Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Can Public Debt Enhance Democracy?, Clayton P. Gillette

William & Mary Law Review

This Essay draws on historical and current examples to examine the extent to which public creditors can enhance democracy by monitoring public officials in a manner that compensates for the failures of the government debtor's constituents to monitor public officials. Creditors and constituents may share significant interests, depending on the structure of security arrangements for public debt and the identity of the debtors. Where interests overlap, the capacity of creditors to overcome collective action problems suffered by constituents may transform creditors into surrogates for constituents. Whether creditors are willing to play this role, however, may depend on the existence of …

Unintended Consequences Of Repression: Alliance Formation In South Korea's Democracy Movement (1970-1979), Paul Y. Chang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Research regarding the impact of repression on social movements has yielded conflicting findings; some argue that repression decreases the total quantity of protest events while others argue that it motivates protest. To move beyond this impasse, various scholars have suggested exploring how repression influences the quality of social movements. This study assesses the impact repression had on the information of alliances between different social groups participating in South Korea's democracy movement. Results from negative binomial regression analyses show that repression facilitated the formation of alliances between movement actors at a time when the overall number of protest events decreased. This …

Threats In Latin American And Caribbean Countries: How Do Inequality And The Asymmetries Of Rules Affect Tax Morale?, Maximo Rossi, Juan Pablo Pagano, Natalia Melgar, Mariana Gerstenblüth

Maximo Rossi

Latin America is well known as the most inequitable region. As it is recognized, inequality and corruption perception weaken the way that political institutions works and the democratic system. Focusing on Latin American and Caribbean countries, we analyze what are the elements that shape tax morale. In particular, we analyze how the context influences on ethic decisions such as the predisposition to pay taxes. Our data source is the survey carried out in 2005 by Latinobarometro. In particular, our objective is to analyze how country performance is determining tax morale. To do so, we estimated four probit models including Gini …

Canada's Engagement With Democracies In The Americas, Maxwell A. Cameron, Catherine Hecht

Maxwell Cameron

Canada’s engagement with Latin America over the past two decades was predicated on three inter-related assumptions: that the region was becoming more democratic, that it had embraced markets, and that, as a result, it was reasonable to expect a more cooperative and pragmatic tone in inter-American affairs. These assumptions have proven faulty. Although democracy remains the preferred system of government, many voters are dissatisfied with their elected governments; the record of progress in reducing poverty and inequality has also been disappointing; finally, the international politics of the region have become more fraught. The current Canadian “re-engagement” with the region offers …

Narratives Of Legitimacy: Political Discourse In The Early Phase Of The Troubles In Northern Ireland, Sissel Rosland

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article examines the discursive construction of legitimacy in the early phase of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The empirical material covers the debate on internment without trial from 1971 till 1975 – a debate which involved conflicting claims of legitimacy. Some strongly defended internment as a legitimate step in the fight against the IRA, whilst others regarded it as an illegitimate measure employed by a corrupt political regime. These conflicting claims of legitimacy entailed a conceptual battle concerned with the construction and authorisation of political order. The article explores this battle along three dimensions: law, violence, and democracy.

'Democratic Taxation' And Quantifiable Action: Scientizing Dilemmas, Mindy Peden

Mindy Peden

Against the easy presupposition that such a thing as 'democratic taxation' not only exists but is also practicable, this paper points to the dilemma posed by what I call 'quantifiable action.' The essay develops an approach to theorizing the place of taxation in political theory that counters trends in fiscal sociology, political science, and liberal theory by highlighting how taxation presumably violates the requirement that self-government includes an absence of instrumental rationality on the part of democratic citizens. For this reason, taxation presents a persistent problem for any concept of self-government, and may usefully be regarded as a technology of …

Modern Constitutional Democracy And Imperialism, James Tully

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

To what extent is the development of modern constitutional democracy as a state form in the West and its spread around the world implicated in western imperialism? This has been a leading question of legal scholarship over the last thirty years. James Tully draws on this scholarship to present a preliminary answer. Part I sets out seven central features of modern constitutional democracy and its corresponding international institutions of law and government. Part II sets out three major imperial roles that these legal and political institutions have played, and continue to play. And finally, Part III surveys ways in which …

The Constitutive Paradox Of Modern Law: A Comment On Tully, Ruth Buchanan

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This commentary draws out and elaborates upon some of the more challenging aspects of Professor Tully's sophisticated taxonomy of the relationship between modern constitutional forms and constituent powers. Tully's article reveals the historical particularities of these formations, and at the same time encourages the reader to think beyond them, towards the potentially uncategorizable realm of democratic constitutionalism. Yet, how is it possible to use a taxonomy of modern constitutional democracy as a means of understanding what ties in the uncharted territory beyond? This commentary further explores to what extent this paradoxical modern configuration of constituent powers and constitutional forms may …

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.

