. Short list of main results.The article highlights the constitutional and legal foundations of the formation and development of local self-government models in Germany and Switzerland. The municipal system of these states is based on European standards of local self-government - decentralization, subsidiarity, autonomy of local self-government. The national legislation of Ukraine is also characterized by the consolidation of European standards. Conclusions. Local self-government in Germany and Switzerland covers almost all aspects of the democratic organization of local life, makes it possible to rationally decentralize state power, transfer decision-making on all issues of local life to territorial communities, thereby stimulating citizen activity and ensuring their real involvement in such decisions. The positive experience of European states in involving citizens to participate in issues of local importance will contribute to the creation of an effective model of local self-government in Ukraine.

Penerapan Demokrasi Kepemimpinan Dalam Organisasi Kecil Berlandaskan Pancasila

Democracy is a form of government in which all citizens have equal rights to make decisions that can change their lives. The word democracy comes from the term demokratia which means “rule of the people”, is a combination of two words, demos means people (people) and kratos. Means power or government. The purpose of this study, among others, is that researchers explore the events or objects under study, such as seeing how a leader leads. And in order to obtain information about the democratic leadership system of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, it is still being applied. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method as a translation method. This method will describe the data that the authors have collected through interviews, namely by holding direct questions and answers with the two leaders or one of the heads of campus organizations regarding the implementation of leadership democracy in organizations based on Pancasila.

Penerapan Demokrasi Kepemimpinan Dalam Organisasi Kecil Berlandaskan Pancasila

Democracy is a form of government in which all citizens have equal rights to make decisions that can change their lives. The word democracy comes from the term demokratia which means “rule of the people”, is a combination of two words, demos means people (people) and kratos. Means power or government. The purpose of this study, among others, is that researchers explore the events or objects under study, such as seeing how a leader leads. And in order to obtain information about the democratic leadership system of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, it is still being applied. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method as a translation method. This method will describe the data that the authors have collected through interviews, namely by holding direct questions and answers with the two leaders or one of the heads of campus organizations regarding the implementation of leadership democracy in organizations based on Pancasila.

Employee-ownership: Exploring the Potentials of Practicing a Democratic Ideal

The recurrent focus on democratic organisations moves beyond ideological framings and employs a broader focus on democracy and employee-ownership as foundation for more resilient businesses, increased work-life satisfaction and as potential for democratizing labour and economy. However, there is in general a lack of qualitative studies that widens the understanding of such democratic organizations, and the inherent tensions and dilemmas of such, at a micro-level. Based on a qualitative case study across Italy, Spain and Denmark, this article explores and reveal the interplay between how employee-owners experience democratic organizing as practice, and how this is related to ideas of the good work-life and ideals that reach beyond the workplace itself. These findings lay the ground for discussing employee-ownership as a possible way to alter current perceptions and understandings of, not only what a business is and can be, but also of how to democratically organize for a sustainable future.

“The Same Tools Work Everywhere”

Foodsters United, a workplace organizing campaign by Toronto food couriers, shows that, even in the gig economy, the classic organizing methods work. The Foodsters successfully challenged their misclassification as independent contractors, got over 40 per cent of a large workforce to sign union cards, and triggered a union vote that they won with 88.8 per cent support. These victories were tempered by a devastating setback: their employer, Foodora, exited from Canadian markets. Nevertheless, what Foodsters United achieved through workplace organizing sustained its transformation into Gig Workers United, which is organizing all delivery platform workers in Toronto. Although platform companies like Foodora promote the idea that the gig economy is unprecedented, its historical continuities are more important than its discontinuities. This is also true of the workplace organizing in the gig economy. Foodsters United achieved substantial victories, not because they invented new organizing methods but because they adapted the classic methods, in often ingenious ways, to their gig economy workplace. This article is based on interviews with the campaign organizers. It is organized thematically according to classic workplace organizing methods, particularly those developed in the industrial organizing tradition, including organizing conversations, mapping, charting, leader identification, issue identification, and the creation of democratic organizations.

