The Real World Of Democratic Theory

Author : Ian Shapiro
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2010-11-22
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781400836833

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The Real World of Democratic Theory by Ian Shapiro Pdf

In this book Ian Shapiro develops and extends arguments that have established him as one of today's leading democratic theorists. Shapiro is hardheaded about the realities of politics and power, and the difficulties of fighting injustice and oppression. Yet he makes a compelling case that democracy's legitimacy depends on pressing it into the service of resisting domination, and that democratic theorists must rise to the occasion of fashioning the necessary tools. That vital agenda motivates the arguments of this book. Tracing modern democracy's roots to John Locke and the American founders, Shapiro shows that they saw more deeply into the dynamics of democratic politics than have many of their successors. Drawing on Lockean and Madisonian insights, Shapiro evaluates democracy's changing global fortunes over the past two decades. He also shows how elusive democracy can be by exploring the contrast between its successful establishment in South Africa and its failures elsewhere--particularly the Middle East. Shapiro spells out the implications of his account for long-standing debates about public opinion, judicial review, abortion, and inherited wealth--as well as more recent preoccupations with globalization, national security, and international terrorism. Scholars, students, and democratic activists will all learn from Shapiro's trenchant account of democracy's foundations, its history, and its contemporary challenges. They will also find his distinctive democratic vision both illuminating and appealing.

Author : Frank Cunningham
Publisher : Psychology Press
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780415228787

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Theories of Democracy by Frank Cunningham Pdf

This descriptive more than prescriptive journey begins with an Anglo-North American overview of the democratic terrain and then zooms in on specific democratic landscapes: liberal, classic pluralism, catallaxy (exchange economics applied to political science), participatory democracy, democratic pragmatism, deliberative democracy, and radical pluralism. Democracy's place within a globalizing world occupies the last chapter. Cunningham (philosophy, U. of Toronto) admits he leans toward democratic pragmatism as espoused in John Dewey's The Public and Its Problems (1927). Suitable for an introductory university course. Distributed by Taylor & Francis. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Frank Cunningham
Publisher : Humanities Press International
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Political Science
ISBN : UOM:39015032096094

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The Real World of Democracy Revisited, and Other Essays on Democracy and Socialism by Frank Cunningham Pdf

Author : Thomas Meyer
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2013-09-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780745654614

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The Theory of Social Democracy by Thomas Meyer Pdf

The ascendancy of neo-liberalism in different parts of the world has put social democracy on the defensive. Its adherents lack a clear rationale for their policies. Yet a justification for social democracy is implicit in the United Nations Covenants on Human Rights, ratified by most of the worlds countries. The covenants commit all nations to guarantee that their citizens shall enjoy the traditional formal rights; but they likewise pledge governments to make those rights meaningful in the real world by providing social security and cultural recognition to every person. This new book provides a systematic defence of social democracy for our contemporary global age. The authors argue that the claims to legitimation implicit in democratic theory can be honored only by social democracy; libertarian democracies are defective in failing to protect their citizens adequately against social, economic, and environmental risks that only collective action can obviate. Ultimately, social democracy provides both a fairer and more stable social order. But can social democracy survive in a world characterized by pervasive processes of globalization? This book asserts that globalization need not undermine social democracy if it is harnessed by international associations and leavened by principles of cultural respect, toleration, and enlightenment. The structures of social democracy must, in short, be adapted to the exigencies of globalization, as has already occurred in countries with the most successful social-democratic practices.

Author : Genevieve Fuji Johnson
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2015-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781442611245

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Democratic Illusion by Genevieve Fuji Johnson Pdf

The theory of deliberative democracy promotes the creation of systems of governance in which citizens actively exchange ideas, engage in debate, and create laws that are responsive to their interests and aspirations. While deliberative processes are being adopted in an increasing number of cases, decision-making power remains mostly in the hands of traditional elites. In Democratic Illusion, Genevieve Fuji Johnson examines four representative examples: participatory budgeting in the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Deliberative Polling by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, a national consultation process by the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and public consultations embedded in the development of official languages policies in Nunavut. In each case, measures that appeared to empower the public failed to challenge the status quo approach to either formulating or implementing policy. Illuminating a critical gap between deliberative democratic theory and its applications, this timely and important study shows what needs to be done to ensure deliberative processes offer more than the illusion of democracy.

