Development Of Liberal Democracy Research Articles

Analysis of Electoral Process and their Relationship with Democracy and Economic Index in the Balkan Countries, 2011–2021

The results of a comparative analysis based on the Electoral Integrity Index, evaluated for the period 2011–2021 in the Balkan countries are this paper’s objectives. Referring to perceptions of the level of fulfillment of international standards for democratic elections (PEI), the Balkan region is classified in the group of countries belonging to the “Moderate” category. In the Balkan countries, the positive relationship between the electoral process and the development of liberal democracy is evident, while the level of corruption is a factor that has a significant effect on the electoral process. Clusters analysis performed using estimates of distances between indicators related to the electoral process, the development of a liberal democracy, general economic development and the level of corruption present significant distances. The development of liberal democracy in Balkan countries is conditioned by the level of realization of synergy in the interaction between different factors. This paper aims to identify the legal framework in the details of Balkan countries related to electoral reform, going through recommendations through comparison and quantitative methodology and bringing Czech legislative dimension as a smart solution of problems that countries face in the electoral process.

Thomas Hobbes on Human Rights and Its Relevance to The Populist Movement in Indonesia

This study deals with the political theory of Thomas Hobbes and its implications to the political dynamism in Indonesia. The aim of this research is to analyze the philosophical concept of Hobbes on human rights and the theory of liberalism, and its relevance to the current situation in Indonesia, which has recently been exposed to the politics of populism. The presence of the populist movement is not new in Indonesia; but the rise of the politics of identity, it could threaten the protection of human rights and liberal democracy. We utilize the methodology of text analysis based on Hobbes’s original writing, Leviathan, and his other political treatises to explore his account on human rights and liberalism, and then employ Hobbes’s thoughts to investigate the phenomenon of populism. We divide the study into two sections, the first deals with the philosophy of human rights which Hobbes elucidates in the perspective of his hypothetical notion of the state of nature, the concept of authority, and his theory of liberalism; the second discusses populism in Indonesia today. The study found that the concept of human rights and liberalism would lead to awareness of mutual respect in society, while the populist movement becomes a real challenge to the implementation of human rights and the development of liberal democracy. The philosophy of human rights is in accordance with the political dynamism of Indonesian society. On the contrary, the populist movement could possibly plunge the country into a conflictual precipice of religious, racial-regional, and socio-political identities.

Constitutional Restriction on Human Rights and Freedoms in the Development of Liberal Democracy in Europe

This article is dedicated to the constitutional restrictions on human rights and freedoms within the genesis and development of liberal democracy. The article argues that European countries implement the provisions of the ECHR in various ways regarding the application of restrictions of rights and freedoms in their own national legal systems in order to support: 1) the state and public security or economic well-being of the country; 2) the prevention of riots or crimes; 3) health or morals or for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedoms of others; 4) the protection of national security or territorial integrity; 5) protecting the reputation of others; 6) the prevention of disclosure of confidential information; 7) maintaining the authority and impartiality of judicial authorities. The research defines a common feature of all constitutional restrictions of human rights and freedoms within the European countries’ application, taking into account the objective circumstances necessary in a democratic society. The authors underline that under no circumstances should the restrictions distort the essence of human rights and freedoms that fall under such derogations. The article underlines that the restrictions on human rights and freedoms are a necessary component of the legal system of any state and modern society. Such restrictions should be of a legal nature and should be imposed only in accordance with the general interest – national security, law and order, the protection of moral norms, and the protection of the rights and freedoms of other persons when the right of another person in a legitimate balance prevails. The emergence of challenges to human rights does not negate their effectiveness, and they continue to operate, which testifies to their effectiveness and guarantees the inviolability of the rule of law principle when resolving specific cases on human rights restrictions.

