Liberal Democracy Research Articles

Two Supreme Court Judgments on the Fairness of Elections in India

The commentary looks at the two landmark judgements delivered by the Supreme Court in recent months on the electoral process in India which is the lifelines of liberal democracy. The judgements deal with the appointment of CEC and other election commissioners along with the funding of elections. In the Anoop Baranwal case, The Supreme Court has tried to insulate the election commission from control of the government of the day in order to make it a neutral institution. In the Electoral Bond case, the court has tried to create a level playing field among political contestants during the election. But the judgements have not been able to plug all holes in the electoral process as many lacunae remains. The judgements of the Supreme Court will go a long way in ensuring free and fair election in India.

Trzy dekady etyki biznesu w Polsce

The origins of Polish business ethics were closely linked to the democratisation of the Polish political system and the economic transformation of the 1990s. These were formative years for Polish business ethics. The moral aspects of this transformation inevitably became the topic of the day, but also, especially within academic reflection, ethical analyses of the very nature of the market economy and more general questions about morality of capitalism began to emerge. This article recounts three decades of Polish business ethics, covering the 1990s and the first two decades of the 21st century. This story is primarily about people who were actively involved in promoting the new discipline and about institutions they created. However at the end of this period they may have been surprised to witness the political turmoil associated with the rise of populist and anti-liberal tendencies in Polish politics. The question of whether ethical business can exist in a non-democratic environment therefore recurs. However, the answer seems simple: without liberal democracy and the rule of law, ethical business standards will remain an impossible ideal.

On judges when the rule of law is under attack

A main question of the paper is why the courts, and the judiciary are such a main focus of those in power who attack liberal democracy today. First it adresses the connections between democratic decline and rule of law backsliding. Then it adresses some historical perspectives and compare the present situation to autocracies and totalitarian experiences in Europe in the twentieth century. Finally, it discusses different measures taken by autocratic rulers to limit judicial control, how to distinguish such measures from measures of legitimate legal reform, and how to counter such measures.

Purposive motivation in an Unlikely place: A study of party activists in Ukraine

This study examines the motivations of party activists in Ukraine, a country known for clientelistic and oligarch-led political parties. It investigates whether these parties attract individuals seeking purposive incentives and explores factors associated with such motivation. Data were collected from surveys of approximately 200 party activists across three major Ukrainian cities during the 2019 Parliamentary Elections. The analysis reveals that purposive motivation is more prevalent among party activists than previously thought. Older activists and formal party members demonstrate higher levels of purposive motivation compared to their younger and non-member counterparts, while the study finds no positive correlation between ideological extremism and purposive motivation. These findings challenge the conventional assumption of party activists as hired “mercenarie” in volatile party systems and extend the scope of party membership and activism research beyond established Western democracies.

Beyond the blinders: Disclosing the episteme of land ownership to re-frame legal and economic values in planning

Among the values conceptualising and measuring planning processes and outcomes, two play a prominent role in liberal democracies: legal and economic. Current conceptions and practices framing these values face substantial challenges: civil law systems do not account for the variety of land use situations, increases in wealth inequalities, and human activities which threaten planetary boundaries. A way to tackle these challenges is to analyse the current theoretical discourse and legal norms framing values in planning, study alternative conceptions, and outline new responses. The present article investigates how a paradigm shift in planning theory may open new avenues for conceptualising legal and economic values. To do so, it first compares the episteme of land ownership defined by two theories applied to planning: law-and-economics and land master theory. Second, drawing upon the comparison, the article discusses how the strengths of each theory may contribute to filling the gaps of the others. Identified gaps are: the integration of political aspects into the analysis, the conceptualization of collective and use-specific forms of ownership, and methodological issues. These gaps mirror the western legal conception of land ownership, defined as individual and absolute. Fourth, based on collective and use-specific land management practices that develop within the western legal framework, and theoretical inputs from land master theory, the article puts forward a transduction of legal norms that foster a more sustainable conception of land ownership, known as land stewardship.

The Dilemma of Democracy in Modern Russia: Parliamentarism or Universal Civil Co-government

The civilizational choice of modern Russia has posed to our people the problem of searching for a national idea, choosing a socio-political system that ensures the survival of the Russian state in the context of the global political crisis of liberal representative democracy and armed conflict with the West. Universal civil co-government and libertarian state socialism as a popular initiative coming from the depths of the consciousness of Russian society, acts as the only guideline for state-building capable of ensuring the national path of development of the country, preserving its identity and becoming an example to other peoples.

