Concept Of Democracy Research Articles

The co-production of biotechnology and democratization in community science labs

ABSTRACT Biotechnological knowledge, materials and tools are becoming broadly available and accessible. As a result, biohacking – the conduct of scientific experiments and projects outside of mainstream scientific settings in academia and industry – has become increasingly possible. A global community biology movement aspiring to democratize biotechnology has emerged in the last few years, and community science labs have become particularly important local spaces for biohacking. Community science labs can be analysed as sites of embedded co-production. On the one hand, biotechnological knowledge and innovations are developed through individual and group projects. On the other hand, norms and cultures, invoked and enacted as democratization, also emerge. These co-productionist processes unfold through three sets of practices affecting who can be a scientific actor (participation), what resources they can use (accessibility), and how they can contribute to knowledge production and innovation (autonomy). Two community science labs (BioCurious and Counter Culture Labs), both located in the San Francisco Bay Area, illustrate this process. Both labs share common goals to co-produce more diverse communities and technoscientific projects that engage with biotechnology, with safety standards critical considerations. However, they uphold divergent broader political economic aspirations, leading to norms that are associated with more wide-ranging innovation pathways (BioCurious), or ones that are more narrowly restricted to open source (Counter Culture Labs). Comparisons with community science labs elsewhere, and connections to other forms of democratization, could build on these empirical and conceptual insights.

From Supremacy to Inclusiveness: A Transformation Model to Guide a Mainly White University to Become a Latine Research Serving Institution

There is an indication that Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) concepts dominate the discourse regarding what research and knowledge should be about, not including all that is known about all people. These conceptions about research and knowledge are problematic since they perpetuate Western societies' ideas that undermine diversity, inclusion, and the development of critical thinking within academic spaces. We developed a decolonization model to engage a midsized university in the decolonization of all aspects of academia that include students, curriculum, faculty, administration, and the community. The model uses the work of Enriquez (1994), Martin-Baro and Laenui (2000) as a framework to decolonize academic curriculums—integrating the liberation psychology wheel to move policies and the strategic plan in the journey toward a decolonized Latine Research Serving Institutions.

Keep using “democracy” in political theory

This paper is a contribution to a symposium on Herman Cappelen’s 2023 book The Concept of Democracy: An Essay on Conceptual Amelioration and Abandonment. In that book, Cappelen develops a theory of abandonment—a theory of why and how to completely stop using particular linguistic expressions—and then uses that theory to argue for the general abandonment of the words “democracy” and “democratic”. In this paper, I critically discuss Cappelen’s arguments for the abandonment of “democracy” and “democratic” in political theory specifically.

Internal Democracy in Pakistani Religious Parties: A Comparative Analysis of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami

Democratization is an important phenomenon in the contemporary world. An important feature of modern representative democracy is the emergence of political parties, as these are regarded indispensable for the successful working of democratic institutions. Democracy needs sound and democratic political parties. Democratic political parties ensure successful democracy in every democratic polity. Political parties are considered the lifeline of modern representative democracy and are critically significant in a democratic system. Internal Democracy plays a significant role in the democratization and institutionalization of political parties. The IPD is a broader term and is simply defined as “Rule by the party members”. Political parties must adopt and promote democratic culture in their ranks in order to encourage the participation of the masses in the political process. This research study was undertaken to investigate the concept of internal democracy in major religious political parties of Pakistan. This research work has also discussed the concept of internal democracy and its impacts on the overall quality of democracy in the country. It applies Michels’ (1911) “Iron law of oligarchy” theory to study the oligarchical and dynastical trends in political parties of Pakistan. Despite, the crucial role of political parties for strengthening democracy in the country, political parties continue to be termed as oligarchical and to be criticized on account of their internal practices. This research has primarily focused on the two major religious political parties of Pakistan including, JUI (F), and JI. This research study is qualitative. Moreover, this study is descriptive in character. The data is collected mainly through secondary sources. It has been found in this research work that, except for JI, the majority of political parties are not observing the principles of internal democracy. Political parties operate as family enterprises run by dynastical leadership and hereditary politics are in full swing in political parties of Pakistan. Political parties are highly centralized, and decisions are taken at a central level without involving the local chapters of the party.

