Terms Of Democracy Research Articles

How to Study Capitalism in Asia? : A Theoretical and Methodological Consideration

Asia is on the rise. It has shown remarkable developmental dynamism compared to Europe and North America. Despite being one of the late or late-late-developers in terms of industrialization and democratization, some of Asian countries now spearhead the world’s most rapid transformation into the 21st capitalism. I believe that there may be an ideal type of capitalism, but I must admit that there is a variety of capitalism existing in different national forms. Capitalism can take dissimilar forms nationally and regionally, depending on development strategy, state-society relations, class coalition, business-government nexus, labour market structure, industrial relations, corporate governance system, innovative system, and so on. This paper deals with how to study capitalism in Asia from a theoretical and methodological point of view. I propose to approach capitalism as plural forms. I argue that there are some distinct features of capitalism in Asia. Historical perspectives do not tally with the idea of Asian capitalism as being extensions of Western dynamics. It is my contention that Asian capitalism is not homogeneous in that state-interventionist Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia are dissimilar with free market-oriented Singapore and Hong Kong. China is also a special challenge from a comparative capitalism perspective. I also propose to analyse Asian capitalism from a comparative perspective. Comparative analysis of capitalist development will be useful in finding out the similarities and differences across countries in Asia.

Governance Indicators for Strategic Business Decisions: Diversity of Western Asian Countries in Terms of Democracy

The main objective of the research is to configure the countries of Western Asia from the standpoint of governance with a particular focus on democracy indicator. We are interested in the government indicators because since the times of Washington consensus the foreign aid paradigm has changed: a priority is given to funding development programs in countries with good governance. In order to measure the progress there is the need to quantify differences in governments among nations and to measure its quality. Governance indicators and the Democracy Index as well, are also supposed to help business leaders in strategic decisions. Comparative analysis technique and a concept of correlation are used as a methodology of the research while configuring the countries of Western Asia in terms of democracy. It is verified whether the more democratic countries in the region are the more trustful and prosperous societies. It is debated whether there is the need for democracy so as to reach good governance and economic growth.

OSMANLI DEVLETİ'NİN ANAYASAL NİTELİKLİ BELGELERİNDE DEMOKRASİ SÖYLEMLERİNİN DEMOKRASİ MODELLERİ PERSPEKTİFİNDEN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

One of the most important criteria for the modernization and democratic values of a country is the measure of the value given to the law and the constitution in the country. The constitutional developments in the legal field, which can be regarded as the most important pillars of Ottoman modernization, are the most important and important issue in this regard. For the Ottoman Empire, we can think that the documents which are the first ones are very important in terms of modernization and democratization. As a matter of fact, these documents, which point a new government system in the Ottoman Empire, made important contributions to democracy and law. The aim of this study is to examine " Charter of Alliance", " Edict of Tanzimat" and " Edict of Reform" in the constitutional movements of the Ottoman Empire and to evaluate the contributions of these developments to democracy. Because of the fact that the state power and the powers of the state organs that use this power are limited in the basis of the constitutional movements, the contributions of these documents to the Ottoman State within the scope of constitutionalism are evaluated and the restrictions imposed on the state power are evaluated. In addition, it is tried to determine which of these documents are compatible with one of the ideal type democracy models or which ones. Thus, the contributions of these documents to the constitutionalism and democratization efforts of the Ottoman state are tried to be determined

Entre la Democratización y la República. Revisitando el ciclo de movilización en el último gobierno kirchnerista (Argentina, 2012-2015)

The cycle of mobilization activated after 2012 configured new organizational experiences and redefined the movimentista and liberal grammars of political action, leading to a polarization of the political arena. This paper aims to reconstruct this cycle focusing on both grammars, with special attention on how the ideas of corruption claimed by liberals contributed to the establishment and consolidation of a new centre-right political party. The main argument is that within the political dispute, expressed in terms of democratization versus Republic, the reports of corruption cases played a key role in the configuration of the anti-Kirchnerist pole. This paper shows the results of the research study “The end of the left turn in Latin America? New actors and discourses shaping the political arena of the post-transition”, in which exhaustive fieldwork was carried out. Methodologically, it follows a genealogical strategy in an attempt to identify the main actors in the political dispute and the narratives shaped during the mobilization cycle.

