Democratic Equality Research Articles

Democratic Equality and the Elected Avatars of the People

Abstract I argue that the use of elected political representatives undermines the political equality of citizens. Having elected representatives politically stand-in for individual constituents makes ordinary citizens the political inferiors of their representatives. This in turn creates democratically problematic social inequality between elected politicians and their constituents. I then offer an alternative to representative politicians that does not face the avatar of the people problem: representative mini-publics. Through these bodies, we can achieve a representative system without a class of political elites, where citizens share the responsibilities and powers of government as equals.

Democratic Equality Beyond Deliberation

Democratic Equality Beyond Deliberation

Toward an Authentic Understanding of Catholic School Identity

AbstractResearchers have studied Catholic schools for decades, often in an attempt to extrapolate from them lessons that may help public schools accomplish similar levels of academic achievement and other desirable goals, such as social mobility, social efficiency, and democratic equality. But research that attempts to understand Catholic education from a secular perspective inevitably misunderstands the purpose of education that Catholic schools themselves claim to pursue, i.e., beatitude. This unique purpose is the source of Catholic school identity. Here, Christopher Hurst argues that by considering Catholic education as the practice of a distinctly Catholic tradition, researchers can authentically assess how well Catholic schools are achieving their own stated goals, and whether their practices can be applied outside of a particular Catholic context.

‘They know to whom they can do it … ’ democratic inequality and the policing of urban peripheries in Chile

ABSTRACT This article examines how contrasting patterns of policing in marginalised neighbourhoods exacerbate social inequalities, ultimately undermining the core tenets of democratic policing. Viewed through the lens of democratic egalitarianism, the research shows how these patterns – characterised by surveillance and control in some areas and neglect of residents’ concerns in others – converge to erode the normative aspiration of building egalitarian social relations. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 residents from two marginalised communities in Chile, this study prioritises the lived experiences of marginalised people. The analysis reveals how residents’ interpretations of these contrasting police responses and their expectations of the police reinforce their sense of marginalisation. By applying the theoretical framework of democratic equality, this work contributes to the ongoing discourse on achieving democratic policing. It sheds light on the real-world consequences of policing practices that perpetuate social inequalities.

Gender parity and Indigenous regulatory systems in Oaxaca, Mexico: a review of the state of the art

This article aims to analyze the state of the art on gender parity and Indigenous Regulatory Systems (IRS) in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, to identify relevant lines of research. The problem that motivated this approach lies in the inequalities, violence, and injustices suffered by Indigenous women as municipal councilors, even though the constitutional principle of gender parity protects their political and electoral rights. Despite legislative advances in parity, systemic obstacles prevent the substantive achievement of the principle of gender parity in the indigenous municipalities of Oaxaca. This is a qualitative study, through documentary and discourse analysis, identifying theoretical and empirical positions and research results. Around 50 sources were reviewed to identify coincidences and differences, organizing the information into three sections: the path toward parity democracy, the concept of parity, and interculturality. The studies reviewed show that the main problems in the implementation of the principle of parity are related to gender stereotypes, the low institutional capacity of the State to implement parity, patriarchal resistance, and political violence. Most studies focus on the political party regime and do not analyze indigenous contexts. Therefore, it is convenient to analyze parity in the regime of the indigenous normative systems in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Can Democratic Equality Justify Capitalism?

Jeppe von Platz has recently argued that welfare-state capitalism can be justified by a theory of democratic equality, challenging John Rawls’s critique of capitalism. Von Platz develops his argument by introducing a social democratic interpretation of democratic equality as an alternative to Rawls’s justice as fairness. Unlike justice as fairness, in which there is only one possible principle of reciprocity (the difference principle), social democracy includes four possible principles in an eligible set that could be chosen as a principle of reciprocity. However, I argue that von Platz’s conception of reciprocity still fails to justify welfare-state capitalism. Of the four principles of reciprocity in social democracy’s eligible set, one of them, the principle of utility, does not express a notion of reciprocity and thus does not belong. The other three – the principle of equality, the difference principle, and the principle of equity – are not compatible with welfare-state capitalism. Thus, since capitalism cannot satisfy a principle of reciprocity in the (revised) eligible set, it is incompatible with the social democratic interpretation of democratic equality.