Synonym of Democracy in the Quran and the Debate of its Interpretation

This study formulates and aims to examine how the concept of democracy in Islam?; how is the synonym of the word democracy in the Qur'an and the debate of its interpretation? The research in this article is a qualitative descriptive literature study using the Hans-Georg Gadamer analysis approach, where text or discourse is influenced by bildung, census communis, universal considerations, and the subjective tastes of readers or interpreters. The results of this study are (1) democracy in Islam is related to the principle of deliberation for consensus which contains the values of justice, equal rights, trust, freedom, responsibility, tolerance and moderation. Then (2) the word shura becomes synonymous with the word democracy in the Qur'an because it is considered to have values that are in harmony, and not contradictory. The word shura in one perspective is considered not synonymous with democracy, but only means deliberation. This view is influenced by the desire to implement an Islamic caliphate system or an Islamic state, so that for them they consider democracy to be a kufr system. In another perspective, the word shura is synonymous with democracy, because it considers democratic values to be contained in the principle of deliberation. This interpretation is influenced by socio-historical interpreters who are moderate, tolerant, and wise in determining a meaning.

Making Sense of Digital Domination

The republican concept of domination in the context of the digital realm has increasingly gained attention. Domination is an instance of superior and arbitrary power. While the discussions on digital domination are a worthwhile expansion of AI Ethics, much of the debate remains limited to online platforms and specific to a particular relation or context. In this paper, I follow Pettit’s account of domination to argue that certain seemingly more innocent AI systems dominate citizens of digital societies. I claim that in such societies, basic liberties, i.e., liberties required to function equally in society, increasingly depend on AI systems that cannot be held to account due to ineffective regulation. This constitutes an arbitrary power relation (i.e., domination) between the AI and the person subjected to the AI. Given basic liberties apply to any citizen of a particular society, all citizens living in modern, digital societies are dominated. Digital domination, therefore, has much broader societal implications than is currently acknowledged in the literature. I conclude by proposing what I believe to be the root source of this digital domination: an ‘innovation-friendly’ approach enabled by socio-economic structures.

Planning, democracy and collective freedom

If we defend planned economies not only on the basis of efficiency but also on the basis of freedom, we have to be able to address authoritarian tendencies of planned economies on the one hand and argue against liberals for the value of collective freedom in planned economies on the other. First, I trace the problematic theorization of the relationship between collective and individual freedom in the historical debates of liberalism and real socialism. Then I examine whether the republican concept of freedom as non-domination can avoid the pitfalls of negative and positive freedom. Subsequently I explore collective freedom through collective action theory, arguing for its inherent value and its potential existence independent of individual freedom. Genuine collective freedom relies on voluntary individual contributions and collective decisions that reflect individual will. Finally I argue that while democracy can help balance collective and individual freedoms, it cannot fully resolve the inherent tension. Alternative conflict resolution strategies may prove more effective. Ultimately, planned economies offer a unique form of collective freedom, though potentially at the expense of individual freedom. Minimizing this tension remains a key challenge. In this paper, I will first defend the idea of collective freedom through planning against liberal, republican and anarchist criticism. Subsequently, I will not develop concrete solutions for the mediation of collective freedom and individual freedom in a planned economy, but I will present approaches and concepts that can be used to deal with the problem of mediation. Democracy plays a central role here, but is not the only solution.

Meaninglessness and the ethics of lexical abandonment

This paper critically engages with the arguments for the meaninglessness of ‘democracy’ and for abandoning use of that word, in Herman Cappelen’s book The Concept of Democracy. It explaining the distinctive nature of Cappelen’s style of argument for abandoning a word. It argues against Cappelen’s case for the meaninglessness of ‘democracy’ and its cognates. It explores an important unclarity in the sort of ethical thesis Cappelen wants to defend in this book. Finally, it suggests that Cappelen’s argument for abandoning ‘democracy’ retains some force despite the criticisms raised.

Affective polarization and democratic identity: a comparison of Italy and Norway

Abstract On the one hand, political polarization is necessary for a plural democracy, which must never be satisfied with a permanent lack of alternatives regarding its central principles and values. On the other hand, polarization can become dysfunctional for democracy when the absoluteness of the rejection of political opponents leads to the endorsement of anti-democratic attitudes and measures, when politics is seen as a zero-sum game and the diversity of legitimate opinions, attitudes, and identities is neglected. The identity of democracy is to prevent this in the long run and to balance competing elements instead. Based on this premise, the article aims to explain why the extent of affective polarization in established democracies varies greatly, using Norway and Italy as two case studies according to the most similar case design. Accordingly, it argues for a holistic view of a country’s political culture that takes into account historical path dependencies and upheavals and thereby reveals whether a democratic society is more or less willing to accept and balance competing conceptions of democracy.

