Democratic Organization Research Articles

Party organization and intra-party democracy in Italy

ABSTRACT In this article, we discuss the features and consequences of intra-party democracy (IPD) in Italian parties in the last two decades. We start by mapping the democratic innovations in Italy, both in terms of rules and practices. We focus on the use and consequences of open and closed primaries for selecting both party leaders and candidates for legislative and executive offices. Finally, we explore the consequences of the use of primaries and other instruments of IPD for party organization, by focusing on the effects of such democratic practices on the party in central office, on the party on the ground and on the party in public office.

DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATION OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY: PUBLIC FUNCTIONALITY OF INFORMATION ACTIVITIES

The article deals with the implementation of principles of democratic organization of society and state in the context of development of information relations. The author draws attention to the need to improve the level of protection of fundamental human and civil rights and freedoms in the face of the growing imbalance in the legal possibilities of major technological companies and citizens. The digitization of economy makes it necessary to create additional legal guarantees for the realization of constitutional human rights and to place on the strong side of contractual relations the obligations arising from its public function.

SEMANTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF «MECHANISM OF PUBLIC GOVERNANCE» IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SYSTEM APPROACH

Topicality. Improving the processes of public administration is impossible without studying the theoretical foundations of these processes, without defining the appropriate categories of public administration. A special place among them is occupied by the concept of the "mechanism of public administration". Without disclosing its essence, it is impossible to solve the problem of improving the efficiency of public administration mechanisms and, accordingly, the efficiency of the entire system of public administration. Aim and tasks. Conduct a semantic analysis of existing definitions of "public administration mechanism" in the context of a systems approach. Research results. The presence of perfect mechanisms of public administration provides purposeful, coordinated, and rational management of social and economic processes in the country, the appropriate level of organizational and managerial influence on the development of all spheres of life, sustainable support of public authorities by various segments of the population. Many researchers use the category "system" when defining the concept of the "mechanism of public administration". According to this view, the system: has a purpose; is a set of interconnected elements; its elements act as lower-order systems; can be represented in different aspects and at different levels; forms a special unity with the external environment. The article compares the formal representation of the concept of "system" with the existing definitions of the concept of "mechanism of public administration". Today in the literature there is no single point of view on the definition of "mechanism of public administration". Some authors define it as a system of state bodies organized in accordance with certain principles for the implementation of public administration tasks, the second - as part of the management system that provides influence on the factors on which the result of the management object depends, the third - as a democratic state organization of managerial influence on social processes, fourth - as a way of organizing and functioning of management based on the establishment of reasonable goals, fifth - as a set of practical measures, tools, levers, and incentives by which public authorities influence any public relationships in order to achieve goals. There are other points of view. This situation is the result of the fact that the study of the concept of "mechanism of public administration" is carried out on the basis of different methodological principles, in different fields of science, and with different research objectives. In this case, each of the definitions enriches the understanding of this phenomenon, but none of them, even in combination, does not provide an exhaustive description of the concept of the "mechanism of public administration. Conclusion. None of the definitions of the term "mechanism of public administration" considered in the article fully corresponds to the formal definition of the term "system". At the same time, each component of the formal representation of the term "system" is present in one or another definition of the "mechanism of public administration".

Unlocking employee value by forming an open strategy

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This conceptual paper focuses on the relationship between the advancement of an open strategy and organizational democracy. The study reveals that both hierarchical and democratic organizational structures experience their own forms of tension. Hence organizational democracy in itself is not a panacea, and some rules are still needed for such an arrangement to operate reasonably efficiently. Openness is enhanced by an organization fostering greater inclusion, transparency, shared decision-making, and a supportive organizational culture, which are more likely to be consistent features of democratic organizations than of hierarchical ones. Yet hierarchical organizations can structurally enhance their openness with rule-based flexibility built-in. Original/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Supporting Democracy Through Leadership in Organizations

Research on successful cooperativist actions has been found to generate social impact through the creation of employment and the promotion of economic growth. In this article, we present the way in which leaders in nontraditional businesses assess qualitatively the social impact of the improvements linked to such actions beyond the economic dimension. The interviews include the voices of members and nonmembers of cooperatives occupying diverse positions in organizations and illustrate how the exercise of dialogic leadership supports the strength of democratic principles and the quality of employment. The results revealed that the processes of empowerment related to cooperative organizations enable a kind of qualitative assessment of social impact that provides evidence of how successful cooperativist actions play a role in the development of more democratic and participatory organizations.