Problematic issues of gender equality in the European Union: administrative and legal aspect

The article is devoted to gender equality, one of the most relevant topics today, not only in Ukraine, but also in the European Union. Strategic planning of gender policy is an important aspect in achieving the values of equality between women and men. Building a quality strategy requires experience and expert work, in particular, data collection and processing, setting priorities and evaluating the effectiveness of already developed strategies.
 The aim of the work is a thorough study of gender equality policy in Ukraine and EU countries in law enforcement agencies.
 The methodological basis of the study. In the process of working on the scientific article, such scientific methods as the terminological, systemic-structural, formal-logical, comparative-legal method were used.
 Results. The European Union, in particular, the Commission on Gender Equality and Monitoring its Progress, already has some experience in strategic planning to achieve the goals of gender equality, which is implemented in all spheres of life. A review and analysis of this experience can help Ukraine improve approaches and practices for developing strategies in this area.
 In Ukraine, scientific research on gender aspects of state policy began in the 90s of the last century. The issue of gender equality should be central in the analysis, planning and adoption of political decisions, budgets, programs, and institutional structures.
 The article analyzes actions and trends in the field of gender equality in the EU and Ukraine with the aim of bringing the law enforcement sphere of Ukraine closer to European gender standards.
 Conclusions. It was determined that the observance of gender equality or parity democracy is a system of rights, freedoms and duties of a person and a citizen regulated by regulations and provided for by political and legal principles, ensuring the possibility of their equal implementation and observance in all spheres of state and public activity with the help of an appropriate implementation mechanism. Summarizing the European practice, new principles of gender policy are defined, which form the modern ideology of equality.

Private virtues, public vices: Philanthropy and democratic equality

Private virtues, public vices: Philanthropy and democratic equality

The Concept of Democracy in Simon Frank’s Philosophy of Liberal Conservatism

The article analyses the concept of democracy by a Russian philosopher Simon Frank. It considers the main features of the liberal-conservatism as they appear in the works of Petr Struve and Simon Frank. The main focus of the paper is on the evolution of Frank’s views on democracy. It is noted that Frank emphasised the need to combine democratic mechanisms of power with legal mechanisms for protecting the freedom of a person, as well as the dependence of democracy on the level of cultural and moral development of society. The paper demonstrates that Frank considered democracy not so much as an external political order, which inevitably turns out to be antinomic, but in the context of the basic principles of social life and, first of all, the principle of service (in a religious, Christian sense). The social life ontologically presupposes that the principle of democratic equality must be combined with the principles of hierarchism and aristocracy.

Emma Saunders-Hastings: Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022. Pp. 252.)

Emma Saunders-Hastings: Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022. Pp. 252.)

Linguistic prejudice and electoral discrimination: What can political theory learn from sociolinguistics?

AbstractNormative political theorists working in the field of linguistic justice generally believe that participation in democratic life in linguistically diverse societies requires a shared lingua franca (e.g., Patten 2009; Van Parijs 2011). Even when a shared lingua franca is present, however, there is likely to be a variety of ways in which people speak it, due to variations in accent, pitch, register, and lexicon. This paper examines the implications of intra‐linguistic diversity for democracy and political representation. More specifically, by drawing on Andrew Rehfeld's (2010) work and on relevant sociolinguistics research, the paper argues that widespread unconscious linguistic prejudice constitutes a constraint on some citizens' right to run for political office that is incompatible with democratic equality. The argument is illustrated via a number of examples concerning Australian politicians.

Why AP Human Geography?

This commentary attempts to contextualize the articles in this issue by interrogating the purpose of Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography. Why should students learn geography? Why should they learn geography as an “AP” course—one that indicates college-level challenge and the potential for college credit? Leveraging David Labaree’s consideration about the public and private purposes of education—social mobility, economic efficiency, and democratic equality—the analysis considers the value of the course to students, their communities, and our country. The commentary concludes that on these three counts, the value of AP Human Geography is mixed. Although the course has potential to further all three goals of education, there remain challenges—some inherent to the AP program, and others specific to AP Human Geography.

