Philosophy Of Democracy Research Articles

Impact of Socio-economic Factors on the Perception of Equality of Opportunity

This article examines the various sociological and philosophical perspectives on equality of opportunity, focusing on areas of misunderstanding within these viewpoints. It aims to critically analyze these perspectives, highlighting the underlying assumptions and challenging simplistic approaches to the concept of equal opportunity. The article claims that these perspectives differ in knowledge, beliefs about the familiar world, and human comprehension. By critiquing the constitutionalist approach, which prioritizes overall quality of life, and contrasting it with the Marxist perspective, which emphasizes protection based on socioeconomic status, this essay challenges conventional notions of equal opportunity. It advocates for a perspective rooted in fundamental equality and social democratic philosophy, arguing against discrimination based on sex, gender, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. The article posits that we should regard all individuals as equally valuable human beings. Furthermore, this study contends that the perception of equal opportunity remains misleading, as the most effective criteria for achieving it remain unresolved in specific contexts and situations. By examining these complexities, the article aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of equality of opportunity in contemporary society.

Reconciling science and democracy: evidence-based policy as seen from the perspective of a role-based democratic theory

The question of whether policy can be informed by evidence and at the same time be democratically legitimate is contentious. The present article draws on the philosophy of democracy and role-based moral theory in order to inform a reconciliation of rigorous use of evidence with democratic legitimacy. The article argues that in order to realise the value of equality that underpins their offices, democratic officials have a special moral responsibility to utilise appropriate, high-quality evidence to identify the means by which to realise citizens’ democratically chosen aims, because utilising appropriate, high-quality evidence that addresses how to achieve citizens’ aims makes it more likely that their aims will be realised. Furthermore, the paper argues that when value judgments must be made in the employment of evidence for policy, these value judgments should ideally be made by elected representatives serving on scientific advisory committees.

Balancing Democracy and Adz-Dzari'ah Principles: Legal Reasoning on Term Limits for Political Party Chairpersons in Indonesia

This study explores the issue of term limits for political party chairpersons from the perspective of democracy and the principles of az-zari'ah. In 2022-2023, there was a surge in lawsuits to the Constitutional Court regarding the absence of rules regarding the term of office of political party chairpersons in Indonesia. The number of lawsuits shows that the absence of such rules has caused considerable problems, both within and outside political parties and the state. Various political diseases have become increasingly apparent, such as the perception that public officials only follow the direction of party leaders (bossism), and this has the potential to lead to abuse of power by political party chairmen in the context of public policy. Using a qualitative literature review methodology, this study uses a comparative philosophical approach, namely by paying attention to the principles of democracy and applying methods derived from az-zari'ah. Both of these are used because, on the one hand, Indonesia is a country that applies the principles of democracy; on the other hand, many Indonesian people believe in the truth of Islamic law, including the principles of az-zari'ah. It was found that, from the perspective of az-zari'ah, the term of office of the party chairman must be limited (closed) so as not to become a vehicle for political disease. By Az-zari'ah, limiting the term of party leaders becomes a crucial matter, as it helps mitigate potential harms that may arise in the absence of such limitations. Meanwhile, from a democratic perspective, it also has the same value implications, namely the need to limit the term of office of the chairman. Democracy has the basic function of limiting political power in a person and not expanding or giving unlimited power like a monarchical system. This is because democracy believes that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts. So, since Indonesia uses the philosophy of democracy in its country, every political institution, in this case, political parties, must abide by the same rules.

Creative arts and social engagement in contemporary Kenya

The chapter defers to the general principles of the Kenyan Government’s National Policy on culture and Heritage (2010), this study foregrounds the important but often overlooked connection between creative arts and social engagement. The study specifically illustrates the ways in which selected Kenyan creative artists across three distinct artistic genres creatively and imaginatively use their art to foster the kind of wisdom and activism that is required of citizens in a democratic nation. The chapter positions Kenyan creative cultures art as democratic philosophy which is central to ensuring that citizens freely engage with politics of the day thereby promoting democratic governance. Specifically, the study locates three distinct creative artistic genres, which are digital narratives, popular music and participatory theatre and considers the social role of creative artists to imaginatively observe, evaluate and develop artistic models for addressing social problems and to create collective forms of citizen engagement. To achieve its objectives, the study uses a qualitative research approach involving discourse analysis of creative artistic works by contemporary Kenyan artists within the selected genres. The discourse analytical tool helps to sift through key discourse related to Kenyan creative arts and social engagement. The information gathered is interpreted, organised and described thematically.

ROK, Kwon Kyung, Confucian Sentimental Representation: A New Approach to Confucian Democracy. London and New York: Routledge, 2022

This review highlights how the author expresses his ideas about Confucian Sentimental Representation as an Approach to Confucian Democracy in East Asia, especially South Korea. In addition, the author takes some ideas from western democratic philosophy which are in harmony with the basic teachings of Confucianism.