Organizational democracy and meaningful work: The mediating role of employees corporate social responsibility perceptions.

Meaningful work is an important field of research, relating to both organizational outcomes and employee welfare. Organizational democracy has been theoretically proposed as an important antecedent to meaningful work. Nevertheless, this relationship is yet to be empirically explored. Thus, the objective of the current research is to explore the relationship between organizational democracy and meaningful work. We used structural equation modeling with self-reported, cross-sectional data from different nations and industries to test a mediation model in which corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions mediate the positive relationship between organizational democracy and meaningful work. Our findings confirmed that CSR perceptions partially mediate in the relationship between organizational democracy and meaningful work. Thus, based on our findings we can conclude that organizational democracy can play a direct role in increasing the experience of meaningful work, but also an indirect role trough the employees experience of CSR. Our findings have theoretical implications by adding to the classical theoretical literature that connect organizational democracy and meaningful work, and by disentangling the role of CSR perceptions in this relationship. Moreover, our findings have practical implications as our results give important knowledge to managers and organizational stakeholders that wish to increase the experience of meaningful work in organizations.

Composite relations: Democratic firms balancing the general and the particular

This paper focuses on a central coordinative tension in alternative, democratic organizations: They need to maintain formal equality and democratic governance, but they also have to support their members in their autonomy and be sensitive toward their particularities. Based on an empirical study of two democratic-collectivist firms, this paper combines insights from Laurent Thévenot’s sociology of engagement, and Zelizer’s notion of relational work to analyze how firms can establish “composite relations” that enable to balance the general and the particular. The paper offers two main contributions to the literature on alternative organizations: First, it describes possibilities for compositions between particular, personal relations, which are often of high importance in alternative organizations, and general, standardized relations, which are centrally important for all modern organizations. Second, while influential work on alternative organization assumes, that the tension between social values and business is quasi-equal to a tension between informal and formalized coordination in organizations, this paper develops a more nuanced perspective on the interrelation between morality and coordination in alternative organizations.

Sustainable transition and food democracy: The role of decision making process in Solidarity Purchasing Groups

This study investigates how the decision making process in Solidarity Purchasing Groups (SPGs), intended as hybrid organizations, supports the sustainability transition in food systems. The process of sustainability transition in food systems involves many kinds of tensions, especially in the process of pursuing a multiplicity of economic, social and environmental objectives. This study focuses on the SPGs in Italy and study how they organize their internal decision-making process and their search for the group objectives. This paper argues that the decentralization of the decision rights in SPGs sustains the integration of such different objectives and coordinates efficiently the multifaceted values of their members. The empirical analysis shows that the decision rights are decentralized and that the decentralized decision rights positions in solidarity purchasing groups are associated with the pursuing of different objectives. Our findings indicate that SPGs contributes to the transitions toward sustainability in food systems by using organizational democracy mechanisms to coordinate tensions among social, market and environmental values.