Modern investigation concepts of Patriotism in the foreign scientific research

The phenomenon of patriotism has accompanied humanity since ancient times. Its versatility strikes the imagination. Patriotism is defined intuitively and theoretically as «amor patria» (lat) – «love to the motherland». Even in its general form, this definition raises many questions, ranging from the gulf between direct and literary translations to the correctness of involving the concept of love to define it. This most general description characterizes the phenomenon in terms of attitude, but a closer examination requires a greater degree of details.
 Modern concepts of the study of the manifestations of patriotism in the Western scientific literature occupy a very important place in the fairway of the formation of political morality, which leads the civilized world to progress in the triumph of public moral values, recognizing the limitations of the real world, but not allowing these obstacles to impede such movement. It is believed that the phenomenon of patriotism in the modern world now plays an important role in reflecting on the rights and responsibilities of policymaking, but this may not always be the case, given the controversial view that further development of liberal democracy may weaken the manifestations of this phenomenon.
 Each of the concepts is implemented in one of the individual dimensions: vertical or horizontal. The vertical dimension is responsible for the relations between the subject and the object of patriotism, while the horizontal dimension is responsible for the relations between the subjects. They distinguish a «pre-political» vertical dimension, where the focus is on the culture, language, history and traditions of motherland or political community and «political», where the central principles and fundamental values of the state are central to loyalty. The horizontal dimension of patriotism has redistributive and substantive aspects. The essence of the redistributive aspect is the priority given to compatriots in comparison with other persons. The latter has two versions: absolute, which implies that compatriots always have priority over others; and a relative one, in which priority is given under certain conditions. Both dimensions have two degrees – extreme and moderate. Extreme concepts are characterized by unconditional loyalty to the object of patriotism, exceptional attachment to it, and unconditional priority given to compatriots in the distributive aspect.
 The discussion is free from pathos and propaganda and focuses more on the philosophical and sociological aspects of this issue.
 In the domestic scientific space, discourse is mainly focused on the educational aspects of pedagogy, the formation of appropriate personality traits, where the term «patriotism» mainly and primarily expresses sacrifice for something and a sense of duty; in contrast, in the Western scientific tradition the term tends to be more committed to some principles and ideals. According to the author, these differences are due to the Soviet heritage not yet overcome in the ideological use of the manifestations of this phenomenon.

КРИЗОВІ ДИСКУРСИ ЛІБЕРАЛЬНОЇ ДЕМОКРАТІЇ: ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКИЙ ДОСВІД ТА УКРАЇНСЬКІ ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ (ФІЛОСОФСЬКІ РОЗДУМИ)

Виокремлено кризові дискурси ліберальної демократії: симулятивний, екзистенційний, аксіологічний. Симулякр ліберальної демократії ще більше розмиває та знесилює соціально-політичну реальність та поступово відбувається деструкція соціальної та історичної пам’яті. Криза ліберальної демократії набуває екзистенційного забарвлення через її однозначний та безумовний соціальний статус. Суспільство тут лише «зачиняє пастку», з одного боку, надаючи громадянину відчуття важливості для держави, а з іншого – зводячи нанівець можливість для людини об’єктивного сенсу та конкретного визначення на рівні громадянського існування. Криза ліберальної демократії з одного боку конституює деформацію ціннісних орієнтирів людини та суспільства, а з іншого – надає можливість трансформації ціннісних векторів задля подолання кризи.

Evaluating the potential of Protestant Christianity to stimulate democracy and good governance in sub-Saharan Africa through the valuing of the individual

ABSTRACTThe global distribution of Christians is expected to change by 2050, with the largest proportion of Christians – more than a billion – residing in sub-Saharan Africa. Historical and empirical studies have argued for a positive relationship between the proportion of Christians – Protestants in particular – and the development of liberal democracy. A key explanation for this positive influence is cultural, namely the valuing of the individual. Could the growth in Christianity have the potential to influence democratic development and good governance in the sub-Saharan region? To test our hypotheses – (1) sub-Saharan states with proportionally larger Protestant populations are more likely to have higher levels of democracy and good governance, and (2) sub-Saharan states with growing Protestant populations are more likely to have increasing levels of democracy and good governance – we employ a longitudinal and cross-sectional study (a panel of data) using data from the World Christian Database, Polity IV and the International Country Risk Guide. Our data show that the population share of Protestants is positively related with both levels of and growth in democracy and good governance. With the spread of Protestantism we could expect the future improvement of democracy and governance in the region.