Becoming Entitled: Relief, Unemployment, and Reform during the Great Depression

Becoming Entitled: Relief, Unemployment, and Reform during the Great Depression

An Examination of “Rationality’’ on President George Bush (Jr) Second Gulf War Intelligence

The world is faced with a series of security problems and the need to address such problems depends on the leaders at the helm of affairs. International problems such as the threat of terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be treated with levity, they require deep thinking with a rational mind to prevent or cause war. However, the issue of leadership committing his nation to war or not is been addressed within the corridor of exercise of power. Critical case of the second Gulf war had questioned the rationality of President George Bush (Jnr) in prosecuting the war despite opinion polls that were against it. Since the war attracted political and academic debate bothering on rationality, it is worthwhile to attempt this paper by examining President George Bush’s (Jnr) rationality or otherwise in going for the war. The paper is based on qualitative analysis with the application of textbooks, journals, periodicals, and adopted interviews published on the websites. It also concluded that rationality is a beauty in the eye of the beholder and that American foreign policies are the instruments that any of its leaders must follow to achieve national interest based on primacy, democratic philosophy, and a world order based on his degree of rationality.

Invitational Education as a Logical, Ethical and Democratic Means to Reform

A pervasive feeling exists that whatever is being attempted in education is not working and needs to be changed in dramatic fashion. Educational reform has become faddish and conflicting in the explanations of what is needed. Many reforms ignore that people are involved and concentrate solely on the systems in which people work. Invitational Education seeks to assist individuals and their relationships with others. It is rooted in the foundations of democratic philosophy and it is imperative that those tenets are directly applied in any educational reform initiative.

The Relationship of E-Governance with The Easy Community of Accessing Public Services (Study on Services in Sukabumi Government)

E-governance has a democratic philosophy in every change. E-Government or electronic government refers to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to expand access and also government services for the benefit of the community, business people, government officials themselves and other stakeholders. This study uses a qualitative approach with a literature review study method. The results of the study explain that the benefits of this system and feel the benefits. Although this system received a positive response from its users, the lack of socialization from the local government caused a lack of public knowledge of the existence of this system.

Critical Democratic Discourses, Post-Truth and Philosophy of Education

Critical Democratic Discourses, Post-Truth and Philosophy of Education

Visual arts pedagogy in early childhood contexts: The baggage of self-efficacy beliefs, pedagogical knowledge and limited pre-service training

Visual arts provisions are central to children’s holistic, play-based learning, yet the visual arts self-efficacy beliefs and subject content knowledge of early childhood educators influence pedagogical choices. When early childhood educators lack the visual arts confidence, skills, and knowledge required to effectively support children’s visual arts learning and engagement, children’s learning in the visual arts domain may be restricted; resulting in a negative cycle of influence whereby the next generation are denied their right to access visual languages. Qualitative case study research explored the visual arts beliefs and pedagogy of 12 degree qualified and vocationally trained early childhood educators. The conceptual framework, designed to to interpret and analyse the research data, aligns Dewey’s philosophies of democracy, education and art with the philosophy and visual arts praxis of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. The research findings suggest educator’s low visual arts self-efficacy beliefs develop during childhood and are not improved by pre-service training, resulting in limited visual arts skills and knowledge. The research participants’ visual arts pedagogy appeared to be strongly influenced by the experiential ‘baggage’ they carried into their pre-service training and practice contexts, by the participants’ theoretical beliefs about children’s development and by a range of divergent beliefs about the purposes of visual art in the early childhood context. Although training has the potential to broadly inform knowledge and practice, this study suggests that unless limiting visual arts self-efficacy beliefs are disrupted by constructivist theoretical knowledge and combined with practical skills and knowledge, the visual arts curriculum offered to children may be significantly compromised.

Making Registered Charitable Status of Religious Organizations Subject to 'Charter Values'

The Supreme Court of Canada has held that government actors must ensure that their decision making process considers ‘Charter values.’ This has led to a growing opinion, within the legal community, that Canada Revenue Agency’s decisions on the registered charitable status of religious organizations ought to ensure such charities are compliant (in belief and action) with ‘Charter values’ such as equality and ‘reproductive rights’. In some circles, ‘Charter values’ are seen as a necessary part of the evolving definition of ‘public benefit.’ This chapter will explore that perspective in the context of current law and liberal democratic philosophy. It will argue that fundamental human life issues (FHLI) such as equality of all, definition of marriage and the value of human life, have been the subject of religious thought and teaching for millennia, and such beliefs have inspired the legal, political and philosophical traditions of liberal democracies. FHLI are part and parcel of the religious enterprise that seeks to understand what it means to be human. Denying public benefit recognition to charities that advance religion merely because they have unpopular beliefs or practices will not only have a negative effect on civic engagement, it will also have a negative philosophical impact on our traditional and scientific understanding of human nature. Liberal democracy demands that the state recognize it has no role in denying the complexity of religious identity’s framing of fundamental human life issues upon which reasonable people may disagree.

Democratic Philosophy

Democratic Philosophy

Neo-liberalism, social democracy or a social market system in South Africa?

