The Oxford Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies

The Oxford Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies PDF Author: Robert Rohrschneider
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198825080
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 731

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Book Description
"How can democracies effectively represent citizens? The goal of this Handbook is to evaluate comprehensively how well the interests and preferences of mass publics become represented by institutions in liberal democracies. It first explores how the idea and institutions of liberal democracies were formed over centuries and became enshrined in Western political systems. The contributors to this Handbook, made up of the world's leading scholars on the various aspects of political representation, examine how well the political elites and parties who are charged with the representation of the public interest meet their duties. Clearly, institutions often fail to live up to their own representation goals. With this in mind, the contributors explore several challenges to the way that the system of representation is organized in modern democracies. For example, actors such as parties and established elites face rising distrust among electorates. Also, the rise of international problems such as migration and environmentalism suggests that the focus of democracies on nation states may have to shift to a more international level. All told, this Handbook illuminates the normative and functional challenges faced by representative institutions in liberal democracies"--

The Oxford Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies

The Oxford Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies PDF Author: Robert Rohrschneider
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198825080
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 731

Get Book Here

Book Description
"How can democracies effectively represent citizens? The goal of this Handbook is to evaluate comprehensively how well the interests and preferences of mass publics become represented by institutions in liberal democracies. It first explores how the idea and institutions of liberal democracies were formed over centuries and became enshrined in Western political systems. The contributors to this Handbook, made up of the world's leading scholars on the various aspects of political representation, examine how well the political elites and parties who are charged with the representation of the public interest meet their duties. Clearly, institutions often fail to live up to their own representation goals. With this in mind, the contributors explore several challenges to the way that the system of representation is organized in modern democracies. For example, actors such as parties and established elites face rising distrust among electorates. Also, the rise of international problems such as migration and environmentalism suggests that the focus of democracies on nation states may have to shift to a more international level. All told, this Handbook illuminates the normative and functional challenges faced by representative institutions in liberal democracies"--

Requisites of Democracy

Requisites of Democracy PDF Author: Jørgen Møller
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136665838
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This book brings together the conceptual and theoretical writings of Joseph Schumpeter, Robert A. Dahl, Guillermo O’Donnell, and T. H. Marshall. It demonstrates that most of the different conceptions of democracy in the democratization literature can be ordered in one systematic regime typology that distinguishes between ‘thinner’ and ‘thicker’ definitions of democracy. The authors argue that the empirical pattern revealed by this typology is explained by the combination of internal structural constraints and international factors facilitating democracy. The result of such contending forces is that most of the democratizations in recent decades have only produced competitive elections, rather than ‘more demanding’ attributes of democracy such as political liberties, the rule of law, and social rights. Examining theoretical and empirical approaches to measuring, defining and understanding democracy, the book will be of interest to scholars of political theory and comparative politics in general and democratization studies in particular.

Some Social Requisites of Democracy

Some Social Requisites of Democracy PDF Author: Seymour M. Lipse
Publisher: Irvington Pub
ISBN: 9780829038101
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


The Democratic Century

The Democratic Century PDF Author: Seymour Martin Lipset
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806136189
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description
In this study on democracy and democratic systems, two scholars offer an expansive view of democratic systems and explain why democracy has succeeded in some countries and has failed in others.

The First New Nation

The First New Nation PDF Author: Seymour Martin Lipset
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 1412836840
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
The United States was the first major colony to revolt successfully against colonial rule. In this sense, it was the first "new nation." To see how, in the course of American history, its values took shape in institutions may help us to understand some of the problems faced by the new nations emerging today on the world scene. In The First New Nation, two broad themes occupy Seymour Martin Lipset's attention: the social conditions that make a stable democracy possible, and the extent to which the American experience was representative or exceptional. The volume is divided into three parts, each of which deals with the role of values in a nation's evolution, but each approaches this role from a different perspective. Part 1, "America as a New Nation," compares early America with today's emerging nations to discover problems common to them as new nations, and analyzes some of the consequences of a revolutionary birth for the creation of a national character and style. Part 2, "Stability in the Midst of Change," traces how values derived from America's revolutionary origins have continued to influence the form and substance of American institutions. Lipset concentrates on American history in later periods, selecting for discussion as critical cases religious institutions and trade unions. Part 3, "Democracy in Comparative Perspective," attempts to show by comparative analysis some ways through which a nation's values determine its political evolution. It compares political development in several modern industrialized democracies, including the United States, touching upon value patterns, value differences, party systems, and the bases of social cleavage.