Menalar Demokrasi dalam Masyarakat Sipil: Teori dan Gagasan Baru dalam Pemikiran Gideon Baker

Civil society plays an important role in the development and consolidation of democracy, especially in creating space for political participation, policy advocacy, and oversight of the government. In this context, Gideon Baker's Theorising the Democracy of Civil Society offers a new perspective on the role of civil society in shaping democracy independent of state domination. Baker proposes that democratisation is not only dependent on the state, but can also develop through self-organisation in civil society. This view criticises traditional theories of democracy that focus too much on the state as the main actor in the democratisation process. The theoretical study in this research refers to Baker's thoughts on democracy that is rooted in civil society and not tied to state structures. Other literature also suggests that although civil society plays an important role in democracy, it often faces external and internal challenges, including autocratisation and restrictions on civil liberties. The purpose of this research is to analyse more deeply Baker's ideas and examine their relevance in the context of contemporary democracy, especially in developing or authoritarian countries. The research method used is qualitative research with a book review approach, in which the researcher reads and analyses the book critically to explore the ideas and arguments put forward by the author, and compares them with existing literature. The results show that although Baker's concept of democracy in civil society still needs further development, it provides room for new thinking about a more inclusive and independent form of democracy. Suggestions for future research include exploring the application of this concept in social movements in developing or authoritarian countries and exploring how digital technology can strengthen civil society-based democracy.

Awareness as an alternative to abandonment? Critical notice of Herman Cappelen’s The Concept of Democracy

Herman Cappelen’s book The Concept of Democracy makes a case for ‘abolitionism’, that is, abandonment of the word ‘democracy’ and related terminology (‘D-words’). Cappelen’s strategy includes a direct argument for abandonment, aiming to show that D-words are meaningless; and an indirect argument, based on a comparison of abandonment with other options (for instance, replacement or amelioration). In this critical notice, I focus on his comparative case, arguing that the competing options and their respective challenges are not so well demarcated—where this negatively affects the abandonment proposal. Furthermore, I present and defend a yet unexplored alternative: awareness. Awareness is a worthy candidate for its little costs and significant benefits in comparison to abandonment, thus deserving consideration alongside the options assessed by Cappelen.

Postcards of "Cape girls": Telling an Edwardian story of Cape Town

Picture postcards originated in the nineteenth century as an efficient, cheap, and democratic form of mass communication that encompassed many functions, including entertainment. As bimodal texts, comprising a visual image, anchoring textual caption, and (sometimes) the written message by the sender, postcards assumed the power to communicate complex ideas and ideologies in a compact format. Under the influence of cultural studies in the 1960s, which stated that culture itself is the site of struggle for social meanings expressed in class, race, and gender relations, postcard studies (deltiology) has become an important interdisciplinary field since the 1980s. The postcard exposed millions of people to visual culture and predated the functions of mobile phones, the Internet, and social media platforms such as Instagram. In this article, I focus on a series of artist-drawn, lithographic postcards by Dennis Santry (1879-1960) in Cape Town in 1904. They depict six so-called "Cape Girls" engaged in leisure activities against the backdrop of iconic Capetonian sites. My interpretation of the postcards suggests that a selective story privileges the tastes of a white, middle-class, English-speaking, imperial audience.

Decentralized E-Voting and Governance System Using Blockchain

A democratic form of governance is the fairest and most effective system of authority in the human society. A key feature of any democratic authority is free and fair elections. However ensuring free and fair elections is an arduous task due to corrupt political practices, irresponsible management and human error. Using modern technologies like blockchain, can be an effective approach to reduce any intentional or unintentional attempt to sabotage the voting process. In this paper we lay out an overview of the methodology we propose for an efficient execution of the blockchain based voting system.

Institutional Design Preferences Among German and US Citizens: Results from a Factorial Survey Experiment

How do institutional parameters affect citizens’ evaluations of a political system as democratic? While attitudes to existing institutions have mostly been studied only in terms of support, this article uses experimental data to explore and compare citizens’ institutional design preferences in Germany and the US. Findings show that participation of voters in decision-making, deliberative decision-making, delegate representation, and the presence of revision and appeal lead to more positive perceptions of democratic quality in both countries. While in Germany, we find these effects to be influenced by party affiliation as well as citizens’ conceptions of democracy, we do not find meaningful differences for partisanship and less pronounced effects of conceptions of democracy in the US. We conclude that while discrepancies between citizens’ design preferences and institutional reality constitute a potential threat to democracy, institutions could be reformed to meet citizen preferences without compromising the core of liberal democracy.

Democracy on the Sidelines: The Erosion and Potential of Youth Sports as Democratic Education

In this philosophical paper, we argue that youth sports, both in and out of schools, are a largely unrealized space for democratic/civic education. Where youth sports leagues used to be low cost, local, and inclusive, much has changed over the last several decades. We are now in the neoliberal era of exclusive, privatized, and professionalized youth sports. Drawing on Dewey’s robust conception of democracy and Talisse’s concerns about partisan polarization, we argue that youth sports should be spaces to develop democratic habits, dispositions, and values. We explore the benefits of youth sports as well as current challenges, including excessive costs and pressure, disrupted families, and hyperindividualism. We end by offering suggestions for reforming youth sports to recenter their educational and democratic potential and value, including supporting loosely structured play, modeling democratic behavior, teaching democratic habits directly, and learning from more progressive national sports models.

