Download or read book Rethinking Democracy Freedom and Social Co operation in Politics Economy and Society written by Carol C. Gould and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carol Gould reconsiders the theory of democracy in respect to politics, economics and social life.

Download or read book The Green State written by Robyn Eckersley and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2004-03-05 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What would constitute a definitively "green" state? In this important new book, Robyn Eckersley explores what it might take to create a green democratic state as an alternative to the classical liberal democratic state, the indiscriminate growth-dependent welfare state, and the neoliberal market-focused state—seeking, she writes, "to navigate between undisciplined political imagination and pessimistic resignation to the status quo." In recent years, most environmental scholars and environmentalists have characterized the sovereign state as ineffectual and have criticized nations for perpetuating ecological destruction. Going consciously against the grain of much current thinking, this book argues that the state is still the preeminent political institution for addressing environmental problems. States remain the gatekeepers of the global order, and greening the state is a necessary step, Eckersley argues, toward greening domestic and international policy and law. The Green State seeks to connect the moral and practical concerns of the environmental movement with contemporary theories about the state, democracy, and justice. Eckersley's proposed "critical political ecology" expands the boundaries of the moral community to include the natural environment in which the human community is embedded. This is the first book to make the vision of a "good" green state explicit, to explore the obstacles to its achievement, and to suggest practical constitutional and multilateral arrangements that could help transform the liberal democratic state into a postliberal green democratic state. Rethinking the state in light of the principles of ecological democracy ultimately casts it in a new role: that of an ecological steward and facilitator of transboundary democracy rather than a selfish actor jealously protecting its territory.

Download or read book Rethinking Democracy written by Andrew Gamble and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-01-04 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "There's never been a more pressing time to question every aspect of our inadequate democracy"- Polly Toynbee "This important book shows the many challenges democracy faces in a world of populism and radical digital change" - Margaret Hodge 2018 saw celebrations of the centenary of the Representation of the People Act which marked a decisive step towards full universal suffrage - this collection of essays explores the problems of democracy and suggests ways it might now be extended and deepened. Investigates if democracy is an unfinished revolution and if democratic politics is currently in retreat Demonstrates how democratic politics is once again under attack - this time from populist nationalists, authoritarian rulers and new forms of political communication Argues that if we lose the art of active citizenship, we will lose the freedoms and the rights which democracy has bestowed

Download or read book Rethinking Democracy written by Rajni Kothari and published by Orient Blackswan. This book was released on 2005 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rethinking Democracy is an insightful and reflective monograph on democracy in general and Indian democracy in particular. In this work, Rajni Kothari revisits the core arguments he has laid down in his various writings in the past four decades Politics in India, State Against Democracy, Communalism in India, etc. While revisiting his writings, Kothari reflects, interrogates and even contests some of his earlier formulations on democracy, state and civil society, developing a new paradigm on the basis of his intellectual experience and activist experience. Kothari makes a powerful critique of prevailing democratic theory and practice in a changing global as well as Indian contaxt and concludes that democracy has failed to achieve its objective of human emancipation and survives merely as a dream. However, this disillusionment with democracy does not deter him from searching for an alternative model of a decentralized, participatory and emancipatory democracy.

Download or read book Rethinking Democracy written by Leo Panitch and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2017-12-22 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For years, intellectuals have argued that, with the triumph of capitalist, liberal democracy, the Western World has reached “the end of history.” Recently, however, there has been a rise of authoritarian politics in many countries. Concepts of post-democracy, anti-politics, and the like are gaining currency in theoretical and political debate. Now that capitalist democracies are facing seismic and systemic challenges, it becomes increasingly important to investigate not only the inherent antagonism between liberalism and the democratic process, but also socialism. Is socialism an enemy of democracy? Could socialism develop, expand, even enhance democracy? While this volume seeks a reappraisal of existing liberal democracy today, its main goal is to help lay the foundation for new visions and practices in developing a real socialist democracy. Amid the contradictions of neoliberal capitalism today, the responsibility to sort out the relationship between socialism and democracy has never been greater. No revival of socialist politics in the twenty-first century can occur without founding new democratic institutions and practices.