Despite the establishment of a full democracy in South Africa 25 years ago, the economy of the country has not answered to the ideals of economic growth and the alleviation of poverty as set by the various parties at the dawn of this new dispensation. Several political administrations have since endeavoured to address the problem with different plans and economic programmes. Characteristic of these plans is the fact that the focus fluctuated between neo-liberal principles and government-regulated social democratic ideas. The programmes reflect the vigorous debate in South African political circles between proponents of the neo-liberal philosophy of the economy and proponents of social democracy. The debated question is: What economic policy will suit South Africa to enable this country to deal with the perennial poverty and inequality in the best way? Should it be mere neo-liberalism or an authoritarian social democratic philosophy? This article aims to introduce a Christian-ethical perspective on the qualities of South African versions of neo-liberalism and socio-democracy in view of the obligation of the markets and the government to pursue the best policy to alleviate poverty and its various social effects. The central theoretical argument of this article is that a Christian-ethical approach holds that the government of the day is responsible to address poverty by applying a policy of economic growth that is immediately effective and sustainable on the long run. This policy entails a strategy that can be termed a “social market economy”, which sustains the freedom of the market, but facilitates limited government involvement in the economy on behalf of the poor.

Japanese Philosophy of Education in the 21st Century

Since the Second World War (1945), stepping into the modern period, Japan has many times carried out innovation in the education system from education content to methods, infrastructure, organization, and educational policy. However, through the enactment and rectification of the basic education law, the Japanese government only proceeded to revise the national educational mission twice. The first time was in 1947, aiming to eliminate all educational remnants of modern combative militarism, to educate individuals to be independent and creative, to exert self-control in the spirit of American-style democratic philosophy of education; and the second time was in 2006, aiming to bring the country through dramatic changes of the society due to the wave of modernization and globalization, to welcome “the 100-year life” and develop “super-smart society” as reported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan in 2016. The paper uses data collection and analyzing methods specifically for legal documents on Japanese education so as to point out two new elements in Japanese educational philosophy at the threshold of the 21st century, activities to realize the new educational philosophy, as well as making general observations about the main cause leading to the formation of these two new elements in Japanese educational philosophy in the 21st century.

William J. Novak, Stephen W. Sawyer, and James T. Sparrow Social Freedom, Democracy and the Political: Three Reflections on Axel Honneth’s Idea of Socialism

Axel Honneth’s Idea of Socialism is an important clarion call for an urgent rethinking of the possibilities of a socialism for the twenty-first century. One of the most surprising and satisfying aspects of Axel Honneth’s timely new book is its recovery of the continued vitality of John Dewey’s pragmatic democratic philosophy. These reflections on Honneth’s use of John Dewey for democratizing social freedom, take stock of and explore the political limits of Honneth’s social reconstruction.

Classification of children with learning problems and the establishment of special classes in Delaware from the 1930s to the mid-1940s

ABSTRACTThis study focuses on J. E. Wallace Wallin, who recognised the rights of children with disabilities to receive an education, and who tackled the scientific classification of children and the provision of special classes in the state of Delaware from the 1930s to the middle of the 1940s. This study intends to clarify how Wallin recognised and classified children who exhibited learning problems, and how he provided an educational environment for them. Wallin advocated the democratic philosophy of providing differentiated education based on the individual differences among children. He classified children with learning problems as “mentally deficient”, “backward”, and “special subject-matter disabilities”. He also recommended special educational treatment in not only special classes but also regular classes. He insisted that regular class teachers and special class teachers share the responsibility of educating children with disabilities. However, in addition to tailoring education based on the diversity exhibited by children with learning problems, it is essential to tailor it for disabled children in public school special classes established in their communities. In terms of both human and material resources, it was difficult to address learning problems suitably in regular classes while improving the quality and quantity of education in special classes.

Editorial Edition

We have chosen to be the opening of the number linked to the mention of bright names that have been the pillars of the Faculty of Political Science and its pillars since its founding, who contributed to the construction of the great edifice, the scientific and educational edifice. There is no doubt that the College of Political Science / University of Baghdad has an important and sensitive position in post-2003 Iraq through adopting an approach related to democratic political philosophy based on citizenship, equality and rule of law. The Deanship of the College affirms and will continue to emphasize this approach as the right approach to the success of the institution. The scientific, moral and educational duty that we believe is important in leading the students to safety and taking their hands to the corner of the future by enabling them not to teach them the scientific, objective, and cognitive approach, and constructive political analysis, not destruction.

Philosophy of Democracy from the Point of View of Imam Ali (P.B.U.H)

Philosophy of Democracy from the Point of View of Imam Ali (P.B.U.H)

Clinicians as mediators in participatory design research: a communication design study in paediatric healthcare

Participatory design is a democratic process that involves direct collaboration with end-users to achieve design outcomes. In healthcare, patients are often considered the most valuable group to recruit into participatory design activities. However, when designing in unpredictable health settings with end-users who may be marginalised, direct designer-patient interaction is not always advisable, and as a result, designers may perceive that they are neglecting the fundamental democratic principles of participatory design. This article presents a communication design study that was conducted in an Australian children's hospital where clinicians were used as designer-patient mediators. I argue that the use of mediators can open up participation to a much wider range of end-users, including those that a designer cannot access, aligning with participatory design's democratic philosophy.