COVID-19 conspiracy belief and conceptions of democracy

ABSTRACT Although conspiracy theories moved to the centre of the public debate during the Covid-19 pandemic and have severe consequences on politics and society, the link between Covid-19 conspiracy beliefs and democracy has hardly been scrutinized. By combining the literature on understandings and conceptions of democracy and the literature on upward conspiracy theories, we ask whether citizens who share Covid-19 conspiracy beliefs have a specific conception of democracy. Using data from a representative survey conducted in the East German Land of Thuringia in summer 2021 and by employing a fine-grained measure of attributes of democracy, we show that Covid-19 conspiracy belief is neither significantly associated with support for the idea of democracy nor with support for non-democratic forms of government. Instead, Covid-19 conspiracy believers have a particular understanding of democracy in which power is to be taken away from the political elites of representative democracy and more control is given to citizens.

Lithuanian Philosophy of Culture and the Concept of Integral Democracy

Lithuanian Philosophy of Culture and the Concept of Integral Democracy

Mid-20th century vision of the concept of militant democracy

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a new round of “militant democracy” is taking place. The current situation is very similar to the one that led to the invention of the very concept of “democracy capable of defending itself.” This raises the question of understanding “militant democracy” in its original and primary vision, which was formed in the middle of the twentieth century. The purpose of the article is to comprehensively disclose the concept of militant democracy in the middle of the twentieth century. It is based not only on the articles of Karl Löwenstahl, but also on the works of scholars in the fields of philosophy, political science and sociology. The achievement of this goal was made possible by the use of a set of methods of scientific knowledge, in particular, content analysis (for a comprehensive knowledge of the scientific works of scholars of the mid-twentieth century), formal logical method (to identify certain patterns, stable structures, interrelationships, and inconsistencies in scientific works), comparative legal method (by studying the experience of the last century and comparing it with the current understanding of the concept, to provide an up-to-date interpretation that would allow the use of the works cited in the article). In contrast to most studies of the sources of militant democracy, the article refers not only to the articles of the founder of “democracy capable of defending itself,” Karl Löwenstahl, but also to other scholars: Karl Schmitt, Karl Mannheim, and Karl Popper. The author shows the interrelation between the works and the mutual influence of the cited scholars. It is argued that the formation of the concept of militant democracy took place not only in the field of law, but also in other related sciences. Based on the results of the research, the author gives an intermediate definition of “democracy capable of defending itself”, which derives only from the articles of Karl Löwenstahl, and a finalized vision of militant democracy, which is a synthesis of all the analyzed works. On the eve of rethinking militant democracy in today's realities, it is necessary to re-comprehend the foundations of this concept, which will allow better implementation of necessary changes in our time.

Germany’s Strategic Contraction Following American Hegemony in the Context of Offensive Realism Theory

This study examines the position of the European continent within the international system, focusing specifically on Germany, from the years when the future of the global international system began to be debated following the Cold War up to the present day. Since the 1990s, there has been ongoing debate regarding whether the international system will remain dominated solely by the United States (U.S.) as a hegemon or evolve towards a multipolar world. Following the reunification of Germany after the Cold War, Europe and particularly Germany entered a new and notably economically prosperous period. This period has been characterized by the prominence of international organizations and the concept of “soft power”. The article’s research question is whether Germany’s prominence and the concepts of democracy and international cooperation in Europe are related to U.S. hegemony, and if so, which factors can explain this. Considering the current emphasis on the multipolar world and the prevalence of potential conflict areas rather than the functionality of international cooperation and institutions, the article aims to elucidate the systemic reasons for Germany’s constrictions vis-à-vis global powers and the options for alleviating this constriction by utilizing Mearsheimer’s theory of offensive realism.

Sabarimala Shrine Verdict: Dissensions & Repercussions

The concept of westernization, democratization and modernization has been arrogated by India superficially but when it comes to its real application, our rigid customs, suppositions, superstitious beliefs always supersede. India is a divine-vibrant land of mixed cantons, religions, cultures and traditions and hence it come becomes imperative to be prejudice-free in order to become a fairer society. The nation where both god and goddesses are equally venerated, it becomes unjust to deny the entry of an individual in the temple based on gender. This case note will provide an analysis of the Sabarimala verdict in legal and social context. It will also outline the subsequent ramification of the said decree. The present case examines the justification for disallowing pilgrimage to the women of menstruating age to the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple and encapsulates in brief the rationale behind the judgment of the Supreme Court for allowing women to enter the shrine.