The role of the democratic organization in the La borda housing cooperative in Spain

Increases in housing prices, property speculation and the inability of many residents to pay their mortgage or rent have made housing a key issue of concern for Spaniards. In view of this situation, several grassroots initiatives have emerged in the last decade demanding the right to decent housing. Among them is La Borda, the first Grant of Use housing cooperative built on public land for subsidized housing in Spain. Taking as a reference several successful cooperative experiences, a group of citizens self-organized in 2014 to generate a housing project that escaped the free market dynamics of Barcelona. Specifically, this paper provides a qualitative analysis of how La Borda's democratic organization has operated as a driver in the construction of a collective property building, which has enabled access to affordable and stable housing for around 60 people. This organization, based on the direct participation of cooperative members in decision making and management, has provided a series of benefits, foremost among them: 1) capability building, 2) the adoption of leadership roles, and 3) the emergence of a sense of belonging.

Teachers and gangsters

ABSTRACT In this article, Andrew Collier explains why the ideas of revolutionary thinkers, such as Jesus, Marx and Nietzsche, often degrade into violent ‘gangsterism’ in the hands of revolutionary leaders, such as Torquemada, Stalin and Hitler. In his explanation, Collier corrects a misunderstanding about communism: namely that it aims to achieve certain administrative goals, such as state ownership of the means of production. To the contrary, Marx merely predicted that securing better conditions for the workers might require the socialization the means of production. Communism is therefore not defined by its administrative goals, but by its membership (the working class) and its internal organization (democracy). Gangster implementers tend to focus on the means to achieve certain goals, for instance, they use legislation and violence to achieve state ownership, rather than admitting that ‘there is no way to communism; communism is the way’. The Bennite left programme (followed by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn) potentially avoids gangsterism because of its commitment to democracy.

Uso del Índice de Moran y LISA para explicar el ausentismo electoral rural en Ecuador

En Ecuador, el voto es un derecho y obligación que constituye una parte esencial en la organización democrática al momento de escoger sus representantes que gobernaran el país, es así que dentro del marco geográfico electoral es importante analizar el ausentismo electoral especialmente en áreas rurales, cuyos escenarios son más propensos a este fenómeno debido a que existen varias dificultades en el acceso a recintos electorales cercanos, lo que acarrea largas distancias de transporte y altos costos para movilizarse. Por esta razón El Consejo Nacional Electoral del Ecuador ha creado jurisdicciones denominadas “zonas electorales rurales” con el fin de facilitar el acceso al voto.Para el presente trabajo se recurrió a dos herramientas de Análisis Exploratorio de Datos Espaciales denominadas: Índice de Moran e Índice Local de Asociación Espacial (LISA). El primero explica a nivel general como se encuentra distribuido el ausentismo en las zonas electorales rurales, la misma que puede expresarse en forma de agrupaciones, dispersiones o aleatoriamente. El segundo índice de LISA explica localmente el nivel de significancia estadística de los agrupamientos espaciales del ausentismo en las zonas electorales y como cada unidad espacial o zona electoral se diferencia o asemeja de las unidades espaciales vecinas.Por lo tanto este análisis recopila datos estadísticos y espaciales de las zonas electorales rurales creadas en los años 2009 y 2014 para entender la dinámica del porqué se crean zonas electorales y cómo éstas inciden en el ausentismo electoral.

Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives in the United States: Interpretive frames, strategic actions, and place-specific transitions

Renewable energy and social justice advocates are organizing around the potential for community-based democratic organizations to promote more decentralized, sustainable, and just societies. Within this movement, consumer-owned electric utilities are often seen as central actors. Yet, there has been little systematic investigation into why integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) varies across these utilities. We explore this question using literature on sustainability transitions and strategic action fields. Choices about when and how to integrate DERs are shaped by new interpretations of long-standing principles, existing institutional relationships, and a utility’s political power. We identify how four divergent strategies shape distinct technology configurations with differences in physical scale, concentration of political authority, and distribution of economic benefits. These differences suggest that local technology ownership may not be sufficient to motivate change in some contexts. Policy addressing political processes and ownership scale may be needed to accelerate more sustainable and just energy transitions.