Author : Robert A. Dahl
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 168 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 1956
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0226134261

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A Preface to Democratic Theory by Robert A. Dahl Pdf

Robert Dahl's Preface helped launch democratic theory fifty years ago as a new area of study in political science, and it remains the standard introduction to the field. Exploring problems that had been left unsolved by traditional thought on democracy, Dahl here examines two influential models--the Madisonian, which represents prevailing American doctrine, and its recurring challenger, populist theory--arguing that they do not accurately portray how modern democracies operate. He then constructs a model more consistent with how contemporary democracies actually function, and, in doing so, develops some original views of popular sovereignty and the American constitutional system.

Author : C. B. MacPherson
Publisher : House of Anansi
Page : 114 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780887845307

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The Real World of Democracy by C. B. MacPherson Pdf

In The Real World of Democracy, C. B. Macpherson examines the rival ideas of democracy — the communist, Third World, and Western-liberal variants — and their impacts on one another. Macpherson, who was a professor of political science at the University of Toronto and an Officer of the Order of Canada, suggests that the West need not fear any challenge to liberal democracy if it is prepared to re-examine and alter its own values.

Author : Lucy Bernholz,Hélène Landemore,Rob Reich
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2021-02-17
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780226748603

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Digital Technology and Democratic Theory by Lucy Bernholz,Hélène Landemore,Rob Reich Pdf

One of the most far-reaching transformations in our era is the wave of digital technologies rolling over—and upending—nearly every aspect of life. Work and leisure, family and friendship, community and citizenship have all been modified by now-ubiquitous digital tools and platforms. Digital Technology and Democratic Theory looks closely at one significant facet of our rapidly evolving digital lives: how technology is radically changing our lives as citizens and participants in democratic governments. To understand these transformations, this book brings together contributions by scholars from multiple disciplines to wrestle with the question of how digital technologies shape, reshape, and affect fundamental questions about democracy and democratic theory. As expectations have whiplashed—from Twitter optimism in the wake of the Arab Spring to Facebook pessimism in the wake of the 2016 US election—the time is ripe for a more sober and long-term assessment. How should we take stock of digital technologies and their promise and peril for reshaping democratic societies and institutions? To answer, this volume broaches the most pressing technological changes and issues facing democracy as a philosophy and an institution.

Author : Carole Pateman
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 134 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 1970
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 052129004X

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Participation and Democratic Theory by Carole Pateman Pdf

Shows that current elitist theories are based on an inadequate understanding of the early writings of democratic theory and that much sociological evidence has been ignored.

Author : Thomas Christiano
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 343 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2018-02-06
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780429975493

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The Rule Of The Many by Thomas Christiano Pdf

There is no problem more crucial to contemporary political thought than the status of democracy, its role, and its problems in the contemporary world. In this survey of democratic theory, Thomas Christiano introduces the reader to the principles underlying democracy and to the problems involved in applying these principles to real life situations.Begining with the simple, democratically inspired presumption that the interests of all citizens are to be treated equally, Christiano argues that the implications of such a minimal commitment clarify the nature of democracy and what must be demanded of democratic institutions. He argues that it is the collision of this demand for equality with the fact of pluralism of interests that determines how democratic institutions ought to be designed. This strong sense of reality will be welcomed by those interested in practical questions of transition in newly democratizing states.Christiano combines a broad coverage of important positions taken by others with the exposition of his own ideas, allowing his text to appeal to a wide range of readers, from introductory students to experienced scholars. Clear, accessible, and often elegant, The Rule of the Many is a splendid introduction to democratic theory, one that will take its place as both an important scholarly contribution and as an effective text.

