Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Term Accountability, Adam White

Adam White

Democracy And Scientific Expertise: Illusions Of Political And Epistemic Inclusion, J.D. Trout

J.D. Trout

Realizing the ideal of democracy requires political inclusion for citizens. A legitimate democracy must give citizens the opportunity to express their attitudes about the relative attractions of different policies, and access to political mechanisms through which they can be counted and heard. Actual governance often aims not at accurate belief, but at nonepistemic factors like achieving and maintaining institutional stability, creating the feeling of government legitimacy among citizens, or managing access to influence on policy decision-making. I examine the traditional relationship between inclusiveness and accuracy, and illustrate this connection by discussing empirical work on how group decision-making can improve accuracy. …

The Public Sphere As Site Of Emancipation And Enlightenment: A Discourse Theoretic Critique Of Digital Communication, David Ingram, Asaf Bar-Tura

David Ingram

Habermas claims that an inclusive public sphere is the only deliberative forum for generating public opinion that satisfies the epistemic and normative conditions underlying legitimate decision-making. He adds that digital technologies and other mass media need not undermine – but can extend – rational deliberation when properly instituted. This paper draws from social epistemology and technology studies to demonstrate the epistemic and normative limitations of this extension. We argue that current online communication structures fall short of satisfying the required epistemic and normative conditions. Furthermore, the extent to which Internet-based communications contribute to legitimate democratic opinion and will formation depends …

Moral Virtue, Civic Virtue, And Pluralism, Stephen C. Angle

Stephen C. Angle

The Shi'ites, The West And The Future Of Democracy: Reframing Political Change In A Religio-Secular World, John Rees

John A Rees

The present article critically reviews Paul McGeough’s important analysis of the most recent Iraq war within a broader consideration of secular-religious relations in international affairs. The thesis of Mission Impossible: The Sheikhs, the US and the Future of Iraq (2004) can be summarised around two ideas: that the US strategy in Iraq was flawed because it wilfully bypassed the traditional power structures of Iraqi society; and that these structures, formed around the tribe and the mosque, are anti-democratic thus rendering attempts at democratisation impossible. The article affirms McGeough’s argument concerning the inadequacy of the US strategy, but critically examines the …

Lois Lane Y Superman: El Periodismo Y La Democracia Contra El Neoliberalismo (Lois Lane And Superman: Journalism And Democracy Against Neoliberalism), Andrés Henao Castro

Andrés Fabián Henao-Castro

En este artículo propongo una interpretación política del comic de Superman, que destaca el valor democrático de la actividad periodística contra la hegemónica alianza neoliberal entre la industria militar y el capital transnacional. Mi interpretación parte de re-significar el vínculo existente entre Superman y Lois Lane, a partir de una traducción política del heroísmo en el universo igualitario de lo público.

Book Review: The History Of Democracy: A Marxist Interpretation By Brian S. Roper, John Passant

John Passant

Brian Roper's book on the history of democracy from a Marxist perspective is an ambitious one. Roper starts with Athens and Rome and then, as capitalism rises, examines the revolutions in England, America and France and after that the 1848 revolutions across Europe. He then looks at the Paris Commune and The Russian Revolution. In doing this, Roper describes three distinct but related forms of democracy - Athenian democracy which was a form of participatory democracy limited to sections of society; liberal representative democracy which, while nominally open to all, is actually limited to operating within narrow propertied confines; and …

Are Riots Good For Democracy? (Debate W/ Vijay Prashad), Stephen D'Arcy, Vijay Prashad

Stephen D'Arcy

The Southern Tree Of Liberty - The Democratic Movement In New South Wales Before 1856, Terry Irving

Terence H Irving, Dr (Terry)

Responsible government began in New South Wales after two decades of radical democratic agitation. Radical intellectuals from England, Ireland, Scotland and Europe mobilized the working men and women of the colony to resist the aristocratic form of government proposed by pastoralists and city capitalists. There was violence on the streets and goldfields, and some notable electoral victories. As 'a great fear' gripped the local elites the British government forced them to accept a more liberal form of representative government in the belief that this would placate the democrats and keep the colony safe for British imperial needs.

The Growth Of Federal Authority, 1929-40, Terry Irving

Terence H Irving, Dr (Terry)

This chapter covers the period of economic crisis in which Labor returns to government at the national level, splits and loses office, and rebuilds its strength in a long process of asserting the authority of the Federal Parliamentary Party against the state branches and the factions they often spawned. It begins with Scullin's victory and ends with the new leader, Curtin, poised to make Labor the party of government in another moment of national crisis.