Organizational Democracy in the Private Sector: A Field Research

The process of organizational democracy involves a process of associating employees’ participation and satisfaction in business processes, increased innovation, increased stakeholder engagement and ultimately increased organizational performance. Organizations and the people that form the organization adapt democracy to achieve social and economic goals by making use of the blessings of democracy. In this way, they aim to reach their goals and to include all members of the organization in the process while achieving these goals, and to sustain the stability. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the democracy perceptions of blue and white collar employees in the private sector through organizational democracy scales, by using various variables and to contribute to the existing literature. The sample of the study constitutes 209 people, white and blue collar employees at various levels in medium and large scale enterprises in the Manisa Organized Industrial Zone in Turkey. As a result of the study, it is seen that married employees and employees who think that their expertise in the job is good have the power to criticize their businesses and exhibit participation. In addition, it has been concluded that employees that are high school graduates see management fairer in terms of salary than other graduates. Another finding in the study is about the size of the pre-work life centers of the workplace. Perceptions and attitudes of the people living in metropolitan and provincial center metros before work observed that more equality was observed in the workplaces than those living in the district centers.

Архангельский гарнизон в 1917 году

This article presents the historical material that supplements and extends our knowledge about the role of the rear garrisons in the growing revolutionary activity during the period “from February to October”. Further, it indicates the specifcs of the units located in the Arkhangelsk military district, which explains the unique character of the processes that were taking place there. Due to the special location of Arkhangelsk, during the First World War a great number of generally small military units of different attachments were positioned there and performed various functions. Some military units under particularly diffcult service conditions had preferential food and fnancial supplies, which created tension not so much between privates and commanding offcers as between the military units representing various branches of the armed forces. It is concluded here that at the frst stage of the Revolution, the creation of military “democratic organizations” was largely initiated by the high command, who were forced to obey orders from the capital. Military units’ involvement in the political life was uneven, depending on the soldiers’ and navy men’s understanding of the importance of their service for the beneft of the state. The most active were the “labour battalions”, which included a large number of people of urban professions who saw this type of service as an alternative to going to the front, as well as those mobilized from the Empire’s outlying national regions. These categories of servicemen were especially interested in ending the war by any means and being demobilized as soon as possible. The most disciplined were the navy men. The transformation of the Arkhangelsk garrison soldiers and navy men into an anarchist mass occurred later than in most of the rear garrisons and at the front.

Örgütsel Demokrasi ile Örgütsel Sinizm Arasındaki İlişki: Öğretim Elemanları Üzerine Bir Araştırma

This study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational democracy and organizational cynicism as determined through academic staff opinions. 472 academic staff working in Ankara participated in the study. The data collection tools were the Organizational Democracy Scale developed by Tutar, Tuzcuoglu, and Altinoz (2009), and the Organizational Cynicism Scale developed by Brandes, Dharwadkar, and Dean (1999). The data were analyzed by applying the t-test, Welch's t-test, Tamhane's T2 test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, nonparametric multiple comparison test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe test of post-hoc tests, and the Pearson correlation. The construct validity of the scales was tested through confirmatory factor analysis, and the Cronbach's alpha values were calculated for the internal reliability. It was found that the academics perceived moderate levels of organizational democracy; lowest levels of organizational cynicism in the cognitive and affective sub-dimensions, and moderate levels in the behavioral sub-dimension. It was determined that the participants' views on organizational democracy did not differ by the gender variable, but differed by the variables of the marital status, current university and the academic position title. While there was a significant difference in the opinions of the participants regarding the behavioral cynicism sub-dimension by the gender variable, their opinions about all the sub-dimensions of organizational cynicism differed significantly by the university variable. In addition, a high, negative and statistically significant relationship was found between academics' perception of organizational democracy and organizational cynicism attitudes in the cognitive and affective sub-dimensions; and a moderate, negative and statistically significant relationship between their perception of organizational democracy and organizational cynicism attitudes in the behavioral sub-dimensions.

