This book assesses the quality of Czech democracy relative to both its postcommunist peers and older EU members. Motivated by the authoritarian tendencies and illiberal outcomes in the postcommunist region, it explores the extent to which the Czech Republic is genuinely an outlier within the region and why. The book elaborates on an original conception of democratic quality that emphasizes three aspects of governance: citizen rule, political equality, and good citizenship. The authors show that while the Czech Republic falls short of Western democracies on these standards, it does perform better than most of its peers. The book includes original data on campaign promises, dual mandates, legislative productivity, the wealth of MPs, the opinions of millionaires, women's representation, and the stability of public preferences along with comparative analyses of a host of other indicators. The book will appeal to those interested in the politics of Eastern Europe and new democracies, those working in the rapidly growing fields of democratic quality and populism, and NGOs concerned with the development of new democracies around the world.

Drawing upon insights from international socialization theory and social psychology, this book examines China's efforts to multipolarize - and hence potentially de-liberalize - the international system from the local perspective of a non-democratic (yet democratizing) nation and then applies these insights to Beijing's current global agency in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. Specifically, the book scrutinizes Beijing's normative engagement in Kazakhstan, a nation that evolved from an enthusiastic supporter of the West's normative domination of international affairs into an overt critic - after having institutionalized relations with Beijing through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Tracing and juxtaposing the respective patterns of Kazakhstan's political identity development before the SCO entered the region and after, this book not only yields unexpected conclusions about the quality of post-Soviet democratization outcomes, but also about Beijing's local and global influence potentiality for the time to come - and its limits. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of China's normative power, democratization studies, post-Soviet studies, and International Relations.

The approaches of EU institutions and the US to democracy assistance often vary quite significantly as both actors choose different means and tactics. The nuances in the understandings of democracy on the part of the EU and the US lead to their promotion of models of democratic governance that are often quite divergent and, in some respects, clashing. This book examines the sources of this divergence and by focusing on the role of the actors' "democratic identity" it aims to explain the observation that both actors use divergent strategies and instruments to foster democratic governance in third countries. Taking a constructivist view, it demonstrates that the history, expectations and experiences with democracy of each actor significantly inform their respective definition of democracy and thus the model of democracy they promote abroad. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in democracy promotion, democratization, political theory, EU and US foreign policy and assistance, and identity research.

Populism has become a favorite catchword for mass media and politicians faced with the challenge of protest parties or movements. It has often been equated with radical right leaders or parties. This unique volume underlines that populism is an ambiguous but constitutive component of democratic systems torn between their ideology (government of the people, by the people, for the people) and their actual functioning.

This book provides a comprehensive understanding of how, and under which conditions, regulators in the social sectors are able to influence political agendas and issue definitions. In these political processes, agencies may become the policy entrepreneurs which are able to prioritize issues, placing them in the political agenda and influencing policy formulations. These activities generate additional questions about the political role of regulatory agencies and post-delegation settings. Based on original source data and a mixed methods approach, the book shows that the diffusion of regulatory agencies is not only limited to regulatory responsibilities and to their increasing role in policy-making, but their influence has stretched over the agenda-setting phase but only under certain conditions. Moreover, the evolution of their strategies, the production and use of knowledge and the context in which they operate enable them to exert leverage on agendas. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of the politics of regulation, bureaucracy, agenda-setting, public policy, social problems and more broadly to European and comparative politics, and democracy.

Well-written and well-researched and strikes a good balance between theoretical arguments and concrete analyses of a specific, relevant case - Bolsonaro's Brazil. Extremely timely, and the fact that it doesn't only consist in an analysis of Bolsonaro's Brazil, but also offers a philosophically informed account of notions and phenomena such as biopolitics, neoliberalism, etc., ensures that the book will remain relevant even in the future. Andre Duarte is a well-known political philosopher and critical theorist whose work is already widely influential in Latin America and Europe (France, Spain).

Well-written and well-researched and strikes a good balance between theoretical arguments and concrete analyses of a specific, relevant case - Bolsonaro's Brazil. Extremely timely, and the fact that it doesn't only consist in an analysis of Bolsonaro's Brazil, but also offers a philosophically informed account of notions and phenomena such as biopolitics, neoliberalism, etc., ensures that the book will remain relevant even in the future. Andre Duarte is a well-known political philosopher and critical theorist whose work is already widely influential in Latin America and Europe (France, Spain).

A spectre is haunting Europe and America: the spectre of anti-democratic, right-wing nationalism. This has finally exposed as ill- based the astonishingly widely shared belief that unleashing capitalism will, sooner or later, lead societies to democratic politics. It's nothing more than the big liberal myth. Krishnan Nayar explores the history of six major pioneers of modernity-Britain, America, France, Germany, Russia and Japan- from the seventeenth century's Cromwellian revolution to Donald Trump's election, via the Age of Darwinian Capitalism: the pre-Second World War, pre-consumerist, pre-welfare state capitalism of severe economic instability and a penurious working class. Nayar shows that, in this period, capitalist industrialisation was far more likely to lead to modernised right-wing autocracy than democracy, which got a chance thanks simply to fortunate circumstances in a few countries. Capitalism only underpinned democracy in the post-war period due to transient factors: post-1945 Western welfare systems owed their existence and character almost entirely to the challenge posed by the Russian and Chinese revolutions. The return of large-scale, extremist right-wing politics should not, therefore, come as a surprise. As autocratic China grows in strength, and Russia returns to expansionism, can democracy be rescued from a capitalism of dire instability and inequality?