Download or read book Democracy in the European Union written by Erik Oddvar Eriksen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-09-11 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union is widely held to suffer from a democratic deficit, and this raises a wider question: can democracy at all be applied to decision-making bodies beyond the nation state? Today, the EU is a highly complex entity undergoing profound changes. This book asks how the type of cooperation that the EU is based on can be explained; what are the integrative forces in the EU and how can integration at a supra-national level come about? The key thinkers represented in this volume stress that in order to understand integration beyond the nation state, we need new explanatory categories associated with deliberation because a supranational entity as the EU posesses far weaker and less well-developed means of coercion - bargaining resources - than do states. The most appropriate term to denote this is the notion of 'deliberative supranationalism'. This pioneering work, headed by major writers such as Habermas, Schlesinger and Bellamy, brings a new perspective to this key issue in contemporary politics and political theory.

Download or read book Rethinking the Value of Democracy written by Renske Doorenspleet and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-21 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the instrumental value of democracy in a comparative perspective. Based on extensive analyses of quantitative studies from different disciplines, it explores both the expected beneficial and harmful impact of democracy. Democracy’s reputation as delivering peace and development while controlling corruption is an important source of its own legitimacy. Yet, as this book acutely demonstrates, the arguments tend to be normatively driven interventions in ideologically charged policy debates. The book argues that we need neither a utopian framing of democracy as delivering all ‘good things’ in politics nor a cynical one that emphasizes only the ‘dangerous underbelly’ of this form of government. The author also raises critical questions about the value of the study of democracy: the choice for particular concepts and measures, the unknown mechanisms, and the narrow focus on specific instrumental values. This volume will be necessary reading for anyone interested in debates on democracy in the contemporary global context.

Download or read book Rethinking Local Democracy written by Desmond S. King and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 1996-07-10 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transformation of British local government into a new and complex system of local governance raises fundamental theoretical questions as well as empirical ones. Rethinking Local Democracy argues that traditional defences of local government are no longer adequate and that the case for local autonomy and local democracy needs to be radically rethought. It brings together a set of specially-commissioned chapters by leading academics designed to stimulate and contribute to debate on these issues.

Download or read book Rethinking Public Relations written by Kevin Moloney and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-04-18 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All PR, whether for charities or arms manufacturers, is weak propaganda. Though it has its undeniable benefits (it grabs attention and helps circulate more information), it also has costs (such as selective messaging). This extensively revised edition of a classic text fully investigates PR, updating and expanding earlier arguments and building upon the successful first edition with new thoughts, data and evidence. Thought-provoking and stimulating, Rethinking Public Relations 2nd Edition challenges conventional PR wisdom. It develops the accepted thinking on the most important question facing PR - its relationship with democracy - and finds a balance of advantages and disadvantages which leave a residue of concern. It tackles topical issues such as: PR as a form of propaganda which flourishes in a democracy the connections between PR and journalism the media, promotions culture and persuasion. Designed to appeal to final year undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers studying public relations, media and communications studies, this book explores the most important relationship PR has – the connection with democracy – and asks what benefits or costs it brings to politics, markets and the media.

Download or read book Soft Borders written by J. Mostov and published by Springer. This book was released on 2008-05-26 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While sovereignty is increasingly contested within academic circles, most recent military conflicts have been over issues of sovereignty in some form. Focusing on Yugoslavia in the 1990s, this book explores the issues surrounding 'sovereignty' and calls for a radical rethinking of the notion and the institutions and practices that it grounds.

Download or read book American Democracy in Crisis written by Jeanne Sheehan and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-01-02 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public disenchantment with and distrust of American government is at an all-time high and who can blame them? In the face of widespread challenges—everything from record levels of personal and national debt and the sky high cost of education, to gun violence, racial discrimination, an immigration crisis, overpriced pharmaceuticals, and much more—the government seems paralyzed and unable to act, the most recent example being Covid-19. It’s the deadliest pandemic in over a century. In addition to an unimaginable sick and death toll, it has left more than thirty million Americans unemployed. Despite this, Washington let the first round of supplemental unemployment benefits run out and for more than a month were unable to agree on a bill to help those suffering. This book explains why we are in this situation, why the government is unable to respond to key challenges, and what we can do to right the ship. It requires that readers “upstream,” stop blaming the individuals in office and instead look at the root cause of the problem. The real culprit is the system; it was designed to protect liberty and structured accordingly. As a result, however, it has left us with a government that is not responsive, largely unaccountable, and often ineffective. This is not an accident; it is by design. Changing the way our government operates requires rethinking its primary goal(s) and then restructuring to meet them. To this end, this book offers specific reform proposals to restructure the government and in the process make it more accountable, effective, and responsive.