Open strategy: role of organizational democracy

PurposeA core premise of the paper is that participative, democratic organizational forms have a direct effect on openness. A key proposition is that organizational forms that promote inclusion, transparency and shared decision-making more broadly as part of their structure and culture would enhance greater openness. However, democratic forms are not a panacea when it comes to openness, there are inherent paradoxes, leading to inevitable tradeoffs that democratic organizations must manage.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical framework in the study explores the interaction between open strategy making and organizational democracy. This paper reviews the literature on open strategy and organizational democracy and presents propositions linking openness and elements of democratic organizations.FindingsOpen strategy requires a level of inclusion and transparency not typically associated with hierarchical organizations. This paper proposed that an organizational context where there are institutionalized processes that promote both transparency and inclusiveness, shared decision-making and a supportive organizational culture would promote openness. At the same time, these organizations need to manage key paradoxes associated with organizational democracy to benefit from its positive effect on openness. The idea is not that hierarchies cannot be open; they may simply need to be more creative and work harder at providing the scaffolding for participation.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a conceptual paper and we cannot make any claims of causality. It is also possible to refine the framework by adding or eliminating some of the conceptual variables.Practical implicationsOpening up the strategy process to non-traditional stakeholders can improve the strategy formation process. Non-traditional stakeholders can bring new insight, and be motivated and prepared for strategy implementation when they are part of the strategy formation process. Organizations need to focus on creating a climate that supports openness by emphasizing structural forms that promote openness. Sharing decision-making, profits and creating a democratic culture are important for successful openness. In addition, organizations need to manage the tradeoffs that arise as they link organizational democracy to openness.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the link between open strategy and organizational democracy. The research sheds light on how organizational forms, specifically structure affects openness, as well as the limits to structure and openness.

Academics’ Opinions on Organizational Democracy and the Perception of Academic Freedom and the Appropriate Level in Turkey

The study aimed to determine how lecturers have adopted organizational democracy and academic freedom in Turkish state universities, as well as to find out their views on its appropriation for Turkey. A correlative descriptive survey model is used in this study. The study sample was included 418 academics working at state universities in Ankara. For this research, an ‘Organizational Democracy Scale’ and an ‘Academic Freedom Scale’ were developed and employed by the researcher, and the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The arithmetic mean and the standard deviation were calculated for the answers provided by the academics. Regression analysis was conducted to find out the effect of organizational democracy on academic freedom. In the qualitative phase of the study, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 20 academics. NVivo 10 software was used to analyze the content of the interviews. At the end of the study, it was found that university administrations should avoid discriminative attitudes; should account for their decisions and implementations; deans and faculty boards should be elected democratically; all stakeholders (apart from academics), including students, should take part in both elections and be involved in management processes; and finally, the election system should be more democratic.

The relationship between organizational democracy and political behaviors in universities

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between organizational democracy and political behaviors in universities.Design/methodology/approachTo examine the relationship between organizational democracy and political behaviors in higher education institutions, a correlational survey model was utilized. Data were collected from 283 academic staff members.FindingsIt was found that there is a moderate and negative relationship between organizational democracy and the frequency of encountering political behaviors and that organizational democracy predicts the frequency of encountering political behaviors.Originality/valueThese data shed light on the relationship between organizational democracy and political behaviors according to the views of academic staff. The study has provided empirical evidence that political behavior declines in the presence of organizational democracy.

Including the ‘Unspeakable’ in the Democracy of the Self: Accessing Implicit I-positions in Composition Work

Dialogical Self Theory (DST) presumes that dialogue lies not only between, but also within people, between different self-aspects, termed in this theory internal I-positions, and between them and internalized “voices” of others, conceptualized as external I-positions. Including multiple positions in the dialogue enhances the democratic organization of the self and enlarges possibilities of giving a constructive answer to any significant life change, loss, or transition. Some I-positions are not easily accessible through a verbal or a narrative account. However, accessing those not yet known, implicit positions, and including them in a dialogue can become an important source of new meanings, necessary to take constructive steps in the process of transition. This paper presents a method of art therapy/coaching, Composition Work, which helps to access the not-yet-verbalized, bodily felt multiplicity of I-positions and include them in a dialogue. Following a case study, we discuss methodological and theoretical aspects of work with implicit I-positions and its consequences for the process of significant transitions and losses in work and private life.

