Associations and Democracy

Associations and Democracy PDF Author: Joel Rogers
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Get Book

Book Description
Throughout the West, democracy is under fire. "Government is part of the problem, not the solution" is a common refrain. As the tasks of the state become more complex and the size of polities larger, the institutional forms of liberal democracy developed in the 19th century seem increasingly unable to cope. Rather than seeking to deepen the democratic character of politics, much energy in recent years has been directed as reducing the role of politics altogether. In Associations and Democracy, Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers advance an innovative scheme for rejuvenating the democratic state. Their proposal involves the strengthening of secondary associations, organizations like unions, works councils, neighborhood associations, parent-teacher groups and women's societies. With enlivened secondary associations mediating between individual citizens and the state, active participation in the political process can be expanded and democracy enhanced. Such an approach raises a number of thorny issues: Can such associations retain their independence from government if they are pulled further into the political sphere? Will a shift from territorial to functional representation further fragment an already divided polity? In an array of original contributions, leading social scientists respond to Cohen and Rogers with questions like these; Cohen and Rogers, in turn, sum up the debate. The first of a series of polemics providing workable scenarios for a progressive future, Associations and Democracy is a lively and stimulating exploration of one of the central issues on today's political agenda.

Associations and Democracy

Associations and Democracy PDF Author: Joel Rogers
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Get Book

Book Description
Throughout the West, democracy is under fire. "Government is part of the problem, not the solution" is a common refrain. As the tasks of the state become more complex and the size of polities larger, the institutional forms of liberal democracy developed in the 19th century seem increasingly unable to cope. Rather than seeking to deepen the democratic character of politics, much energy in recent years has been directed as reducing the role of politics altogether. In Associations and Democracy, Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers advance an innovative scheme for rejuvenating the democratic state. Their proposal involves the strengthening of secondary associations, organizations like unions, works councils, neighborhood associations, parent-teacher groups and women's societies. With enlivened secondary associations mediating between individual citizens and the state, active participation in the political process can be expanded and democracy enhanced. Such an approach raises a number of thorny issues: Can such associations retain their independence from government if they are pulled further into the political sphere? Will a shift from territorial to functional representation further fragment an already divided polity? In an array of original contributions, leading social scientists respond to Cohen and Rogers with questions like these; Cohen and Rogers, in turn, sum up the debate. The first of a series of polemics providing workable scenarios for a progressive future, Associations and Democracy is a lively and stimulating exploration of one of the central issues on today's political agenda.

Associations and Democracy

Associations and Democracy PDF Author: Paul Q. Hirst
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 9781859849286
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Get Book

Book Description
Throughout the West, democracy is under fire. "Government is part of the problem, not the solution" is a common refrain. As the tasks of the state become more complex and the size of polities larger, the institutional forms of liberal democracy developed in the 19th century seem increasingly unable to cope. Rather than seeking to deepen the democratic character of politics, much energy in recent years has been directed as reducing the role of politics altogether. In Associations and Democracy, Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers advance an innovative scheme for rejuvenating the democratic state. Their proposal involves the strengthening of secondary associations, organizations like unions, works councils, neighborhood associations, parent-teacher groups and women's societies. With enlivened secondary associations mediating between individual citizens and the state, active participation in the political process can be expanded and democracy enhanced. Such an approach raises a number of thorny issues: Can such associations retain their independence from government if they are pulled further into the political sphere? Will a shift from territorial to functional representation further fragment an already divided polity? In an array of original contributions, leading social scientists respond to Cohen and Rogers with questions like these; Cohen and Rogers, in turn, sum up the debate. The first of a series of polemics providing workable scenarios for a progressive future, Associations and Democracy is a lively and stimulating exploration of one of the central issues on today's political agenda.

Democracy and Association

Democracy and Association PDF Author: Mark E. Warren
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400823927
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Get Book

Book Description
Tocqueville's view that a virtuous and viable democracy depends on robust associational life has become a cornerstone of contemporary democratic theory. Democratic theorists generally agree that issue networks, recreational associations, support circles, religious groups, unions, advocacy groups, and myriad other kinds of associations enhance democracy by cultivating citizenship, promoting public deliberation, providing voice and representation, and enabling varied forms of governance. Yet there has been little work to show how and why different kinds of association have different effects on democracy--many supportive but others minimal or even destructive. This book offers the first systematic assessment of what associations do and don't do for democracy. Mark Warren explains how and when associational life expands the domain, inclusiveness, and authenticity of democracy. He looks at which associations are most likely to foster individuals' capacities for democratic citizenship, provoke political debate, open existing institutions, guide market activities, or bring democratic decision-making to new venues. Throughout, Warren also considers the trade-offs involved, noting, for example, that organizational solidarity can dampen internal dissent and deliberation even as it enhances public deliberation. Blending political and social theory with an eye to social science, Democracy and Association will draw social scientists with interests in democracy, political philosophers, students of public policy, as well as the many activists who fortify the varied landscape we call civil society. As an original analysis of which associational soils yield vigorous democracies, the book will have a major impact on democratic theory and empirical research.