The Role of Political Parties in Making Japanese Public Policy (Liberal Democratic Party as a Model)

Political parties are considered one of the most important political organizations and have a role in making and drawing up public policy. In Japan, they play a role, but there are not enough opportunities to assume governance. The Liberal Democratic Party is the most prominent party in Japan and plays a role in shaping and directing public policies in the country, and seeks to achieve a balance between the economy and the economy.And securityIn social affairs, the party played a vital role in promoting democracy and achieving political stability in the country. The party also seeks to manage the economy effectively and strengthen international relations through diplomacy and international cooperation, relying on its political orientations. The Liberal Democratic Party represents a model for political parties in Japan, which contributes to Effectively in making public policy and shaping the future course of the country, through its effective participation in governments, parliament and other democratic mechanisms, the Liberal Democratic Party remains a fundamental pillar in the Japanese political system, and a major partner in formulating and implementing policies that directly affect the lives of citizens and the future of the country. In its entirety.

Die Politik von Caligari: Totalitarian Anxieties in Adaptations of Robert Weine’s Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Contemporary politics is filled with anxiety about the survival of democracy—particularly within a framework pitting liberal representative democracy against authoritarianism. In times of anxiety about authoritarianism, Western artists repeatedly return to a masterpiece of relatively early cinema: Robert Weine’s silent film Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, or The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This essay examines three twenty-first century adaptations: David Lee Fisher’s 2005 remake of the film; James Morrow’s 2017 novel, The Asylum of Dr. Caligari; and Georgie Bailey’s 2022 play Caligari. I argue that while the direct politico-cultural anxieties of Weine’s film have often been overstated, the emergence of adaptations during periods of heightened concern about authoritarianism reflects a deep-seated reception of the film as anticipating autocratic governance. However, for all its fears about power, control, and the loss of self-determination, Weine’s movie also contains the seeds of liberation. Cesare ultimately sacrifices his own life rather than murdering Jane. And it is this gesture that the adaptations examined here seek—a gesture of resistance. The sleepwalker can awaken and assert a form of just resistance in the world, even if the penalties are steep.

On the Road to Electoral Democracy? Erosion of the Free and Fair Elections Standard in the Era of the Polish Constitutional Crisis after 2015

This article attempts to diagnose the state of democracy in Poland, remaining in the era of constitutional crisis and following the erosion of the free and fair elections standard, which determines the criteria for distinguishing an electoral democracy from a liberal democracy. For this purpose, the individual elements constituting this concept are analyzed, both having a procedural dimension and referring to the course of the three phases of the electoral process itself (the period before election day, on election day and after election day), as well as referring to the standards of honesty, reliability, the real possibility of alternative power or equal opportunities. The conclusions drawn at individual stages of the deliberations, including an indication of the destabilisation of electoral law, the erosion of guarantees regarding the reliability of elections, disproportion in the access of political party representatives to public media, lead to a thesis on the formation of electoral democracy in Poland, which can be described as a democratic system devoid of liberal values. It is characterised by restrictions on freedom of association, freedom of speech and academic freedom, electoral distortions, unequal access of representative political parties to the public media and judicial guarantees related to the electoral process.

Meeting the critical challenge: re-tooling and re-founding defences of local democratic institutions

ABSTRACT Local government studies was born as a sub-division of public administration, but was progressively cross-fertilised with a range of disciplines, notably political geography and urban studies. This buffeted what had been normative foundations of the field, notably liberal democracy, and challenged meanings of key concepts from its lexicon, including the ‘local’, democracy, government, place and scale. These cherished concepts have been re-imagined and are now more than ever ‘up for grabs’. Subsequently, normative theorising about the local government waned. This paper argues that we need to meet the challenge set by these new insights and ask what would a defence of local government look like if we took them into account? In doing so, we should recognise both their value and limitations; engaging in the challenge will reveal the need to re-visit some long-held assumptions about not only the value of local democratic institutions but also their continuing fundamental relevance.

The Harm of Social Media to Public Reason

AbstractIt is commonly agreed that so-called echo chambers and epistemic bubbles, associated with social media, are detrimental to liberal democracies. Drawing on John Rawls’s political liberalism, we offer a novel explanation of why social media platforms amplifying echo chambers and epistemic bubbles are likely contributing to the violation of the democratic norms connected to the ideal of public reason. These norms are clarified with reference to the method of (full) reflective equilibrium, which we argue should be cultivated as a civic virtue in the context of political justification. The paper demonstrates how epistemic bubbles and echo chambers are likely to be detrimental to the disposition to follow the method of reflective equilibrium in the political context. Based on this diagnosis the paper highlights the need for interventions that help cultivate reflective equilibrium as a civic virtue and the need for corresponding interdisciplinary research.