INTERIORIZATION OF POLITICAL AND LEGAL VALUES IN POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF PERSONALITY

The sociological and legal ground of thesis is carried out in the article, that in the structure of political consciousness there is harmonious association and interiorization of political and legal values on objective soil of interdependence of policy and right; their maintenance and organic connection is certain with a political culture and legal moral. Actuality of researches of problem of taking root of political and legal values in consciousness of man is conditioned that its opening gives prospects for realization of effective strategies from reformation of political and legal spheres of society at the terms of democratization of Ukraine.In the difficult world of Policy and Law for a value carry out the role of leading criteria and ideological markers which determine landmarks for social consolidation of citizens and maintenance them political and legal activity. Even formal interpretation of fundamental values of life of man – world, freedom, sovereignty, justice, social equality, law and order, democracy – basic aspects of understanding of right and elements of legal form of public relations – expressly fixes the valued status of law and democratic consciousness.Sociology interprets political and legal values, as an aggregate of ideas, standard presentations, proof psychological options, orientations, stereotypes, which determine directions of political activity, and reproduce political ideals and interests of social subjects. To them take, foremost – democracy, political freedom, social equality and justice, human rights and their guarantees. These values are executed by the functions of assistance integration of group in system integrity; determine the hierarchy of political aims and influence on electing of legal facilities and political technologies in relation to their realization. To most formed common to all mankind political and legal universals belong: common to all mankind ideals and principles; international political symbolism; state system; international language of policy and right; international law. Sure, a legal law and legal state – also the absolute legal values of political consciousness of man and valued requirement in relation to realization of democratic policy. But political consciousness of modern Ukrainians is overloaded system problems – corruption of power, by the legal collisions of state plenary powers, dualism of functions of executive power (a president ↔ a government), weak efficiency of parliament, deficit of resources of local self-government (even at the terms of decentralization), corrupted of courts, which conduces to the loss of social trust and legitimacy of power. In obedience to sociological information, from 2012 to 2014, in a period historical ordeals, in the population of Ukraine considerably the index of participating rose in political life; mentality of the Ukrainian citizens demonstrates the certain valued metamorphoses, related above all things to growth of national consolidation, patriotism and values of democracy.

Reflections on the ‘Administrative, Not Constitutional’ Character of EU Law in Times of Crisis

Abstract As is broadly recognized, the realm of administrative power greatly expanded over the course the twentieth century (particularly after 1945). This essay argues that this expansion, along with differential conceptions of legitimacy deeply bound up with it, are crucial to understanding not just the modern administrative state but also the nature of EU governance and the law governing its operation. Despite a dominant paradigm that seeks to understand EU governance in autonomously democratic and constitutional terms, the legitimacy of integration as a whole has remained primarily ‘administrative, not constitutional’. The EU’s normative power, like all power of an ultimately administrative character, finds its legitimacy primarily in legal, technocratic and functional claims. This is not to deny that European integration involves ‘politics’ or has profound ‘constitutional’ implications for its member states or citizens. The ‘administrative, not constitutional’ paradigm is meant only to stress that the ultimate grounding of EU rulemaking, enforcement, and adjudication comes closer to the sort of administrative legitimacy that is mediated through national executives, national courts, and national parliaments to a much greater extent than the dominant paradigm supposes. This is the reality that the ‘administrative, not constitutional’ paradigm on EU law has always sought to emphasize, and it is one that is particularly pertinent to the integration process in times of crisis. It is unsurprising, in these circumstances, that the public law of European integration has continually resorted to mechanisms of nationally mediated legitimacy in order to ‘borrow’ legitimacy from the national level. Unless and until Europeans begin to experience democracy and constitutionalism in supranational terms, the ‘administrative, not constitutional’ paradigm suggests that the EU’s judicial doctrines must be adjusted. The purpose should be to address the persistent disconnect between supranational regulatory power and its robust sources of democratic and constitutional legitimacy on the national level.

How do interest groups legitimate their policy advocacy? Reconsidering linkage and internal democracy in times of digital disruption

The ongoing embrace of interest groups as agents capable of addressing democratic deficits in governing institutions is in large part because they are assumed to contribute democratic legitimacy to policy processes. Nonetheless, they face the challenge of legitimating their policy advocacy in democratic terms, clarifying what makes them legitimate partners in governance. In this article we suggest that digital innovations have disrupted the established mechanisms of legitimation. While the impact of this disruption is most easily demonstrated in the rise of a small number of ‘digital natives’, we argue that the most substantive impact has been on more conventional groups, which typically follow legitimation logics of either representation or solidarity. While several legacy groups are experimenting with new legitimation approaches, the opportunities provided by technology seem to offer more organizational benefits to groups employing the logic of solidarity, and appear less compatible with the more traditional logic of representation.

Urban Protests, Coups d’état and Post-Coup Regime Change

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of urban protests on coup attempts and subsequent regime change in a sample of 39 Sub-Saharan African countries for the period from 1990 to 2007. Widespread public discontent, especially when occurring in urban centers, can act as a trigger of coups d’état in autocratic regimes. Yet, it is less clear how elites respond to protests in terms of post-coup institutional change and democratization. To account for potential endogeneity of protests and coups, variation in rainfall is used as an instrument for urban protests. The results show that rainfall-related urban protests raise the likelihood that a coup is staged, but have no effect on subsequent democratization.