Download or read book Rethinking Democracy written by Carol C. Gould and published by Cambridge, [Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carol Gould reconsiders the theory of democracy in respect to politics, economics and social life.

Download or read book Beyond Origins written by Angélica Maria Bernal and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "From classical stories of divine lawgivers to contemporary ones of Founding Fathers and constitutional beginnings, foundings have long been synonymous with singular, extraordinary moments of political origin and creation. In constitutional democracies, this common view is particularly attractive, with original founding events, actors, and ideals invoked time and again in everyday politics as well as in times of crisis to remake the state and unify citizens. Beyond Origins challenges this view of foundings, explaining how it is ultimately dangerous, misguided, and unsustainable. Engaging with cases of founding through a series of “travels” across political traditions and historical time, this book evaluates the uses and abuses of this view to expose in its links among foundings, origins, and authority a troubling political foundationalism. It argues that by ascribing to foundings a universally binding, unifying, and transcendent authority, the common view works to obscure the fraught political struggles involved in actual foundings and refoundings. In the wake of this challenge, the book develops an alternate approach. Centered on a political view of foundings, this framework recasts foundations as far from authoritatively settled or grounded and redefines foundings as contentious, uncertain, and incomplete. It looks to actors whose complicated relations to pure origins both reveal and capitalize on the underauthorized and contingent nature of foundations to enact foundational change. By examining such actors--from Haitian revolutionaries to Latin American presidents and social movements--the book prods a reconsideration of foundings on different terms: as a contestatory, ongoing dimension of political life." (ed.).

Download or read book Caring Democracy written by Joan C. Tronto and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2013-04-12 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans now face a caring deficit: there are simply too many demands on people’s time for us to care adequately for our children, elderly people, and ourselves.At the same time, political involvement in the United States is at an all-time low, and although political life should help us to care better, people see caring as unsupported by public life and deem the concerns of politics as remote from their lives. Caring Democracy argues that we need to rethink American democracy, as well as our fundamental values and commitments, from a caring perspective. The idea that production and economic life are the most important political and human concerns ignores the reality that caring, for ourselves and others, should be the highest value that shapes how we view the economy, politics, and institutions such as schools and the family. Care is at the center of our human lives, but Tronto argues it is currently too far removed from the concerns of politics. Caring Democracy traces the reasons for this disconnection and argues for the need to make care, not economics, the central concern of democratic political life. Joan C. Tronto is a Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care (Routledge).

Download or read book The Democratic Challenge written by Jorge Nef and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2009-05-18 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text provides a critical but systematic overview of democratic theory and practice in the contemporary world. The authors show that recent developments are more complex than admitted by proponents of the idea of a democratic world with, what they call, de-democratization of various forms running in parallel with democratization.

Download or read book Biodiversity and Democracy written by Paul Malcolm Wood and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work argues that the problem of extinction can be traced to how we think about biodiversity and democratic societies. While biodiversity is usually confused with biological resources, Wood argues that it should be conceived as an essential environmental condition.

Download or read book Democracy Liberalism and War written by Tarak Barkawi and published by Lynne Rienner Publishers. This book was released on 2001 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Commencing with Susan Sontag's line that "the only worthwhile answers are those that blow up the questions," ten contributions by UK and US academics critique the "democratic peace" (DP) prescription for inter-state peace of "just add liberal democracy." Contextualizing the DP literature historically and internationally, they call for reassessment of the complex inter-relationships among democracy, liberalism, and war in the global revolution; provide a table summarizing war and democracy by world order periods; and identify directions for future research. Based on US workshops in 1998 and 2000. Barkawi and Laffey are lecturers in international relations, the former at the U. of Wales, Aberystwyth and the latter at the U. of London.--