Citizen Competence and Democratic Institutions

Citizen Competence and Democratic Institutions PDF Author: Stephen L. Elkin
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271030186
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
Bringing together new work from many of the leading experts on democratic citizenship, this volume presents both normative argument and empirical analysis to help deepen our understanding of the various competences that citizens require if there is to be a flourishing democratic political order in our present age. The essays explore the following themes: (1) the essential components of democratic citizenship and how these can be fostered; (2) the state of citizen competence in various democratic regimes; (3) civil society as a crucial site for the exercise and development of democratic citizenship; (4) new findings that show democratic citizens to have more political information and behave more rationally than hitherto supposed; and (5) the theory and practice of new institutional forms for democratic deliberation and democratic control. The final section of the book explores new and revitalized forms of democratic participation as well as the kind of participation that is likely to foster a wide variety of citizen competences. The discussion runs from what we know and can expect from town meetings, to the value of public work in fostering a democratic citizenry, to entirely new forms for expressing citizen judgment. The Contributors are Benjamin Barber, Harry C. Boyte, Frank M. Bryan, Michael A. Dimock, Stephen L. Elkin, James S. Fishkin, Norman Frohlich, John Gaventa, Elizabeth Gerber, Alan Kay, Robert E. Lane, Arthur Lupia, Jane Mansbridge, Joe A. Oppenheimer, Benjamin Page, Samuel Popkin, Nancy Rosenblum, Robert Shapiro, Karol Edward Soltan, Marion Smiley, and David Steiner.

Citizen Competence and Democratic Institutions

Citizen Competence and Democratic Institutions PDF Author: Stephen L. Elkin
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271030186
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 441

Get Book Here

Book Description
Bringing together new work from many of the leading experts on democratic citizenship, this volume presents both normative argument and empirical analysis to help deepen our understanding of the various competences that citizens require if there is to be a flourishing democratic political order in our present age. The essays explore the following themes: (1) the essential components of democratic citizenship and how these can be fostered; (2) the state of citizen competence in various democratic regimes; (3) civil society as a crucial site for the exercise and development of democratic citizenship; (4) new findings that show democratic citizens to have more political information and behave more rationally than hitherto supposed; and (5) the theory and practice of new institutional forms for democratic deliberation and democratic control. The final section of the book explores new and revitalized forms of democratic participation as well as the kind of participation that is likely to foster a wide variety of citizen competences. The discussion runs from what we know and can expect from town meetings, to the value of public work in fostering a democratic citizenry, to entirely new forms for expressing citizen judgment. The Contributors are Benjamin Barber, Harry C. Boyte, Frank M. Bryan, Michael A. Dimock, Stephen L. Elkin, James S. Fishkin, Norman Frohlich, John Gaventa, Elizabeth Gerber, Alan Kay, Robert E. Lane, Arthur Lupia, Jane Mansbridge, Joe A. Oppenheimer, Benjamin Page, Samuel Popkin, Nancy Rosenblum, Robert Shapiro, Karol Edward Soltan, Marion Smiley, and David Steiner.

Citizen Competence and Democratic Institutions

Citizen Competence and Democratic Institutions PDF Author: Stephen L. Elkin
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271042435
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
A searching examination of what citizen competence is, how much it exists in the United States today, and what can be done to increase it.

Competences for democratic culture

Competences for democratic culture PDF Author: Council of Europe
Publisher: Council of Europe
ISBN: 9287182647
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
A new Council of Europe reference framework of competences for democratic culture! Contemporary societies within Europe face many challenges, including declining levels of voter turnout in elections, increased distrust of politicians, high levels of hate crime, intolerance and prejudice towards minority ethnic and religious groups, and increasing levels of support for violent extremism. These challenges threaten the legitimacy of democratic institutions and peaceful co-existence within Europe. Formal education is a vital tool that can be used to tackle these challenges. Appropriate educational input and practices can boost democratic engagement, reduce intolerance and prejudice, and decrease support for violent extremism. However, to achieve these goals, educationists need a clear understanding of the democratic competences that should be targeted by the curriculum. This book presents a new conceptual model of the competences which citizens require to participate in democratic culture and live peacefully together with others in culturally diverse societies. The model is the product of intensive work over a two-year period, and has been strongly endorsed in an international consultation with leading educational experts. The book describes the competence model in detail, together with the methods used to develop it. The model provides a robust conceptual foundation for the future development of curricula, pedagogies and assessments in democratic citizenship and human rights education. Its application will enable educational systems to be harnessed effectively for the preparation of students for life as engaged and tolerant democratic citizens. The book forms the first component of a new Council of Europe reference framework of competences for democratic culture. It is vital reading for all educational policy makers and practitioners who work in the fields of education for democratic citizenship, human rights education and intercultural education.