Post-Soviet developments: reflections on complexity and patterns of political orders

With the striking exception of the three Baltic States, the post-Soviet space unites in its incapacity to make a modern democratic state function. This incapacity is not just a marginal phenomenon but tends to be a syndrome. Against this background, this article addresses two interrelated questions. The first part develops a theoretical argument concerning post-Soviet developments, anchored in social theory. It underlines that how well democratic and legal institutions are going to function is determined, partly but not only, by the level of general social differentiation in a given society at the time of the introduction of these institutions. For such complexity to develop, a central state with a certain level of institutionalization, and with infrastructural, and not primarily repressive, capacity, is a necessary precondition. The second, empirical, part tries then to identify the variation that nevertheless exists in terms of democracy, state capacity and rule of law, between the post-Soviet states. As the recent, and promising, case of Georgia demonstrates, the crucial post-Soviet challenge is to break monolithic power structures. By increasing economic autonomy, a process that also strengthens societal complexity can start to evolve.

A formação integral na educação superior e o desenvolvimento dos países

RESUMO Como gerar bem-estar, paz e prosperidade para uma nação é uma questão antiga e ainda fundamental para quase todo o mundo. Nesse início de século XXI, a educação superior adquiriu grande relevância para o desenvolvimento dos países, na medida em que está diretamente relacionada à formação tanto do profissional competente como do cidadão com pensamento crítico. Não obstante, com objetivos econômicos, governos estão priorizando cada vez mais a capacitação e aquisição de competências práticas. Considerando tal tendência, nesse artigo, procura-se, por meio de dedução, demonstrar que a formação integral e de cultura geral na educação superior pode contribuir decisivamente para os países se desenvolverem não apenas no âmbito da democracia e inclusão social, mas também do próprio crescimento econômico.

Claves hacia el empoderamiento de las mujeres gitanas: un análisis desde el punto de vista de la interseccionalidad

Este artículo tiene como objetivo explorar en torno a una serie de propuestas para revertir los obstáculos del proceso de empoderamiento de las mujeres gitanas. Este objetivo gira en torno a tres conceptos: el marco opresivo en el que se sitúan las experiencias vitales de estas mujeres, el concepto del empoderamiento como propuesta crítica y agencial para superar este marco de exclusión y la interseccionalidad como propuesta teórica, política y metodológica para encauzar los obstáculos que derivan de este proceso. Entendiendo que muchas de las claves para el empoderamiento de estas mujeres pasan por una lectura interseccional de los obstáculos que las propician, situamos la interseccionalidad como eje analítico del testimonio de cinco mujeres gitanas que se presenta.

Democratisation or credentialism? Public policies of expansion of higher education in Latin America

ABSTRACTIn recent decades, many Latin American governments have implemented policies to expand opportunities in higher education, aiming at reducing discrimination and social inequalities. These policies have taken different forms, according to the peculiarities of the respective higher education systems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the scope and limitations of these policies. We develop our analysis of theoretical literature on the subject, and review empirical information available from secondary sources of recent experience in five countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela. Argentina has increased opportunities for disadvantaged social sectors by expanding the public sector. Brazil has attempted to improve access for ethnic and social minorities in both public and private institutions. Chile is a unique case because of the continuing commitment to allow market forces to shape higher education. In Mexico, increased opportunities for access have resulted from the creation of intercultural universities and technical institutions in the public sector, as well as through growth in the private sector. Finally, in Venezuela, expansion occurred through the creation of a new system of universities that operates in parallel to traditional public institutions. We note that, in all cases, the policies reflect an underlying belief that there are only benefits to unlimited expansion, without regard to possible consequences, such as an excess of university graduates in economies with limited job opportunities for them. Moreover, these policies do not take into consideration the deficit of cultural and educational capital of young people who come from the most marginalised social sectors, deficits that may hinder their success. Concepts such as ‘overeducation’ or ‘credencialism’ call into question that optimistic belief and explain the limitations of the coverage expansion in terms of real democratisation.

Business diplomacy: asymmetry and symmetry of power in negotiations between multi-nationals and governments in the case of Areva and Niger

This article is a case study that examines the asymmetry of power between the Government of Niger and Areva concerning the renewal of their partnership, which lasted 40 years. The weakness and instability of the state of Niger, and a deficit in terms of democracy and transparency are factors which long influenced negotiations between the two actors and determined the distribution of power between them. But results show that change because it is the first time that the country has made such a breakthrough in negotiations about its uranium deposits.