A Childe Bibliography: A Hand-List Of The Works Of Vere Gordon Childe, Terry Irving, Peter Gathercole

Terence H Irving, Dr (Terry)

A hand-list devoted to the published writings of Vere Gordon Childe (1892-1957). It includes political writings, letters to newspapers, and reviews, as well as his books, articles and contributions to books. It covers his Australian years as well his academic career in Britain. Because its aim is to create an historical record of both Childe's work and the continual contemporary interest in his ideas, the list is arranged year by year to highlight his productivity and the periods when attention to his work was greatest. There are four sections: (i) books and monographs; (ii) articles and chapters; (iii) reviews; and …

Reconciling Positivism And Realism: Kelsen And Habermas On Democracy And Human Rights, David Ingram

David Ingram

It is well known that Hans Kelsen and Jürgen Habermas invoke realist arguments drawn from social science in defending an international, democratic human rights regime against Carl Schmitt’s attack on the rule of law. However, despite embracing the realist spirit of Kelsen’s legal positivism, Habermas criticizes Kelsen for neglecting to connect the rule of law with a concept of procedural justice (Part I). I argue, to the contrary (Part II), that Kelsen does connect these terms, albeit in a manner that may be best described as functional, rather than conceptual. Indeed, whereas Habermas tends to emphasize a conceptual connection between …

Does Political Islam Conflict With Secular Democracy? Philosophical Reflections On Religion And Politics, David Ingram

David Ingram

Abstract: This paper rebuts the thesis that political Islam conflicts with secular democracy. More precisely, it examines three sorts of claims that ostensibly support this thesis: (a) The Muslim religion is incompatible with secular democracy; (b) No Muslim country has instituted secular democracy; and (c) No movement seeking to advance its agenda as aggressively as political Islam does can do so with the degree of moderation required of a political party that is committed to secular democracy. Theologians, philosophers, and political scientists have debated (a) through (c) within the jurisdiction of their respective fields. I propose to combine these debates …

Democracy And National Security In Nigeria, Ali Nuhu Abubakar

Ali Nuhu Abubakar

ABSTRACT National security is the podium of democracy and if democracy loses security imperatives, it has lost its core essence. Chai Anan, the Thai political scientist, in his analysis of the role of the state in promoting democracy opined that the most important role of the state is in reality to ensure security for itself and for the people. It therefore implies against sophisticated theoretical analysis obscured by the realists who conceived national security in power or military terms that in democratic rule, militarism cannot guarantee national security. A close look at Obasanjo regime 1999-2007, reveals that national security was …

Citizen Responsibility For War In Imperfect Democracies, Lisa Rivera

Lisa Rivera

Are individual citizens of imperfect democracies morally responsible for unjust wars waged by their state? Moral responsibility for unjust wars involves both retrospective and social responsibility. Citizens of imperfect democracies are retrospectively responsible when they choose to vote for a leader they know will wage an unjust war. This situation may occur very rarely. For example, US citizens did not have this political option at the outset of the Vietnam and Iraq Wars. However, even when citizens are not retrospectively responsible they have the social responsibility to engage in collective action to address the harms unjust war causes.

The Unbordered Borders, Winston Langley

Winston E. Langley

Many have taken on the task of purportedly advancing the cause of human rights by abstractly reciting them and clamoring for their implementation. Some speak about one’s right to free speech and democracy, for example, with a convenient forgetting of the right to education, which can promote the type of dialogical encounter that is sponsoring of liberatory, integrative construction and reconstruction of self and human societies. Others champion the right to freedom, but not the right to food, careless of the fact that the hungry are un-free, left as they are to the crushing dictates of their bellies; and still …

Op-Ed: Banning Protesters An Attack On Democracy, Stephen D'Arcy

Stephen D'Arcy

A defence of academic freedom at Western U.

Op-Ed: Occupiers Begin 'To Build A New Democracy', Stephen D'Arcy

Stephen D'Arcy

A defence of the Occupy movement.

“Kissing Is A Symbol Of Democracy!” Dating, Democracy And Romance In Occupied Japan 1945-1952, Mark J. Mclelland

Mark McLelland

Japan’s defeat at the end of its fifteen years’ war in 1945 saw widespread changes to the family and gender system. Women were given political rights for the first time and were recognised as independent agents at work, in the home and in their romantic relationships. Whereas war-time ideology had brought about the “death of romance” in popular culture, with the relaxation of censorship at the war’s end, there was a sudden proliferation in discussion about the qualities of the “new” or “modern” couple and the popular press saw the rise of an eclectic range of “experts” offering advice on …

From Undemocratic To Democratic Civil Society: Japan's Volunteer Fire Departments, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

How do undemocratic civic organizations become compatible with democratic civil society? How do local organizations merge older patriarchal, hierarchical values and practices with newer more egalitarian, democratic ones? This article tells the story of how volunteer fire departments have done this in Japan. Their transformation from centralized war instrument of an authoritarian regime to local community safety organization of a full-fledged democracy did not happen overnight. A slow process of demographic and value changes helped the organization adjust to more democratic social values and practices. The way in which this organization made the transition offers important lessons for emerging democracies …