The Democratic Dilemma

The Democratic Dilemma PDF Author: Arthur Lupia
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521585934
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Voters cannot answer simple survey questions about politics. Legislators cannot recall the details of legislation. Jurors cannot comprehend legal arguments. Observations such as these are plentiful and several generations of pundits and scholars have used these observations to claim that voters, legislators, and jurors are incompetent. Are these claims correct? Do voters, jurors, and legislators who lack political information make bad decisions? In The Democratic Dilemma, Professors Arthur Lupia and Mathew McCubbins explain how citizens make decisions about complex issues. Combining insights from economics, political science, and the cognitive sciences, they seek to develop theories and experiments about learning and choice. They use these tools to identify the requirements for reasoned choice - the choice that a citizen would make if she possessed a certain (perhaps, greater) level of knowledge. The results clarify debates about voter, juror, and legislator competence and also reveal how the design of political institutions affects citizens' abilities to govern themselves effectively.

Rational Choice and Democratic Deliberation

Rational Choice and Democratic Deliberation PDF Author: Guido Pincione
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521862698
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
This book offers a comprehensive and sustained critique of theories of deliberative democracy.

Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy

Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy PDF Author: David Altman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108496636
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Offers a comparative study of the origins, performance, and reform of contemporary mechanisms of direct democracy.

Schools of Democracy

Schools of Democracy PDF Author: Julien Talpin
Publisher: ECPR Press
ISBN: 1785520806
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
Schools of Democracy offers a vivid analysis of the long-term impact of engagement in participatory budgeting institutions in Europe. While democratic innovations flourish around the world, there have been great hopes for their potential to revitalize representative government and solve the increasing apathy of the public. Based on a rich ethnographic study in France, Italy and Spain, this book shows how participatory institutions can encourage personal involvement, by creating the procedural and social conditions conducive to the formation of a competent and involved citizenry. Rather than deliberation itself, it seems that informal discussions and interactions between a diverse public allow mutual learning and the beginning of a political trajectory for people at the margins of the public sphere. However, this book also shows that citizens can become disappointed by the little decision-making power they are granted, as they leave the process often more cynical than before. Contains: A unique study on the long-term individual impact of engagement in participatory institutions. While most research deal with short-term impact, Schools of democracy addresses impact of participation after two years of engagement. Unique access to the black box of participatory institutions. While research on democratic innovations generally opt for an externalist perspective, Schools of democracy details the routine of deliberative interactions, showing how ordinary citizens speak up in public assemblies. From this perspective, the book offers incredibly rich empirical material – coming from ethnographic research – on how participatory democracy works. An original theoretical framework to the study of the individual impacts of participatory engagement. While most research are based on an implicit rational choice perspective, the pragmatist perspective adopted here sheds a different light on the studied phenomenon, stressing the co-construction of actors and their environment.

The Constitution of Good Societies

The Constitution of Good Societies PDF Author: Karol Edward Soltan
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271041064
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description


Education for Democratic Intercultural Citizenship

Education for Democratic Intercultural Citizenship PDF Author: Wiel Veugelers
Publisher: Brill
ISBN: 9789004411937
Category : Citizenship
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Education for Democratic Intercultural Citizenship (EDIC) is very relevant in contemporary societies. Seven European universities are working together in developing a curriculum to prepare their students for this important academic, societal and political task. The book present their theories and practices.

The Constitution of Equality

The Constitution of Equality PDF Author: Thomas Christiano
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191613916
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 686

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Book Description
What is the ethical basis of democracy? And what reasons do we have to go along with democratic decisions even when we disagree with them? And when do we have reason to say that we may justly ignore democratic decisions? These questions must be answered if we are to have answers to some of the most important questions facing our global community, which include whether there is a human right to democracy and whether we must attempt to spread democracy throughout the globe. This book provides a philosophical account of the moral foundations of democracy and of liberalism. It shows how democracy and basic liberal rights are grounded in the principle of public equality, which tells us that in the establishment of law and policy we must treat persons as equals in ways they can see are treating them as equals. The principle of public equality is shown to be the fundamental principle of social justice. This account enables us to understand the nature and roles of adversarial politics and public deliberation in political life. It gives an account of the grounds of the authority of democracy. It also shows when the authority of democracy runs out. The author shows how the violations of democratic and liberal rights are beyond the legitimate authority of democracy, how the creation of persistent minorities in a democratic society, and the failure to ensure a basic minimum for all persons weaken the legitimate authority of democracy.