Author : Ian Shapiro
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2006-01-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0691123969

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The State of Democratic Theory by Ian Shapiro Pdf

What should we expect from democracy, and how likely is it that democracies will live up to those expectations? In The State of Democratic Theory, Ian Shapiro offers a critical assessment of contemporary answers to these questions, lays out his distinctive alternative, and explores its implications for policy and political action. Some accounts of democracy's purposes focus on aggregating preferences; others deal with collective deliberation in search of the common good. Shapiro reveals the shortcomings of both, arguing instead that democracy should be geared toward minimizing domination throughout society. He contends that Joseph Schumpeter's classic defense of competitive democracy is a useful starting point for achieving this purpose, but that it stands in need of radical supplementation--both with respect to its operation in national political institutions and in its extension to other forms of collective association. Shapiro's unusually wide-ranging discussion also deals with the conditions that make democracy's survival more and less likely, with the challenges presented by ethnic differences and claims for group rights, and with the relations between democracy and the distribution of income and wealth. Ranging over politics, philosophy, constitutional law, economics, sociology, and psychology, this book is written in Shapiro's characteristic lucid style--a style that engages practitioners within the field while also opening up the debate to newcomers.

Author : Crawford Brough Macpherson
Publisher : Oxford : Clarendon Press
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : Political Science
ISBN : UOM:39015002666678

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Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval by Crawford Brough Macpherson Pdf

Collection of essays in political science, applied specifically to future problems of democracy.

Author : Graeme Campbell Duncan
Publisher : CUP Archive
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 1983-04-28
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0521242096

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Democratic Theory and Practice by Graeme Campbell Duncan Pdf

In past decades, democratic theory has been on the defensive, largely as a result of the disappointments of democratic practice. The essays in this volume reflect critically on the theory in the light of those failures and with the corresponding assumption of an indissoluble connection between theory and practice. If theory maintains a monastic impeccability, untouched by the world, it will be sterile and fit merely for arid disputes. Nor can practice stand alone: it varies and changes and is subject to different interpretations. Success will come to it partly through the impact of empirical and prescriptive analysis. The volume is organised in sections, dealing in turn with the changing meanings and evaluations of democracy with classical theories with the revisions and critiques of these theories deriving from existing circumstances and with attempts to extend and to consolidate more adequate and secure theories of democracy. Among the thinkers considered are Mill, de Tocqueville, Marx and Marcuse, while the topics include bureaucracy, feminism, corporatism and social democracy. Together the essays will provide comprehensive review of the past condition and future prospects for democratic theory in practice.

Author : Robert E. Goodin,Kai Spiekermann
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 469 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780198823452

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An Epistemic Theory of Democracy by Robert E. Goodin,Kai Spiekermann Pdf

This book examines the Condorcet Jury Theorem and how its assumptions can be applicable to the real world. It will use the theorem to assess various familiar political practices and alternative institutional arrangements, revealing how best to take advantage of the truth-tracking potential of majoritarian democracy.

Author : Samuel Bagg
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2023-12-21
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9780192848826

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The Dispersion of Power by Samuel Bagg Pdf

The Dispersion of Power is an urgent call to rethink centuries of conventional wisdom about what democracy is, why it matters, and how to make it better. Drawing from history, social science, psychology, and critical theory, it explains why elections do not and cannot realize the classic ideal of popular rule, and why prevailing strategies of democratic reform often make things worse. Instead, Bagg argues, we should see democracy as a way of protectingpublic power from capture-an alternative vision that is at once more realistic and more inspiring.Despite their many shortcomings, real-world elections do prevent the most extreme forms oftyranny, and are therefore indispensable. In dealing with the vast inequalities that remain, however, we cannot rely on standard solutions such as electoral reform, direct democracy, deliberation, and participatory governance. Instead, Bagg shows, protecting and enriching democracy requires addressing underlying inequalities of power directly. In part, this entails substantive policies attacking the advantages of wealthy elites. Even more crucially, deepening democracy requires the organizationof oppositional, countervailing power among ordinary people. Neither task is easy, but historical precedents exist in both cases-and if democracy is to survive contemporary crises, leaders andcitizens alike must find ways to revive and reinvent these essential democratic practices for the 21st century.