Workplace Democracy as the Liberal Republican Default

Liberal republican justice requires adequate, reasonably equal protection against domination while giving everybody a reasonably equal opportunity to live their lives as they see fit. This article investigates which central policy follows from it for workplace non-domination, under realistic assumptions about the nature of our working lives and some structural characteristics of advanced economies (especially the presence of large firms). It argues for a legal default of workplace democracy, understood as any arrangement that gives workers equal individual control rights over the management of their firm, and, as a body, more control rights than any other groups of enfranchised stakeholders, taken together. The argument has two steps. The first demonstrates where the most promising alternative liberal strategy – that of enhancing all individuals’ power to exit from their job through granting unconditional resources – fails. The second shows how this failure leads to the specific conception of default workplace democracy outlined.

Decolonization and Democratization in African Countries: The Impact of Liberal Democracy on Political Stability

Since the 1990s, the African continent has experienced dramatic changes in the political sphere. Specifically, as mentioned by Samuel Huntington in The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, many Sub-Saharan African countries have undergone democratic transitions, marked by reforms from one-party systems or military rule to multiparty systems with regular elections, a process that prominently features characteristics of Western-style liberal democracy. Despite the fact that African countries employing Western-style democracy have made certain progress in political development and social governance, many African countries that have undergone this political transformation exhibit a lack of political stability. As such, this article studies the development of liberal democracy and political stability in Kenya against the backdrop of the third wave of democratization. Through analyzing the historical and socio-economic contexts of African countries, it argues that the winner-take-all logic of the western representative democracy contradicts with the cultural tradition in African countries, which emphasizes social consensus and consultation. Considering the historical problems left since the colonial era, it adds to the difficulty of applying the western democracy in contemporary African countries, and thus results in the incompatibility between the liberal democracy model and the reality of African social contexts. Consequently, it is argued that the democratization process in Africa requires further exploration and more appropriate combination of advanced political institutions and the local contexts.

Both‐Sideology Endangers Democracy and Social Science

AbstractIn social psychology these days it is commonplace to read or hear that liberal‐leftists and conservative‐rightists are every bit as “moral”; prejudiced and intolerant; susceptible to misinformation, “fake news,” and conspiratorial thinking; lax about upholding democratic standards; and prone to terrorism and political violence. Upon careful inspection, however, I conclude that every one of these claims is false or misleading. Liberal‐leftists in the United States and elsewhere are demonstrably more committed than conservative‐rightists to humanistic‐egalitarian values, deliberative reasoning, and adherence to democratic norms. In Western societies, acts of authoritarian aggression, hate crimes, and political violence are overwhelmingly more likely to come from the right than the left. As a witness to Nazi atrocities, Kurt Lewin deeply understood the role of historical, economic, and political forces in human lives and the interdependence between democracy and social science. He rejected moral relativism and what I call “both‐sideology” and offered a sophisticated critique of anti‐democratic tendencies. There are perfectly understandable reasons why people—especially academics and journalists—would be tempted to draw parallels between the left and right, and indeed there are many similarities as well as dissimilarities between liberal‐leftists and conservative‐rightists. However, the uncritical adoption of both‐sideology threatens liberal democracy itself and, with it, the only social science worth having. What we—as citizens and social scientists—need now is a renewal and revitalization of Lewin's critical‐emancipatory legacy before it is too late.

Goodbye, Wolf Warrior: charting China's transition to a more accommodating diplomacy

Abstract China has abolished its previous wolf-warrior diplomacy and is increasingly adopting a softer diplomatic tone, primarily driven by internal economic challenges such as a slowing economy and the need for global economic stability to sustain its growth and development. In response to international pressures and the desire to avoid further isolation, China is adjusting its foreign policy to be more in line with global norms and expectations, which may improve its relations with western democracies. The shift in China's diplomacy reflects a broader strategy to recalibrate its global influence by presenting itself as a more responsible and cooperative international player, which is essential for maintaining its long-term geopolitical ambitions. Western democracies should: Avoid seeing China solely as an adversary. Instead, they should engage constructively, leveraging this diplomatic shift to build trust and foster cooperation on global challenges. Promote policies that encourage reciprocal openness and collaboration, ensuring that China's diplomatic softening goes beyond rhetoric and leads to tangible improvements in international relations. Continuously monitor China's evolving diplomatic strategies to adjust and optimize foreign policy approaches, balancing collaboration opportunities with cautionary measures against potential risks.

The future of UN peace operations: pragmatism, pluralism or statism?