Parliamentarism as a phenomenon and category of modern constitutional law

The conceptual problems of the formation of the national doctrine of parliamentarism are highlighted. Stating the fact that the most multifaceted and complex problem is the establishment of representative democracy in Ukraine and the optimal form of organization of state power, it is proposed to strengthen the doctrinal foundations of modern parliamentarism in the national constitutional science and education. Analyzing the complex of essential and substantive characteristics of parliamentarism as a phenomenon of modern constitutional law, promising directions for the development of the doctrine of parliamentary law and process are determined. The synergistic relationship between the theory of modern parliamentarism, the principles of representative democracy and the fundamental institutions of the constitutional system is shown. It is proved that parliamentarism as a socio-political phenomenon is one of the most important achievements of civilization. Parliamentarism is directly related to the recognition and realization of the values and principles of constitutionalism and people’s sovereignty, the priority of human rights, the constitution of institutions of representative democracy and the idea of parliamentary supremacy in the system of public authorities. It is argued that in order for parliamentarism to function eff ectively, effi ciently and effectively, it is necessary not only to form but also consistently implement a system of legal principles and norms, functionally teleologically oriented and structurally defined and designed for its material and procedural support. This task is assigned primarily to constitutional law as a fundamental branch of national law, substantively formalized and functionally implemented in one of its subsectors, which is traditionally parliamentary law, which, in turn, is rightly considered the legal basis of parliamentarism. It is stated that parliamentarism is not an attribute, criterion or result of a purely parliamentary form of government. As a result of democratic organization of sociopolitical life, a form of realization of the principles of people’s sovereignty, democracy, separation of powers and rule of law, political and ideological pluralism, parliamentarism in the synergistic unity of its axiological, ontological, functionalteleological, institutional and other components. (so-called parliamentary-presidential or presidential-parliamentary), and the presidential form of republican organization of the state, as well as parliamentary or dual monarchies. Given this, parliamentarism is a unique phenomenon and a universal phenomenon in the system of modern constitutionalism and democratic statehood, inherent in various forms of government. The author draws attention to the civilizational and historical context of parliamentarism. Understanding both the historical and modern experience of the organization and activities of state power, its interaction with civil society, through the prism of a civilizational approach allows us to understand the prospects of parliamentarism in Ukraine in the distant future. Without exaggeration, the civilizational approach allows us to understand the meaning of the national experience of parliamentarism and compare it with the experience of democratic reforms in the West, where parliamentarism has long been a stable civilizational tradition. Key words: parliamentarism, parliament, democracy, state, political regime, popular representation

The current influence of social media on democratic debate, political parties and electioneering

This article provides an overview on how digital social media influences the debate and some of the major democratic organizations — namely political parties and electioneering campaigns. Its specific objectives are: i) to expose the debate about the democratic essence (or not) of the internet; ii) to analyze risk factors for democracy brought about by the digitization of social communications; iii) to study the transformations brought by the Internet to political parties and electoral campaigns. Results: i) what will define if there will still be the possibility of some democratic degree in the use of the internet will be the predominance of the forces (consumerist or communitarian) that build it; ii) immediacy, lack of moderation, lack of search for conformity and balance, anti-democratic technological strategies and technological colonialism expose the democratic debate to great risks of degradation; iii) participatoryism and disintermediation are ideological features of the new digitized parties that, at heart, hide a centralization around charismatic figures without a stable and fully definable electoral platform. It has a hypothetical-deductive method of procedure, qualitative approach, and bibliographic-documentary research technique.

Emotional rhythms of power: reframing emotion rules through aesthetic modes of embodied interaction

ABSTRACT This paper examines how emotion rules are socially constructed and how and why they are enacted and challenged through specific modes of embodiment in face-to-face interactions. The paper broadens the understanding of emotion rules by connecting them to aesthetics to explore face-to-face interactions. This paper is based on ethnographic data gathered from a two-year study of a micro-sized service company. It explores the structure, function, and meaning of three emotion rules: (1) the emotionality rule, (2) the enthusiasm rule, and (3) the nice way rule as enacted by the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) and employees. This paper enhances the understanding of the role of emotion rules in establishing an innovative and democratic organisation. It offers insight into how emotion rules were enacted, challenged, and broken in an unexpected situation when the CEO announces her non-consultative decision that affected the company’s employees.