DIDŽIOSIOS STRATEGIJOS PRIELAIDOS IR PERSPEKTYVOS XX–XXI AMŽIŲ SANDŪROJE

Straipsnyje analizuojama Didžiosios strategijos raida istorijoje ir nacionalinių valstybių didžiųjų strategijų perspektyvos šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje. Nagrinėjama valstybių, turinčių Didžiąją strategiją, patirtis, tokios strategijos poreikio ir paskirties XXI a. problema. Teigiama, kad globaliame pasaulyje nesumenkėjo nacionalinės Didžiosios strategijos reikšmė ir poreikis – pakito tik jos įgyvendinimo aplinka ir sąlygos. XXI a. Didžiojoje strategijoje valstybės „įsitvirtinimo po saule“ sąvoką keičia „įsitinklinimo“koncepcija, kuri reiškia valstybės pastangą išnaudoti globalizacijos teikiamas galimybes nacionalinės plėtros tikslais. Vakarų pasaulio valstybės nėra natūraliai „pasmerktos“ didėjančios gerovės, kylančios kokybės ir sanglaudos vizijos išsipildymui. Vakarietiškosios Didžiosios strategijos, paremtos liberaliosios demokratijos koncepcija, modelio plėtros sėkmė priklausys ne tik nuo globalizacijos jėgų logikos, bet ir nuo sprendimų, kuriuos privalės priimti valstybių vyriausybės. Tai gali aktualinti nacionalinių didžiųjų strategijų poreikį.

The History and Quality of Korean-history Education to the Refugees from North Korea Hanawon

Since the late 1990s, the Refugees from North Korea(RNK) flowing into South Korea has increased. So, in July 1999, established the Hanawon, Republic of Korea Government has implemented social adjustment education for 2-3 months. Since 2004, Korean history education had begun, and its importance had been emphasized, educational materials were made in recent years. Since the beginning of Korean history education, the following features will be appeared at the content of education.<BR> 1) Korean history education for RNK is composed of two axes. One is ‘recovery of National homogeneity’, the other is ‘understanding of the differences between South and North’.<BR> 2) In premodern, history about Korean-culture and struggle against foreign nation is emphasized. Because Korean, regardless of the South and North, can empathize with cultural features and struggle. And it is possible to know that teaching materials are organized around Silla and Chosun, based on the historical understanding of South Korea.<BR> 3) In teaching materials, amount of modern and contemporary history that the difference between the south and north has occurred relatively is larger than the premodern history. This is intended to inform the unfamiliar South-Korea of RNK.<BR> 4) Contemporary history is illuminated from two aspects. One is economic growth of South Korea and the other is the development of liberal democracy. But it has placed a specific gravity in the economic aspect.<BR> Discomfort and confusion that RNK feel in South Korea will not be limited in economic part. It is also need to inform of the South Korean system’s historical features like democratic elections or civil society which are performed on a daily basis.

In Defense of the Freedom of the Press: The Indonesian Playboy Magazine Case Study

One of the most observable achievements in the development of liberal democracy in Indonesia after the fall of the Soeharto’s New Order is the flourishing freedom of the press. One notable case was the Indonesian Playboy magazine and court decisions pertaining to it, which was successful in drawing massive public and even international attention. By thoroughly describing thoughts, feelings, values, and beliefs of various actors involved, this article explains the impacts of liberal democracy experimentation in Indonesia after the amendment of 1945 Constitution. This case has provided an excellent opportunity in observing the rule of law in enforcing the freedom of the press in Indonesia facing social cultural elements strongly adhered to by Indonesian people.