Peer Collaboration as a Relational Practice: Theorizing Affective Oscillation in Radical Democratic Organizing

Recently, radical democratic initiatives have been undertaken by freelancers and founders who come together in a range of alternative forms such as ethical entrepreneurial coalitions, urban coworking spaces, and open cooperative networks. In this paper, we argue that these initiatives to invent alternative, more equal forms of organizing engage strongly with relational activities to replace hierarchical interaction with distributed peer collaboration. While the literature has emphasized the sense of experimentation and reflexivity of these alternative forms of organizing, this paper especially draws attention to the affective dynamics of everyday peer-to-peer collaboration. Drawing on an 18-month ethnography of a cooperative network of social entrepreneurs, we use a practice-based approach to study peer collaboration as a relational practice formed through a nexus of ‘weaving,’ ‘sharing,’ and ‘caring’ activities. Focusing on the affective orders enveloping relational practice, we document how the practice of peer collaboration is imbued by what we call an ‘affective oscillation’ forming contrasting amplitudes between confidence and frustration, exuberance and anxiety, and trust and exhaustion. As our core contribution, we problematize how the affirmative intent of radical democratic organizing is potentially jeopardized by this ‘cloudy affectivity,’ and we conclude that the collective pursuit of embodied ethical encounters is formed by slowing down and feeling into affective oscillation.

De la donnée à l’information : de l’importance des conventions dans les organisations

Nous evoluons tous en permanence dans de multiples organisations et sommes assaillis par un flux ininterrompu de donnees et d'informations, flux que nous contribuons a alimenter. Ces donnees et informations, distinguees dans le texte, ne sont ni neutres ni objectives mais sont le resultat d'operations diverses generees par les organisations qui forment ou utilisent lesdites « donnees ». Ces operations obeissent a quatre types de conventions : des conventions de quantification, des conventions de contextualisation, des conventions d'enonciation, des conventions semiotiques, enfin. Reflet de la doxa, les conventions en sont aussi le produit et faconnent les normes qui encadrent la vie economique et le fonctionnement des organisations. Deux exemples de travail des conventions dans une organisation sont proposes dans le texte : celui d'un hopital et du tableau de bord de celui-ci suppose refleter sa performance ; celui du partage de la valeur ajoutee. En meme temps cadre et resultat de l'action, instituantes et instituees comme l'ont montre les « conventionnalistes », les conventions et la dispute autour de celles-ci constituent le reflet de la vie de la democratie dans les organisations. La question de l'elaboration des conventions est trop souvent ignoree et son importance sous-estimee par les acteurs potentiels de la dispute dans les organisations et, singulierement, les syndicats.

Принцип самостоятельности местного самоуправления в современных условиях осуществления управления в Российской Федерации

The principle of local self-government independence in modern conditions of management in Russian Federation Local government, being a democratic organization of the life of society in municipalities, creates real prerequisites for the decentralization of various functions of state power by postponing decision-making on the most acute problems of citizens in specific territories. Institute of local self-governance organically connected with the entire vertical structure of government, but, under the current legislation the functions of local authorities encompass a significant array of public relations and are a manifestation of consistent involvement in the management activities of a large number of representatives of civil society. The relative independence of power structures in municipalities allows the state to more effectively resolve numerous issues of a daily nature that arise in the process of implementing the population’s rights and interests. Getting a legislative justification for independence, local self-government bodies in their daily activities objectively face a constant lack of financial and material resources, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of the work of local self-government bodies. For a comprehensive analysis of the problems autonomy of local governments, the authors use the methods of general scientific nature, as well as institutional, which considers local government as a separate institution of the political system of the society and the system-legal, learning legal regulation of social relations in the functioning of municipal authorities. In accordance with the applied methodology, identified the need to provide more powers, stipulated by normative legal acts regarding regulation of relations in the sphere of implementation of powers by local authorities, and objective impossibility of implementing the investigated principle of self-reliance within the framework of existing legal regulations.

ЕФЕКТИВНІСТЬ ДЕРЖАВНОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ В ПЕРІОД ГЛОБАЛІЗАЦІЇ

In the period of globalization the state is a democratic organization of power and it is the only political organization of society that extends its power to the territory of the country and its population has a special apparatus of governance for this purpose and has sovereignty. The differences of the state nature in the period of globalization is manifested as democratic phenomenon of human civilization. In the period of globalization the state regulates its social life on the basis law. The efficiency of the state governance in the period of globalization is revealed through its functions. At the present period of globalization there are conflicts in the process of governing of states which depends on its social, political and economic structure. The current stage of state development is characterized by new challenges of globalization and their decision involves changing of political , economic, social and environmental content. It should be noted that the effectiveness of state governance in the period globalization consists in observing the democratic principles of regulating political and economic relations with other states without using of violence. Thus, the efficiency of state governance in the period of globalization depends on the competitiveness of the state and its ability to increase employment by creating new jobs and caring towards the people taking into account their political and economic interest ensuring their competitiveness in the period of globalization.