Democracy and Development

Democracy and Development PDF Author: Axel Hadenius
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052141685X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
This book is a thorough investigation into the requisites of democracy. Based on data from all 132 sovereign states of the Third World, it first establishes a scale to measure the level of democracy existing in these countries. The author discusses various interpretations of the meaning of political democracy, and emerges with a specification of its essential principles which includes such elements as the holding of elections to central decision-making organs, and the maintenance of certain fundamental political liberties. Theories concerning the requisites of democratic government are then examined in order to explain the manifest differences in the level of democracy among the states of the Third World. The author employs statistical techniques including regression analysis to test theories related to socio-economic conditions, demographic and cultural factors, and institutional arrangements. This book thus provides a uniquely wide-ranging examination both of the elements which constitute democracy, and of the factors which explain its varying prevalence.

Multilevel Democracy

Multilevel Democracy PDF Author: Jefferey M. Sellers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108427782
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 413

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Book Description
Explores ways to make democracy work better, with particular focus on the integral role of local institutions.

The Third Wave

The Third Wave PDF Author: Samuel P. Huntington
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806186046
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
Between 1974 and 1990 more than thirty countries in southern Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe shifted from authoritarian to democratic systems of government. This global democratic revolution is probably the most important political trend in the late twentieth century. In The Third Wave, Samuel P. Huntington analyzes the causes and nature of these democratic transitions, evaluates the prospects for stability of the new democracies, and explores the possibility of more countries becoming democratic. The recent transitions, he argues, are the third major wave of democratization in the modem world. Each of the two previous waves was followed by a reverse wave in which some countries shifted back to authoritarian government. Using concrete examples, empirical evidence, and insightful analysis, Huntington provides neither a theory nor a history of the third wave, but an explanation of why and how it occurred. Factors responsible for the democratic trend include the legitimacy dilemmas of authoritarian regimes; economic and social development; the changed role of the Catholic Church; the impact of the United States, the European Community, and the Soviet Union; and the "snowballing" phenomenon: change in one country stimulating change in others. Five key elite groups within and outside the nondemocratic regime played roles in shaping the various ways democratization occurred. Compromise was key to all democratizations, and elections and nonviolent tactics also were central. New democracies must deal with the "torturer problem" and the "praetorian problem" and attempt to develop democratic values and processes. Disillusionment with democracy, Huntington argues, is necessary to consolidating democracy. He concludes the book with an analysis of the political, economic, and cultural factors that will decide whether or not the third wave continues. Several "Guidelines for Democratizers" offer specific, practical suggestions for initiating and carrying out reform. Huntington's emphasis on practical application makes this book a valuable tool for anyone engaged in the democratization process. At this volatile time in history, Huntington's assessment of the processes of democratization is indispensable to understanding the future of democracy in the world.

Open Democracy

Open Democracy PDF Author: Hélène Landemore
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691212392
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
To the ancient Greeks, democracy meant gathering in public and debating laws set by a randomly selected assembly of several hundred citizens. To the Icelandic Vikings, democracy meant meeting every summer in a field to discuss issues until consensus was reached. Our contemporary representative democracies are very different. Modern parliaments are gated and guarded, and it seems as if only certain people are welcome. Diagnosing what is wrong with representative government and aiming to recover some of the openness of ancient democracies, Open Democracy presents a new paradigm of democracy. Supporting a fresh nonelectoral understanding of democratic representation, Hélène Landemore demonstrates that placing ordinary citizens, rather than elites, at the heart of democratic power is not only the true meaning of a government of, by, and for the people, but also feasible and, more than ever, urgently needed. -- Cover page 4.

Democracy

Democracy PDF Author: Inter-parliamentary Union
Publisher: Inter-Parliamentary Union
ISBN: 9291420360
Category : Democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description
Principles to realization - Cherif Bassiouni