The Deconsolidation of Democracy in East‑Central Europe: The New World Order and the EU’s Geopolitical Crisis

AbstractIn recent decades, the most remarkable feature of East-Central European (ECE) states has been their engagement in a deconsolidation process that necessitates the reconceptualising of European Studies and the theory of democracy. In the early ’90s, during the “revolution of high expectations,” consolidation was the key term in the conceptual framework of the transitology paradigm, but this approach was questioned increasingly in the 2000s and rejected in the 2010s. In its place, deconsolidation was introduced as one of a wide array of similar terms referring to the decline, backsliding or regression of democracy and later as one of a whole “other” family of opposite terms like (semi-)authoritarian system and competitive/elected autocracy. Indeed, rather than a transition to democracy, a tendency to transition to authoritarian rule has been observed in the ECE states in general and in Poland and Hungary in particular. In the last quarter century, the twin terms of Europeanisation and democratisation, which denote normative approaches, have been the main conceptual pillars of analyses of the ECE states. It turns out, however, that the opposite processes of de-Europeanisation and de-democratisation can now also be observed in these countries.

Leapfrog skills: Combining vertical and horizontal multi-skills to overcome skill trade-offs that limit prosperity growth

Leapfrog technologies, such as off-grid solar energy, overcome traditional trade-offs including widespread geographical distribution versus huge capital investment. The positive potential of leapfrog technologies is widely recognized. However, the need to overcome traditional skill trade-offs has received less consideration. Rather, skills continue to be considered in terms of the boundaries of crafts and professions, which evolved in the past within historical constraints. Yet, skills within established crafts and professions are limited by trade-offs, such as productivity versus versatility, which can limit prosperity growth. In this paper, findings are reported from a study investigating how limiting trade-offs can be overcome. The study encompassed craft skills, industrial skills, and knowledge skills. It is explained that trade-offs can be leapfrogged by combining hitherto separate skills within vertical multi-skills and horizontal multi-skills. Vertical multi-skills can enable increased productivity and consistency through increasing predictability by, for example, application of process design. At the same time, horizontal multi-skills can increase versatility through working across traditional skill boundaries. Methodologies and technologies available to facilitate the combination of vertical multi-skills and horizontal multi-skills are described. It is explained that facilitating their application requires thinking about skills less in terms of traditional crafts and professions, and more in terms of specialization, localization, rationalization, and democratization. Overall, it is argued that combining vertical multi-skills and horizontal multi-skills can leapfrog traditional skill trade-offs that limit prosperity growth.

The politics of water democracy: insights from grassroot struggles in the Ecuadorian Highlands

AbstractIn the past two decades spaces for user participation have been opened within water governance structures at many scales. In this contribution, based on a case study of the Provincial Water Users Federation Interjuntas‐Chimborazo in the Ecuadorian Highlands, I explore how and why formal participation of water users in itself is problematic in terms of democracy. The case shows that for organised peasant water users to work on more democratic water governance, the creation of upscaled federations, alliances, networks and sometimes street protests is crucial to open up spaces in which their interests are represented. This suggests that democracy is not merely about participation, but more importantly, it is about the politics of how democracy is made through conflicts, protests, negotiations and the creation of strategic alliances that challenge the structures and processes through which decisions are taken.

Introduction: Beyond the Anglophone—Comparative South Asian Literatures

Introduction: Beyond the Anglophone—Comparative South Asian Literatures

The ‘Open Garden of Politics’: The impact of open primaries for candidate selection in the British Conservative Party

Since 2003, hundreds of open primaries for the selection of parliamentary candidates have been held by the British Conservative Party as a means of democratising party organisation and enhancing representativeness. In the run-up to the 2015 general election, only 26 primaries could be identified. This article will apply the analytical framework provided by Hazan and Rahat to demonstrate that the relative failure of the experiment in terms of intra-party competition, participation, representation and responsiveness is counterbalanced by the benefits brought by this procedure, both as a tool of party branding at the national level and as a strategy for raising the profiles of candidates at the local level. Therefore, if mainstream parties conceded that the advantages of open primaries need not necessarily be understood in terms of internal democratisation but of party self-promotion, they would realise that open primaries could also serve as a means of preempting populism.

An Australian (partial) bill of rights

Contrary to popular perception, the Australian Constitution does contain a bill of rights. What is exceptional about this bill of rights, however, is that it is extremely narrow in both comparative and democratic terms. This narrowness in constitutional rights protection has a direct impact on the approach of the High Court of Australia to interpreting express rights guarantees. It encourages a narrow approach to the interpretation of such rights, which itself means that incremental efforts to expand constitutional rights protection are likely to be self-defeating. The only reliable approach to expanding constitutional rights in Australia, therefore, will likely involve tackling head-on the challenge of broader constitutional change.

Розвиток правової компетентності керівників освітніх закладів в умовах демократизації освіти

Розвиток правової компетентності керівників освітніх закладів в умовах демократизації освіти