Management in worker cooperatives: Democracy vs. dissonance, and possible overcoming approaches

Since early 19th century -and practically along with capitalism’s consolidation- cooperativism has been one of the main references in the pursuit of materialization, at the economic-organisational level, of political conquests obtained since the Enlightenment times. In particular, worker cooperatives have evidenced a remarkable resilience in offering a functioning Economic Democracy alternative, based on egalitarian schemes of worker-members’ common ownership. Supposedly, common ownership ensures democratic and participatory management, based on the "one person, one vote" principle. However, implementation of this ideal clashes with a dual and conflicting reality. On one side, the space for governance and strategic delimitation -the general Assembly- assumes democratic and participative dynamics. On the other side, most of the remaining areas of organizational management usually adopt the typical bureaucratic chain of command scheme, as the arrangements in classic authority relations are considered unavoidable elements when it comes to achieving coordination in daily work. Such circumstances lead to the emergence of Cooperative Dissonance, a concept that refers to the dual and contradictory nature of the set of work experiences: from Assembly meetings with democratic equality to everyday work processes with autocracy and inequality in the distribution of decision-making power. Theoretical proposition of this dissonance in worker cooperatives’ management, a review of some of its main manifestations in specialized literature, and an indication of some possible overcoming approaches constitute the main contribution of this article.

Capabilities approach and the marxist interpretation of the political conception of justice. reflections on the after-war restoration of Ukraine

Marxism as a normative position is critical of liberalism. However, the problems of justice and alienation that Marxism draws attention to can be solved by liberalism without the implementation of a Marxist political project. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the thesis that Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach (one of the versions of political liberalism) is a more inclusive and rational method of theorizing about the basic principles of justice than Marxism. By analyzing Elizabeth Anderson's theory of liberal egalitarianism "democratic equality", I show that some of Marxist approaches that (1) do not deny the existence of justice and (2) are concerned with the problem of alienation, can apply the arsenal of the moral theory of political liberalism to solve these problems. I also criticize Rawls's and Nussbaum's theories of political liberalism for their procedural vagueness and non-inclusive theory of justice. I present an outline of my position, which I propose to call «extended political liberalism» (hereafter EPL). EPL is currently represented by two arguments: 1) the paideia argument and 2) the argument of the interdependence of the good and the right. The first allows talking about the actual implementation of basic rights and freedoms only when citizens are aware of them and have the opportunity to change their views regarding the personal conception of the good. This is impossible without qualitative basic education. Also, one of the central concepts of EPL is presented within the framework of Paideia's argument - the interpretation of the political conception of justice. Because of this concept, it makes sense to talk about the possibility of citizens' reflection on the reconciliation of the current political conception with the personal conception of the good. This can also be done through the analysis of other conceptions of the good. The second argument is a continuation of the first, appearing as a theoretical mechanism that allows supplementing the existing political conception in case of serious social changes. In conclusion, if we take into account the advantages of the capabilities approach and my criticism of its weaknesses, then a theoretical position will emerge that is quite acceptable to some representatives of Marxism. Moreover, the latter will not have to give up their basic beliefs. The peculiarity of my concept presented in this text is that it is not so much a critique of Marxism as an analysis of the basic normative judgments of political liberalism, with which some Marxists can agree. With this article, I also want to illustrate the strengths of such a concept and point to its prospects for further attempts to interpret the political conception by other normative positions.