Coalitions For Victory: The Necessity Of Alliance Creation For Progressive Ballot Initiative Campaigns, Julie Bero

Honors Theses

My paper consists of three sections. In the first, I explain the function of ballot measures and discuss why Americans have supported or opposed the use of direct democracy. I will also offer the history of direct democracy. In the second section, I will discuss the current national state of affairs in direct democracy, specifically analyzing recent ballot measures. I will analyze three cases, focusing on information gathered from the news media and personal interviews with campaign organizers. Finally, I will draw conclusions about these three measures and assert implications for the future of direct democracy.

Voting In Kenya: Putting Ethnicity In Perspective, Michael Bratton, Mwangi S. Kimenyi

Economics Working Papers

Do Kenyans vote according to ethnic identities or policy interests? Based on results from a national probability sample survey conducted in the first week of December 2007, this article shows that, while ethnic origins drive voting patterns, elections in Kenya amount to more than a mere ethnic census. We start by reviewing how Kenyans see themselves, which is mainly in non-ethnic terms. We then report on how they see others, whom they fear will organize politically along ethnic lines. People therefore vote defensively in ethnic blocs, but not exclusively. In Decem- ber 2007, they also took particular policy issues into …

War And Endogenous Democracy, Davide Ticchi, Andrea Vindigni

Davide Ticchi

Many episodes of extension of franchise in the 19th and especially in the 20th century occurred during or in the aftermath of major wars. Motivated by this fact, we offer a theory of political transitions which focuses on the impact of international conflicts on domestic political institutions. We argue that mass-armies, which appeared in Europe after the French Revolution, are an effective military organization only if the conscripted citizens are willing to put effort in fighting wars, which in turn depends on the economic incentives that are provided to them. The need to provide such incentives implies that an oligarchy …

Waving Hello To Democratic Renewal, Christine Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Khanna’s argument is simple. American hegemony and the unipolar world have collapsed—without America noticing. The new world is tri-polar. America must compete with Europe’s soft power influence, and China’s economic power influence. The new global game for the “second world” (Turkey, South America, the former USSR “Stans”) is to play all three superpowers against each other, while pretending to be the friends of all.

War And Endogenous Democracy, Andrea Vindigni, Davide Ticchi

Andrea Vindigni

Many episodes of extension of franchise in the 19th and especially in the 20th century occurred during or in the aftermath of major wars. Motivated by this fact, we offer a theory of political transitions which focuses on the impact of international conflicts on domestic political institutions. We argue that mass-armies, which appeared in Europe after the French Revolution, are an effective military organization only if the conscripted citizens are willing to put effort in fighting wars, which in turn depends on the economic incentives that are provided to them. The need to provide such incentives implies that an oligarchy …

The Corporate Assault On Democracy, Sharon Beder

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

The revolutionary shift that we are witnessing at the beginning of the 21^st 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.

Moving Beyond Markets And Minimalism: Democracy In The Era Of Globalization, Richard Burchill

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Democracy as Human Rights: Freedom and Equality in the Age of Globalization by Michael Goodhart. London: Routledge, 2005.

Partidos, Gobierno Y Congreso: Chile Y Perú, 1965-2005, Jose Luis Sardon

Jose Luis Sardon

En el presente artículo se argumenta que las diferencias en los niveles de desarrollo alcanzados por Chile y Perú en los últimos 40 años se explican no solo por las reformas económicas emprendidas en uno y otro país sino también por la reforma política realizada en Chile en 1988, mediante la cual se sustituyó el sistema de representación proporcional por un sistema binominal para la elección del Congreso. Esto habría brindado incentivos para la consolidación del sistema de partidos y la estabilización del proceso democrático en Chile. Por el contrario, Perú, al haber persistido y aún profundizado la proporcionalidad de …

Assuming Bosnia: Democracy After Srebrenica, Timothy W. Waters

Timothy W Waters

Assuming Bosnia: Democracy after Srebrenica Timothy William Waters Associate Professor, Indiana University School of Law (Bloomington) This essay is a reflection on democracy, justice and intervention. It focuses on the Bosnian experience, which requires one to consider several actors: Bosnia as a state, Bosnians as a people or peoples, and the international community. For since Dayton, the indispensable context for reform in Bosnia has been the international protectorate, which is to say the deliberate abrogation of autonomous, democratic, domestic processes for some defined, and hopefully higher, set of purposes. These purposes are expressed in the Dayton Accords, though increasingly the …

Assuming Bosnia: Taking The Polity Seriously In Ethnically Divided Societies, Timothy W. Waters

Timothy W Waters

This essay is a reflection on democracy, justice and intervention. It focuses on the Bosnian experience, where since the Dayton Accords the indispensable context for reform has been the international protectorate. This essay examines the assumptions used by the international community to govern Bosnia, which suggest a policy premised upon resistance to the fragmentation of the state under any circumstances, and a belief that the international intervention is simultaneously morally justified and a purely technical process for increasing efficiency. How necessary – indeed, how related at all – are those commitments to the dictates of justice? What is their relationship …

Toward Responsible Sovereignty: The Case For Intervention, Erik Martinez Kuhonta

Erik Kuhonta

No abstract provided.