A Childe Bibliography: A Hand-List Of The Works Of Vere Gordon Childe, Terry Irving, Peter Gathercole

Terry Irving

A hand-list devoted to the published writings of Vere Gordon Childe (1892-1957). It includes political writings, letters to newspapers, and reviews, as well as his books, articles and contributions to books. It covers his Australian years as well his academic career in Britain. Because its aim is to create an historical record of both Childe's work and the continual contemporary interest in his ideas, the list is arranged year by year to highlight his productivity and the periods when attention to his work was greatest. There are four sections: (i) books and monographs; (ii) articles and chapters; (iii) reviews; and …

Participatory Democracy And The Renewal Of Radical Politics, Stephen D'Arcy

Stephen D'Arcy

In recent decades, the project of radically transforming societies to create communities that are in some sense 'socialist' has undergone a profound crisis. This crisis has sometimes looked like a complete collapse of the radical Left. In this paper, I make the case for a cautiously optimistic assessment of the prospects for a self-reinvention by the North American radical Left, on the basis of grassroots organizing for a non-statist, egalitarian and participatory-democratic alternative to capitalism.

Explaining Abu Ghraib: A Review Essay, Christopher J. Einolf

Christopher J Einolf

Four books written by social scientists and published in 2007 are reviewed: The Trials of Abu Ghraib: An Expert Witness Account of Shame and Honor, by Stjepan Mestrovic; The Lucifer Effect, by Philip Zimbardo; Torture and the Twilight of Empire : From Algiers to Baghdad, by Marnia Lazreg; and Torture and Democracy, by Darius Rejali. Prior research on torture has left unsettled the question of the importance of training and direct orders as causes of torture, and the role of liberal democratic institutions in preventing torture. The four books demonstrate that the Abu Ghraib torturers did not act on their …

Atlantean Prose And The Search For Democracy, Nick J. Sciullo

Nick J. Sciullo

Atlantis, the Lost City, has been a focal point of folklore, archeological inquiry, literary criticism, and mystic interpretation. It has boggled the brilliant, confused scientists, and sparked the interest of children. "Skeptics, archaeologists, geologists, and anthropologists may rant and rave, but the myth of Atlantis endures. In every generation, someone emerges to champion the cause and to embroider the story." But the significance of Atlantean prose as an avenue through which to best understand critical legal thought has not been explored in depth. To be sure, there have been numerous books, articles, and opinions analyzing Atlantis, but little attention has …

“El Goze De Los Derechos De Ciudadanía”: Elections And Citizenship In Central America, Ca. 1770-1850”, Jordana Dym

Jordana Dym

No abstract provided.

The Corporate Assault On Democracy, Sharon Beder

Sharon Beder

The revolutionary shift that we are witnessing at the beginning of the 21st Century from democracy to corporate rule is as significant as the shift from monarchy to democracy, which ushered in the modern age of nation states. It represents a wholesale change in cultural values and aspirations.

Sovereignty As Discourse, Robert Tsai

Robert L Tsai

This is a review of Howard Schweber's book, "The Language of Liberal Constitutionalism" (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Schweber argues that "the creation of a legitimate constitutional regime depends on a prior commitment to employ constitutional language, and that such a commitment is both the necessary and sufficient condition for constitution making." I critique the power and limits of this reformulated Lockean thesis, as well as Schweber's secondary claims that, for constitutional language to remain legitimate, it must increasingly become autonomous, specialized, and secular.

The Militant Protester As Model Citizen, Stephen D'Arcy

Stephen D'Arcy

Argues the militancy is a civic virtue.

The Southern Tree Of Liberty - The Democratic Movement In New South Wales Before 1856, Terry Irving

Terry Irving

Responsible government began in New South Wales after two decades of radical democratic agitation. Radical intellectuals from England, Ireland, Scotland and Europe mobilized the working men and women of the colony to resist the aristocratic form of government proposed by pastoralists and city capitalists. There was violence on the streets and goldfields, and some notable electoral victories. As 'a great fear' gripped the local elites the British government forced them to accept a more liberal form of representative government in the belief that this would placate the democrats and keep the colony safe for British imperial needs.

State Repression: Behind The Mask Of Democracy ..., Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

There has never been a satisfactory solution to the problem of handling / controlling political power, albeit the liberal claim that theirs is the best of the possible solutions known to human history. Notwithstanding the rhetoric justifying the creation and evolution of the modern nation-state, which focuses on its potential – through the ‘Rule of Law’ – to be more just and egalitarian than any other system of organised political power, there is overwhelming empirical evidence to show that things have not changed very much. States continue to repress their citizens in all manner of ways. The difference being that, …