Standardization of National Bereavement Rights Compromises Minorities’ Civic Equality

ABSTRACT Standardization is a mechanism used to create uniformity and express the equal status of citizens facing governmental institutions. However, when standardization in various life aspects ignores fundamental differences between groups and individuals, it might increase inequality, compromise justice, and create explicit or implicit discrimination. This study exposes the mistake of identifying standardization with equality by looking at a specific and complex human situation. The linkage between standards and justice will be examined through three angles: philosophical, economic, and social. As a case study we will examine the case of Bedouin IDF widows. This group of women suffers from the uniformity of rights granted to widows of IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers, since the benefits included within these rights are not suitable to their lifestyle. We will demonstrate how culture-insensitive standards distort distributive justice and prevent certain groups, usually marginal and excluded ones, from accessing the resources and benefits to which they are entitled. We will claim that only a policy that considers personal, social, and cultural needs will enable true democratic equality, as opposed to technical, bureaucratic uniformity; and that only considering the two sides of the standardization coin will lead to genuine equity, which recognizes diversity and acknowledges its social value.

Dorothy Sue Cobble. For the Many: American Feminists and the Global Fight for Democratic Equality.

For the Many may not have been conceived as a response to the avalanche of criticisms directed at historical American feminist leaders and past waves of twentieth-century American feminism for harboring elitist, racist, classist perspectives and exclusionary practices, but the book provides a strong counterpoint to those criticisms nonetheless. This is not because its author in any way excuses or denies the bourgeois and even counterrevolutionary strains winding their way through American feminism in the last century. Instead, Dorothy Sue Cobble decenters the usual feminist suspects—the Alice Pauls and the Betty Friedans, along with the organizations and campaigns for which they were most noted—and places cross-class, cross-race, and cross-national collaborations among female labor activists and women’s labor organizations at the center of the story. By centering those feminists who, Cobble claims, most consistently called for racial equality and working-class rights, and who stood against colonialism, she paints a far more liberational political portrait of American feminism than does the dominant historical narrative that has been proffered to the general public for decades now.

Formation of a gender fair environment in educational institutions of Ukraine: European integration context

The article is devoted to the topical problem of creating a gender fair environment in the national educational context of the human-centered paradigm, humanitarian security of Ukraine, and European integration processes. A theoretical and methodological analysis of the given problem is carried out adopting foreign and domestic approaches. Through the gender discourse, a conceptual model based on the principles of "partnership pedagogy" and the humanistic "matrix" of the philosophical and pedagogical heritage, the integration of competence-based, person-oriented and gender-based approaches in the context of the policy of academic integrity of higher education institutions is presented, and its effectiveness is experimentally proven.
 The content and structure and the leading factors and mechanisms of creating an educational environment for children and youth based on the principles of gender equality in the conditions of the New Ukrainian School are revealed. The author's definition of the concept of "gender fair environment" as non-discriminatory, creative and developmental/creative, safe, health-preserving, inclusive, based on the principles of social justice, gender equality, child-centeredness, egalitarianism and gender parity is presented.
 The basic concepts of research are clarified, as well as the content, functions and features of a gender fair environment (GFE); its main components are singled out and characterized; on the basis of the defined criteria and indicators, the state of readiness of socionomic professions future specialists to the organization of the GFE is diagnosed. The principles of non-discriminatory education are substantiated, the psychological and pedagogical conditions for the formation of an egalitarian personality of a specialist are identified and empirically proven. Gender competence is considered in relation to intercultural competence as the main professional quality of a modern teacher.
 From the point of view of gender methodology, the principles, content and methods of psychological and pedagogical support of gender socialization of the individual are determined, and pedagogical monitoring is carried out to identify gender stereotypes and prejudices among students of higher education.
 The scientific and methodological support for the training of future teachers has been improved, the modernization of gender-educational technologies by means of IT in educational institutions of various levels has been carried out, and their effectiveness has been proven. The experience of the activity of the Scientific Research Center on Gender Education and Education of Pupil and Student Youth of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine – Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University regarding the implementation of innovative gender-educational technologies in the educational and professional training of future specialists in socio-economic professions on the way to the EU and ensuring the national mechanism for building a parity democracy in Ukraine has been analyzed.

Response to Theodore M. Lechterman’s Review of Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality

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Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality. By Emma Saunders-Hastings. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2022. 256p. $95.00 cloth, $30.00 paper.

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Teaching & Learning Guide for: Jürgen Habermas and the Public Intellectual in Modern Democratic Life

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Jürgen Habermas and the Public Intellectual in Modern Democratic Life