Overcoming the Challenges of Scale in Less Hierarchical Organizing

There is growing interest in alternative, less hierarchical forms of organizing, understood as forms of organizing that distribute formal authority more widely than in conventional hierarchical firms. A fundamental question about less hierarchical organizing is its ability to scale. At the center of this concern is the issue of coordination as typical coordination mechanisms in less hierarchical organizations become prohibitively costly at scale and even if efficient mechanisms are developed, they may fail to provide individuals the experience of empowerment and participation that attracted them to the organization and motivated their contribution to it. Bringing together four papers on the topic of scaling less hierarchical organizing, this symposium will present a vibrant picture of the current state of research on the topic and provide a compelling set of insights about how the challenges of scale can be overcome. Scaling up without blowing up: How collaborative organizing manages conflict Presenter: Fang He; ESSEC Business School NETWORKED ACTIVISM AT SCALE: SELF-ORGANIZING IN THE ABSENCE OF MANAGERIAL CONTROL Presenter: Felipe Gorenstein Massa; Loyola U. New Orleans Presenter: Siobhan O'Mahony; Boston U. Sortition and the scaling of democratic organizations: An empirical investigation Presenter: Simon Pek; U. of Victoria Employee allocation and problems with scaling up boss-less organizations Presenter: Maciej Workiewicz; ESSEC Business School

‘No decision is permanent!’: Achieving democratic revisability in alternative organizations through the affordances of new information and communication technologies

It seems natural to understand organizational democracy as granting members of the organization the right to choose the rules that govern their actions. But what meaning does a rule have if one can choose to change rather than follow it? By investigating the understudied dimension of democracy I call revisability, this article suggests that an organization’s rules can be meaningful – they can effectively coordinate action – while remaining continually open to democratic modification. To support this claim, I present an activist ethnography of the Open Food Network, an alternative organization that builds open-source software for the decentralized coordination of short food chains, working in a democratic, non-hierarchical manner. Using the communicative constitution of organizations literature to conceptualize the requirements of democratic revisability and coordinating rules, I argue that this case demonstrates the possibility of achieving both ends simultaneously through the affordances of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). This article thus contributes an account of the concept of democratic revisability, and a generalized model of one means by which democratically revisable and effective coordinating rules can be established and maintained with the support of ICT affordances.

The Pedagogical Perils and Promises of Critical Rationalism

The philosophical principles guiding the pedagogy of Critical Rationalism emphasize the autonomy of individual students, the democratic organization of learning institutions, and a workshop setting where mutual respect is observed by so-called masters and apprentices. This article critically outlines what undergirds this approach to pedagogy and casts some doubt on the potential of operationalizing these ideas on a grand scale and the potential psychological toll that might be exacted from both teachers and students.

Сотрудничество Кабардино-Балкарского отделения Советского комитета по культурным связям с соотечественниками за рубежом с неправительственными организациями зарубеж-ных черкесских диаспор в эпоху социализма (1966-1991)

It was revealed that in 1966-1991 years the Kabardino-Balkarian branch of the Soviet Committee for Cultural Relations with Compatriots Abroad (KBB), with the support of the authorities of Ka-bardino-Balkarian Republic, conducted activities to promote socialist ideology in foreign Circas-sian diasporas to increase among them supporters of the USSR and adherents of the socialist sys-tem. During the period of perestroika (1985-1991), the work of the KBB comprised explaining to foreign compatriots the essence of reforms in the USSR and attracting investors from among them. The activities and methods used by the KBB turned out to be quite effective: in the foreign Circassian diasporas the share of supporters of the USSR, persons maintaining ties with organiza-tions and citizens of the autonomies of the North Caucasus, members of the communist parties of Syria and Jordan, youth democratic organizations, the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party increased. The activities of the KBB contributed to the strengthening of friendly relations between the USSR and the countries of residence of compatriots, mainly with Jordan and Syria. Contacts (exchanges of delegations and tourist groups, education of youth of foreign compatriots in the universities of the KBASSR, organization of recreation for children of foreign compatriots in pioneer camps and sanatoriums of the republic, systematic correspondence of the KBB and residents of the republic with foreign compatriots) of representatives of foreign Circassian diasporas with their historical homeland, supplies to foreign compatriots of printed, video and audio materials, broadcasting ra-dio programs to the Circassian diasporas in the countries of the Middle East were mainly per-formed in the Circassian language, which largely contributed to the preservation of the ethno-cultural specifics of the foreign Circassian diasporas. The cooperation of the KBB with non-governmental organizations (NGO) of foreign compatriots also contributed to the study of the Russian language, Russian and Soviet culture by a considerable number of them.