Modernizing Democracy

Modernizing Democracy PDF Author: Matthias Freise
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 149390485X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Get Book

Book Description
Modernizing Democracy brings together scholars focusing the role of associations and associating in contemporary societies. Organizations and associations have been identified as the “meso level of society” and as the “basic elements of democracy”. They are important providers of welfare services and play an important role between the individual and political spheres. In recent years the environment of associations and associating has changed dramatically. Individualization, commercialization and globalization are challenging both democracy and the capability of associations to fulfill the functions attributed to them by social sciences. This change provides the central question of the volume: Is being part of an organization or association becoming an outdated model? And do associations still have the capacity of modernizing societies or are they just outdated remnants of post-democracy? The contributions to Modernizing Democracy will be organized into: Studying Association and Associating in the 21st Century, Associating in Times of Post-Democracy and Associations and the Challenge of Capitalist Development. The book will be attractive to third sector researchers as well as a broader academic community of political scientists, sociologists, economists, legal scientists and related disciplines.

Democracy and the Role of Associations

Democracy and the Role of Associations PDF Author: Sigrid Rossteutscher
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415325486
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book

Book Description
Voluntary associations have been presented as a solution to political apathy and cynicism towards representative democracy. The authors collected in this volume, however, argue that these claims require more robust substantiation and seek to critically examine the crucial link between the associative sector and the health of democracy. Focusing on the role of context and using diverse approaches and empirical material, they explore whether these associations in differing socio-political contexts actually undermine rather than reinvigorate democracy.

Associative Democracy

Associative Democracy PDF Author: Paul Hirst
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 074566721X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book

Book Description
In this book Paul Hirst makes a major contribution to democratic thinking, advocating "associative democracy"; the belief that human welfare and liberty are best served when as many of the affairs of society as possible are managed by voluntary and democratically self-governing associations.

Democratic State and Democratic Society

Democratic State and Democratic Society PDF Author: Fredrik Engelstad
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783110634242
Category : Civil society
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
This book focuses on institutional change in Nordic societies. Among the Nordics, the main emphasis is on Norway, in many ways the best example of neo-corporatism. The main emphasise is put on the interplay of democracy and social institutions.

Middle Class, Civil Society and Democracy in Asia

Middle Class, Civil Society and Democracy in Asia PDF Author: Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781138483675
Category : Asia
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
This book offers a timely analysis of the tripartite links between the middle class, civil society and democratic experiences in Northeast and Southeast Asia. Using national case studies, it provides a new comparative typological interpretation of the triple relationship in Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

Democracy in Plural Societies

Democracy in Plural Societies PDF Author: Arend Lijphart
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300024944
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Get Book

Book Description
While it may be difficult to achieve and maintain stable democratic governments in countries with deep religious, ideological, linguistic, cultural, or ethnic cleavages, Lijphart argues that it is not at all impossible. Through the analysis of political systems in six continents, he demonstrates that what he calls consociational democracy can be successful in severely divided or plural societies. "Here, once again, Arend Lijphart is directing our attention to matters which will surely engage much of the attention of students of comparative politics in the next decade." G. Bingham Powell, Jr., American Political Science Review "A study which can speak to such a wide audience in political science deserves a warm welcome from the profession." Government and Opposition "A copybook example of the comparative method of political analysis, as well as indispensable reading for all who have an interest in the nature and prospects of representative democracy, whether in Europe or beyond."--The Times Higher Education Supplement "This well-written work, containing a wealth of information on politics of many diverse nations, is highly recommended."--Library Journal

Civil Society in Liberal Democracy

Civil Society in Liberal Democracy PDF Author: Mark Jensen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136727663
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 197

Get Book

Book Description
In this contribution to contemporary political philosophy, Jensen aims to develop a model of civil society for deliberative democracy. His ideal treats civil society as both the context in which citizens live out their comprehensive views of the good life as well as the context in which citizens learn to be good deliberative democrats. Jensen is not a naive utopian, however; he argues that this ideal must be realized in stages, that it faces a variety of barriers, and that it cannot be realized without luck.