Reconsidering the Democratic Public

Reconsidering the Democratic Public PDF Author: George E. Marcus
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271042923
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Reconsidering the Democratic Public

Reconsidering the Democratic Public PDF Author: George E. Marcus
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271042923
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description


China and Democracy

China and Democracy PDF Author: Suisheng Zhao
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317721640
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
China's dramatic economic growth in the last two decades of the last century and the prospect of its rise as a great power in this new one have greatly increased its weight and importance in world affairs. Consequently the progress, or lack of progress, of China's transition to democracy has become a central concern of the international community. This timely collection brings together many well-known scholars to systematically explore China's current government and assess that transition toward democracy. The contributors seek to bridge the gap between normative theories of democracy and empirical studies of China's political development by providing a comprehensive overview of China's domestic history, economy, and public political ideologies. Overall the volume contends that Chinese culture and Confucianism are not the obstacles to democratic transition that some scholars have said they are, and that the success of market reforms has eroded authoritarian rule. This weakening does not guarantee a successful transition, however, and the contributors show that there are many reasons to be skeptical about the short-term prospects for democracy in China, including historical failures, the underdevelopment of civil society, political apathy, and competing social values. Though China's political culture is essentially neither anti-democratic not pro-democratic, it must still overcome many obstacles in order to achieve democracy.

Reconceiving Decision-Making in Democratic Politics

Reconceiving Decision-Making in Democratic Politics PDF Author: Bryan D. Jones
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226406512
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Why are there often sudden abrupt changes in public opinion on political issues? Or total reversals in congressional support for specific legislation? Jones aims to answer these questions by connecting insights from cognitive science and rational-choice theory to political life.

The democratic advantage

The democratic advantage PDF Author: Barry R. Weingast
Publisher: Hoover Press
ISBN: 9780817957230
Category : Competition, International
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Stealth Democracy

Stealth Democracy PDF Author: John R. Hibbing
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521009867
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Americans often complain about the operation of their government, but scholars have never developed a complete picture of people's preferred type of government. In this provocative and timely book, Hibbing and Theiss-Morse, employing an original national survey and focus groups, report the governmental procedures Americans desire. Contrary to the prevailing view that people want greater involvement in politics, most citizens do not care about most policies and therefore are content to turn over decision-making authority to someone else. People's wish for the political system is that decision makers be empathetic and, especially, non-self-interested, not that they be responsive and accountable to the people's largely nonexistent policy preferences or, even worse, that the people be obligated to participate directly in decision making. Hibbing and Theiss-Morse conclude by cautioning communitarians, direct democrats, social capitalists, deliberation theorists, and all those who think that greater citizen involvement is the solution to society's problems.

Bureaucracy and Self-Government

Bureaucracy and Self-Government PDF Author: Brian J. Cook
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421415534
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
A thorough update to this well-regarded political history of American public administration. In this new edition of his provocative book Bureaucracy and Self-Government, Brian J. Cook reconsiders his thesis regarding the inescapable tension between the ideal of self-government and the reality of administratively centered governance. Revisiting his historical exploration of competing conceptions of politics, government, and public administration, Cook offers a novel way of thinking constitutionally about public administration that transcends debates about “big government.” Cook enriches his historical analysis with new scholarship and extends that analysis to the present, taking account of significant developments since the mid-1990s. Each chapter has been updated, and two new chapters sharpen Cook’s argument for recognizing a constitutive dimension in normative theorizing about public administration. The second edition also includes reviews of Jeffersonian impacts on administrative theory and practice and Jacksonian developments in national administrative structures and functions, a look at the administrative theorizing that presaged progressive reforms in civil service, and insight into the confounding complexities that characterize public thinking about administration in a postmodern political order.