The Paradox Of Thailand's 1997 "People's Constitution": Be Careful What You Wish For, Erik Martinez Kuhonta

Erik Kuhonta

No abstract provided.

A Research Note On The Middle Class And Democracy In Thailand, Erik Martinez Kuhonta

Erik Kuhonta

No abstract provided.

Executions At Guantanamo Bay Would Mock Us Democracy, Tom Clonan

Articles

This week’s announcement by the Pentagon to seek the death penalty in the case of six prisoners at Guantanamo Bay – charged with involvement in the 9/11 attacks – represents yet another step in a long-term planning process for executions at Camp Delta at the US Naval station in Cuba. US Army Regulation 190-55 has for some time allowed for military executions by lethal injection. Until recently however, precedent within US martial law has identified Fort Leavenworth in Kansas as the location for military executions – a location which in theory, would place the condemned prisoner within the jurisdiction of …

Competitive Supragovernmental Regulation: How Could It Be Democratic?, Errol E. Meidinger

Journal Articles

This paper explores the possibility that a developing form of regulatory governance is also sketching out a new form of anticipatory regulatory democracy. 'Competitive supra-governmental regulation' is largely driven by non-state actors and is therefore commonly viewed as suffering a democracy deficit. However, because it stresses broad participation, intensive deliberative procedures, responsiveness to state law and widely accepted norms, and competition among regulatory programs to achieve effective implementation and widespread public acceptance, this form of regulation appears to stand up relatively well under generally understood criteria for democratic governance. Nonetheless, a more satisfactory evaluation will require a much better understanding …

The Honest Broker? Canada's Role In Haitian Development, Michele Zebich-Knos

Faculty and Research Publications

Since the early 1990s Canada has played a key role in Haiti’s development process. The article explores whether Canada’s foreign policy is becoming more reliant on military-assisted solutions, including peacekeeping, as a way to solve Haiti’s internal problems and achieve good governance. The article also examines the Canadian concepts called “Responsibility to Protect, React and Rebuild” which are linked to humanitarian intervention, and their implication for Haitian sovereignty. The conclusion cautions against an overly ambitious Canadian development policy for Haiti which has little chance of success.

A Re-Assessment Of Liberal Pacifism At The Monadic Level Of Analysis, Charles R. Boehmer

Charles Boehmer

Are democracies are generally peaceful? The literature was in the past contradictory, although now there appears increasing evidence that democracies are more pacifistic than other regimes. This research note explores why the literature has often been mischaracterized or misunderstood in our field. This is followed with an analysis of democracy and conflict at the state level of analysis from 1884-1999 using a broad sample of states and appropriate statistical estimators. The results comport with past studies that democracies are less likely to initiate militarized conflicts. The study also shows that even when democracies do militarize a dispute, these are less …

The Well-Being Of Nations: Linking Together Trust, Cooperation, And Democracy, William Tov, Ed Diener

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The theme of this chapter is that cooperative and trusting social relationships tend to enhance people’s subjective well-being (happiness and life satisfaction), and that in turn positive feelings of well-being tend to augment cooperation and trust. Extensive empirical work now supports the fact that sociability, interpersonal warmth, community involvement, and interpersonal trust are heightened by positive emotions. New analyses based on the World Value Survey show that nations that are high on subjective well-being (SWB) also tend to be high on generalized trust, volunteerism, and democratic attitudes. Additional analyses indicate that the association of SWB to volunteerism and democratic attitudes …

What Happened To Africa?, J. Peter Pham

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair—A History of Fifty Years of Independence by Martin Meredith. New York: Public Affairs, 2006. 752 pp.

Democracy In Practice: Lessons From New England, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Kevin Dye

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

Political decision-making by elites require some form of civilian participation to regain legitimacy. Increasingly groups of Citizens do not trust in political elites and are increasingly frustrated by their behavior. When faced with the problem of diversity, even established democracies face problems of managing diversity. In the global context differences of opinion, culture, religion etc has defined many of the New Wars (Kaldor 1999). In the United States many non-state and semi-governmental organizations have developed programs to increase public knowledge of the legislature and its decision-making processes. The ultimate purpose of this is to exercise some control over state power. …

Democratic Failure: Tracking The Ebb Of Democracy's Flow, 1800–2006, Sanja E. Sray

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Scant attention has focused on the systematic study of democratic failure. This dissertation partially corrects this oversight. Tracing the roots of antidemocratic sentiment across the centuries, it first argues that the advance of institutions, fueled by underlying shifts in values and innovation in political philosophy, was key to freeing democracy from its bondage as a most disparaged form of governance. Focusing on the measurable aspects of these institutions, the study focuses on describing patterns of behavior when democracies fail. First, it shows that there have been clusters of democratic failure. These clusters, or counterwaves, find their roots in ancient antidemocratic …