Democracy’s Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan (review)

Reviewed by: Democracy’s Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan Philip Clart (bio) Richard Madsen. Democracy’s Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. xxvi, 191 pp. Hardcover $60.00, ISBN 978-0-520-25227-1. Paperback $26.95, ISBN 978-0-520-25228-8. After more than forty years of single-party rule under the Kuomintang (KMT), headed first by Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975), then by his son Chiang Ching-kuo (1910–1988), the lifting of the state of martial law in 1987 set off a dynamic democratic development that led in 2000 to the first election of an opposition candidate to the presidency of the Republic of China on Taiwan. The rapid transformation of the Taiwanese political system has attracted the attention of many social scientists interested in the democratization of a non-Communist authoritarian regime roughly contemporary with the breakdown of the Communist party-states in Eastern Europe, especially because of its potential as a model for political change in mainland China. The role of religious institutions was one of the key research areas in the study of European democratization. While the churches (especially Protestant and Catholic) played important civil society roles and were crucial agents of political change in some Soviet bloc countries (such as East Germany and Poland), their positive influence in other countries was less noticeable (e.g., in the USSR or under the clerico-fascist Franco regime in Spain). What, then, was the role of religious institutions in the development of liberal democracy in Taiwan? This is Richard Madsen’s central question, for which he provides a number of thought-provoking answers. As a coauthor (with Robert N. Bellah and others) of Habits of the Heart,1 Madsen belongs to a school of sociology long concerned with the role of religion in the public life of liberal democracies. While not rejecting the Enlightenment critique of the divisive public role of religions and the resultant view of modernization as ineluctably linked to secularization (in the sense of the privatization of religion and its exclusion from the public sphere), these scholars seek to balance the picture with an emphasis on the continuing need, even of secular democracies, to establish a moral consensus and an ultimate source of legitimation. Among other contributions, this school of thought gave us the controversial civil religion concept. It is significant that both Bellah and Madsen have a research background in East Asian societies, Japan in the case of Bellah, China in that of Madsen — significant because the East Asian history of religions provides test cases and possibly alternatives for largely Western-focused secularization theories. Herein lies one of the attractions that post–martial law Taiwan has for Richard Madsen and other social scientists. Given the minor role of religious groups in the pre-1987 opposition movement (largely limited to a liberal faction in the Presbyterian Church), Madsen focuses his attention on the contributions of four major religious institutions in the democratization process after 1987. The four groups are the Buddhist Tzu Chi [End Page 214] Foundation, Buddha’s Light Mountain, Dharma Drum Mountain, and the Daoist Enacting Heaven Temple (more on the problematic nature of this Daoist label below). Madsen summarizes his two main themes as follows: “By studying several prominent religious groups in Taiwan, I want to show more generally how religion affects movements towards democracy. I also want to demonstrate how progressive forms of religion grow” (p. xxiii). For the first theme, Madsen seeks to combat the general skepticism among mainstream scholars about the capacity of religion to play a positive public role in the building of modern, liberal democratic institutions. This case [i.e., that of Taiwan, reviewer’s note], however, is another piece of evidence for what my co-authors and I argued in Habits of the Heart and The Good Society: A purely secular liberalism — a liberalism founded simply on the rational self-interest of individual citizens — is not a basis for a viable, robust polity. It is evidence for the notion that all coherent states rest on holy ground. (p. xxiii) Madsen’s second theme is encapsulated in what he calls “a search for...

Confucian Values and Elite Support for Liberal Democracy in Taiwan: The Perils of Priestly Religion

AbstractIt is widely recognized that religious institutions and values play a prominent political role in various countries around the world. What is less clear is the degree to which other prominent ideologies perform an analogous role in regions where they predominate. The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between Confucianism and liberal democracy in Taiwan. As the most important belief system in Taiwan and, indeed, in much of East Asia, Confucianism has provided a model of civic behavior for centuries, performing a largely priestly role. What is less apparent is whether Confucianism inhibited or promoted the development of liberal democracies in the region. While an extensive theoretical debate exists on this question, virtually no work analyzes how Confucianism has been understood by political actors on the ground. The data for this study consist of interviews with 27 politicians, democracy activists, Confucianism scholars, and journalists in Taiwan. The article tests whether or not, in the minds of these key political and cultural leaders, Confucian values are an aid or a hindrance to their efforts to promote liberal democracy. The concluding section discusses the implications of the empirical results for East Asian countries and addresses the parallels between Confucianism as an ideology in East Asia and the religious institutions and values in Western countries.