Democratic Temperament

Democratic Temperament PDF Author: Joshua I. Miller
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700631666
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Nineteenth-century psychologist and pragmatist philosopher William James is rarely considered a political theorist. Renowned as the author of The Principles of Psychology and The Varieties of Religious Experience, James is often viewed as a radical individualist with no interest in politics; yet he was a critic of imperialism and absolutism and an advocate of tolerance, and his writing includes a penetrating analysis of political psychology. This first book by a political theorist devoted exclusively to James's theory argues that political concerns were in fact central to his intellectual work. Joshua Miller links James to the contemporary public dialogue by treating him as a theorist of action and exploring the complexities of that theory. He also relates the philosopher's thought to his own political experiences and observations and-by explicating, criticizing, and meditating on James-develops provocative new ideas about issues facing democracy today. At the heart of the book is James's description of the "democratic temperament," which comprises a willingness to act, the placing of public good ahead of private comfort, generosity toward one's opponents, and mutual respect among citizens of different viewpoints, races, genders, classes, and religions. Miller sees this temperament as a healthy corrective to the meanspiritedness that characterizes so much current political discourse, which is precisely what makes James's insights so relevant to today's political environment. By revealing how James speaks to the paradoxical condition of modern political existence—withdrawal from public life combined with fanatical action—Miller shows how James's views apply to the possibility and problems of reviving participatory democracy in our era. Scholars who have never considered the political aspects of James's work will find in this study a new way of approaching him and of reconsidering radical democracy, while readers unfamiliar with James will find it a highly accessible introduction to a significant aspect of his thought. Democratic Temperament clearly shows that James deserves to be read not only for his recognized genius but also for his fresh and unexpected insights into the possibilities and paradoxes of American democratic political consciousness.

Fault Lines

Fault Lines PDF Author: Jeffery Mondak
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135849056
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
In some years elections bring about enduring changes to the American political scene. In 2006, a pivotal election year, the Republicans suffered a resounding defeat, losing the House and Senate for the first time since the 1994 "Republican Revolution." But what caused this pivotal shift? Fault Lines provides both a wealth of insight regarding what happened in the 2006 congressional elections and a framework to aid in understanding the possible significance of the 2006 outcome for subsequent developments in American politics. Contributors to Fault Lines, who all draw on the data from the 2006 Congressional Elections Study, include many of the nation’s most prominent and accomplished observers of Congress and congressional elections. This book promises to be an influential contribution to our understanding of Congress, congressional elections, the Bush administration, media and politics, political communication, and partisan polarization.

The Future of Representative Democracy

The Future of Representative Democracy PDF Author: Sonia Alonso
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139501178
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
The Future of Representative Democracy poses important questions about representation, representative democracy and their future. Inspired by the last major investigation of the subject by Hanna Pitkin over four decades ago, this ambitious volume fills a major gap in the literature by examining the future of representative forms of democracy in terms of present-day trends and past theories of representative democracy. Aware of the pressing need for clarifying key concepts and institutional trends, the volume aims to break down barriers among disciplines and to establish an interdisciplinary dialogue among scholars. The contributors emphasise that representative democracy and its future is a subject of pressing scholarly concern and public importance. Paying close attention to the unfinished, two-centuries-old relationship between democracy and representation, this book offers a fresh perspective on current problems and dilemmas of representative democracy and the possible future development of new forms of democratic representation.

Reconsidering American Civil-Military Relations

Reconsidering American Civil-Military Relations PDF Author: Lionel Beehner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197535518
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This book explores contemporary civil-military relations in the United States. Much of the canonical literature on civil-military relations was either written during or references the Cold War, while other major research focuses on the post-Cold War era, or the first decade of the twenty-first century. A great deal has changed since then. This book considers the implications for civil-military relations of many of these changes. Specifically, it focuses on factors such as breakdowns in democratic and civil-military norms and conventions; intensifying partisanship and deepening political divisions in American society; as well as new technology and the evolving character of armed conflict. Chapters are organized around the principal actors in civil-military relations, and the book includes sections on the military, civilian leadership, and the public. It explores the roles and obligations of each. The book also examines how changes in contemporary armed conflict influence civil-military relations. Chapters in this section examine the cyber domain, grey zone operations, asymmetric warfare and emerging technology. The book thus brings the study of civil-military relations into the contemporary era, in which new geopolitical realities and the changing character of armed conflict combine with domestic political tensions to test, if not potentially redefine, those relations.