Abstract Although United Nations peace missions have played an important conflict management role for decades, a backlash against the post-Cold War model of ‘liberal peacebuilding’ and other recent developments have called their future into doubt. Some observers contend that a ‘pragmatic turn’ is now underway—a shift away from ambitious plans to transform war-torn societies into liberal democracies and towards more modest and realistic goals. Whether ‘pragmatism’ offers a viable alternative framework for peacebuilding, however, is less clear. This article challenges key assumptions of the pragmatic approach to peacebuilding, including the notion that UN missions can be ‘agnostic’ about the governance arrangements of societies that host these operations, as some proponents of pragmatism recommend. Historical case-studies show that such assumptions are integral features of collective conflict management systems, including UN peace missions. Moreover, a close examination of the pragmatist approach reveals that it, too, is based on such assumptions—namely, that building peace requires the promotion of pluralist societies and states. Pluralist peacebuilding, the article concludes, could offer a compelling foundation for future UN missions in an era of rising statist–authoritarianism, but developing this approach will first require discarding pragmatism's pretence of ideological agnosticism.

Backsliding Populist Governments in the Council: The Case of the Hungarian Fidesz

Populist governments aim to fundamentally challenge the EU, raising the question of when and how backsliding populist governments disrupt decision-making in the Council of the EU (hereafter Council). Due to their anti-elite and strong anti-EU stance, along with their opposition to core values of liberal democracy, I argue that these governments are more inclined to resort to <em>unpolitics</em>, understood as “unsettlement.” Analysing the behaviour of the Hungarian Fidesz government in the Council, the article demonstrates that populist governments resort to unpolitics but use an à la carte approach. Populist backsliding governments selectively oppose the Council’s formal and informal decision-making rules. Looking at the voting behaviour in the Council since 2009, the article shows that the Fidesz government preserves the norm of consensus. However, over time, it has become the government that has most often broken with this norm. Conversely, when it comes to “backsliding-inhibiting competences,” the Fidesz government challenges both formal and informal rules through a wide range of strategies, i.e., systematically contesting the legality of procedures and decisions, embracing a confrontational approach and diplomacy, self-victimisation, bending the truth, and accusatory rhetoric. To illustrate them, the article focuses on decisions related to the dismantlement of the rule of law in the country, such as Article 7 TEU, the application of Regulation 2020/2092, and the disbursement of Cohesion funds.

The War Against Ukraine and the EU: Facing New Realities, edited by Claudia Wiesner and Michèle Knodt. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. XIII, 230 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35040-5.

This book discusses the multiple implications of the war against Ukraine for the EU political system. It draws on a number of different authors to analyse the main dimensions of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the subsequent large-scale war, which impact the global order and EU foreign policy. In the context of war and Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU needs to position itself in a changing world order, internal and external challenges to liberal democracy and the development of its strategic autonomy. In various chapters of the book, the development and strengthening of strategic partnership and friendship with Ukraine is considered by the EU as one of the central foreign policy priorities. Without the support of the Ukrainian partner, it is difficult for the EU to achieve positive results in European politics and play the role of an influential power in the international arena. In this context, various authors note that only the formation of political and economic ties between the EU and Ukraine will be the optimal way out of the full-scale war and crisis that Ukraine has found itself in. Only the combination of opportunities and efforts will allow the Ukrainian political elite and society to eventually stand on par with leading European countries.

Theocratically bounded communal self-governance: a pre-modern solution for the modern world?

Shadi Hamid proposes “democratic minimalism” as a system and means of governing and rotating power with no prejudice to substantive ideological outcomes. Democratic minimalism is meant to decouple the question of actualizing an ideal society, even a liberal one that provides maximum freedom for the maximum groups of people, from the mechanism of transferring power between groups with opposing beliefs. I sympathize with Hamid’s arguments. Hamid, I believe, correctly identifies the tension between liberal democracy and Islam in the Muslim world in that Muslims if given the choice may not support liberal policies. He also, I think, rightly concludes that the way to live with this dilemma consists of preserving plurality and the possibility of change through persuasion and thoughtful contestation, and not autocratic leadership. However, I argue, he does not sufficiently problematize the nation-state in his analysis. Drawing on the Islamic tradition, I argue we can make progress in this regard by deconstructing the nation-state to make room for communal self-governance and moral heterodoxies.

Party politics, dearth of political ideology, and the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria

ABSTRACT This article undertakes a critical examination of the paucity of political ideology within Nigeria’s party system, with a particular focus on the 2023 presidential election. It further explores the ramifications of this deficiency on the political landscape and developmental trajectory of the country. In liberal democracies, political ideology plays a crucial role in shaping the political system and determining the course of a state’s political and economic development, but Nigeria’s political landscape currently suffers from a lack of ideology. Political parties in Nigeria are not driven by ideas, beliefs, and values. They are not groups of individuals who share a common ideology, but rather serve as platforms for patronage and wealth accumulation for the political elites. This article advances the argument that the lack of political ideology in Nigerian politics weakens the political system and creates a democratic deficit. These factors challenge the process of democratic development in Nigeria.