Democracy and Religion: Theoretical and Empirical Observations on the Relationship between Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy

This paper addresses the issue of the compatibility of Islam and democracy from the angle of empirical democratic theory and in a broad historical and comparative perspective. This includes the argument of, and evidence for, a Christian rooting of modern democracy. On the one hand, recent data and cross-time comparisons confirm that demo cracy's roots are in countries which are culturally shaped by Christianity. Religious traditions and institutions clearly provide constraints and opportunities for liberal democracies and processes of democratisation. Within the Christian tradition, distinctions between Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity and Protestantism (also within Protestantism) matter, and so do different degrees of secularisation or specific patterns of Church–State relations. Religions that contain and prescribe an holistic view of society, especially Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Islam, tend to restrict the emergence and development of liberal democracies, and civil liberties in particular. On the other hand, the inherent ‘multi-vocality’ and the changes of religious traditions (e.g. Catholicism) which, in themselves, are massively affected by political institutions, already demonstrate that there is nothing deterministic about religion's relationship to democracy. This relation is also shaped by uneven processes of secularisation and by increasing religious diversity within the West. While a first glance at the current world map of religion and democracy seems to confirm Huntington's well-known view that Islam is ‘the problem’, closer analysis shows, however, that it is not the allegedly problematic relationship between Church and State in Islamic countries or the lack of secularisation in these societies which accounts for the democratic deficit. Rather, the main reasons are found in patriarchal orders, and in geopolitical and regional factors. I suggest that research should focus on the conditions under which an antagonistic relationship between a particular (empirical) religion and democratic principles and practice can be transformed into reconciliation by institutional, doctrinal and attitudinal learning. Such learning is massively stimulated by Muslims living under conditions of functioning liberal democracies ‘in the West’.

Strategic Calculation and International Socialization: Membership Incentives, Party Constellations, and Sustained Compliance in Central and Eastern Europe

This article uses a rationalist approach to explain the international socialization of Central and Eastern Europe to liberal human rights and democracy norms. According to this approach, socialization consists in a process of reinforcement, and its effectiveness depends on the balance between the international and domestic costs and benefits of compliance over an extended period of time. EU and NATO accession conditionality has been a necessary condition of sustained compliance in those countries of Central and Eastern Europe that violated liberal norms initially. The pathways and long-term outcomes of international socialization, however, have varied with the constellations of major parties in the target states. Whereas conditionality has been effective with liberal and mixed party constellations, it has failed to produce compliance in antiliberal regimes. In the empirical part of the article, these propositions are substantiated with data on the development of liberal democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and case studies on Slovakia and Latvia.For useful comments on earlier versions, I thank the participants of the IDNET workshop seminars, especially Jeff Checkel, Matthew Evangelista, Judith Kelley, Thomas Risse, and Marianne van de Steeg. In addition, the anonymous reviewers and the editors of IO made excellent suggestions for improving and clarifying the argument. The research for this article was supported by a grant of the German Research Foundation (DFG), 2000–2002.

Modernity in the Flesh: Medicine, Law, and Society in Turn-of-the-Century Argentina

Modernity in the Flesh: Medicine, Law, and Society in Turn-of-the-Century Argentina

Democracy and Reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula

From the standpoint of political culture, the development of liberal democracy in South Korea modeled after Western blueprints may not bring Korean unification closer. If the ideological stalemate ended with the end of the cold war, it might now be worth reconsidering the unification and governance project of Korea as two aspects of the same problem. According to three surveys conducted in South Korea over a ten-year period, it has been found that while political issues divide the respondents, basic social and moral values and norms are widely accepted, over time and across generations. The shared values include a paternalistic ideal of leadership and perceptions of society as a family writ large. The article suggests that aspects of the Korean culture that conflict with liberal democracy may be exactly those aspects that constitute the political culture on the peninsula, despite fifty years of opposing political regimes. In contrast with the “Asian values,” it is here suggested that those traits we have found to characterize Korean political culture can be found within several other cultures as well, indicating that it might be the liberal model that is problematic and not the cultural traits.