This book examines how 'citizen art' practices perform new kinds of politics, as distinct from normative (status, participatory and cosmopolitan) models. It contends that at a time in which the conditions of citizenship have been radically altered (e.g., by the increased securitization and individuation of bodies etc.), there is an urgent drive for 'citizen art' to be enacted as a tool for assessing the 'hollowed out' conditions of citizenship. 'Citizen art', it shows, stands apart from other forms of Art by performing 'acts of citizenship' that reveal and transgress the limitations of state-centred citizenship regimes, whilst simultaneously enacting genuinely alternative modes of (non-statist) citizenship. This book explains how 'citizen art' can make citizenship manifest in ways that do not reify or valorize the nation-state, status rights, or cosmopolitan imaginaries. It shows instead that the outcomes of 'citizen art', such as the institutions of solidarity, assembly and interventions, reconfigure the 'tools' of politics in the act of 'doing politics' that, in turn, perform new and nascent modes of (non-statist) citizenship. This book offers a new formulation of 'citizen art' - one that is interrogated on both critical and material levels, and as such, that remodels the foundations on which citizenship is conceived, performed and instituted.

High technology capitalism utilizes computers, robots, and global information networks. It has engendered new classes - technocrats, bureaucrats, service and office workers - who will impact the structure and values of society. The question most central for us is that of the survival of democracy on this new base. Will the New Middle Class become the carrying class for a modern form of democracy utilizing the sophisticated communications technology, or, will democracy decline under the weight of the managerial and technocratic strata essential to the functioning of the modern economic and political institutions?

Since the Third Wave of democratization research on clientelism has experienced a revival. The puzzling persistence of clientelism in new and old democracies inspired researchers to investigate the micro-foundations and causes of this phenomenon. Though the decline of clientelistic practices - such as vote buying and patronage - in democratic contexts has often been predicted, they have proven to be highly adaptive strategies of electoral mobilization and party building. This volume seeks to contribute to this new line of research and develops a theoretical framework to study the consequences of clientelism for democratic governance. Under governance we understand "all processes of governing, whether undertaken by a government, market, or network, whether over a family, tribe, formal or informal organization, or territory, and whether through laws, norms, power or language".

South Korea has experienced new challenges both internally and externally with respect to its foreign policies. Internally, democratization has changed political terrain for domestic and international politics. Democratization and the information revolution have reinvigorated civic life and citizens have become active in expressing very divergent and often polarized views on foreign policies. Democratization also promotes South Korean nationalism. Rising nationalist sentiments make it difficult for the U.S. to effectively handle regional security-related issues such as the North Korean nuclear program, balancing against China, and dealing with the potential Sino-Japanese conflict. Externally, globalization has brought significant changes to South Korea's foreign policies. Economic dimension and issues rather than security-related issues become salient and important. For example, although security concerns are still dominant in Korean society, economic interests necessitate South Korea improve its relations with China and redefine its political position between the U.S. and China. Globalization has also promoted Korea's national interests to reach out to other countries. The Korean government has tried to develop new economic partnerships with developing countries for the purpose of securing energy and natural resources and expanding its soft power. Economic globalization and democratization have brought about changes in South Korea that raise many interesting questions with respect to foreign policy. Has South Korea's rise as an economic power and a democracy changed its relationship with neighboring powers? Does economic integration between South Korea and China reshape their relationship? How about its impact on U.S.-Korea relations? Are geopolitical and security-related concerns still the dominant factor in explaining South Korea's foreign policies? Does economic integration between Korea and Japan help to reduce tensions or emotional animosities that derive from historical disputes? Has South Korea, as a growing economic power, sought to forge relations with other middle or small powers beyond the confines of its region? Overall, this book theoretically and empirically explores how democratization and economic globalization have changed domestic politics in South Korea and reshaped its foreign policies.

This book addresses some of the most pressing questions of our time: Is democracy threatened by globalisation? Is there a legitimacy crisis in contemporary democracies? Is the welfare state in individual countries under pressure from global trends? What are the implications of high-level migration and rising populism for democracy? Does authoritarianism pose a challenge? The volume builds on a cross-cultural study of democracy conducted by the Transformation Research Unit (TRU) at Stellenbosch University in South Africa for nearly twenty years. Three of the countries studied - South Africa, Turkey and Poland - receive individual attention as their respective democracies appear to be the most vulnerable at present. Germany, Sweden, Chile, South Korea and Taiwan are assessed in their regional contexts. Further insights are gained by examining the impact on democracy of the global screen culture of Television and the Internet, and by pointing out the lessons democracy should learn from diplomacy to fare better in the future. The book will appeal to both students and practitioners of democracy as well as the general reader.

This book posits a new theory of fascism as a radical political community of experience. The author engages with a range of thinkers both critical of and inspiring fascism including Walter Benjamin, Albert Camus, Ernst Junger, Carl Schmitt, Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger. This book will be of interest to scholars of the history of political thought, fascism and Nazism.

How do political parties affect foreign policy? This book answers this question by exploring the role of party politics as source of foreign policy change in liberal democracies. The book shifts the focus from individual political parties to party systems as the context in which parties' ideologies receive precise content and their preferences are formed. The central claim is that foreign policy change arises from within transformed discursive contexts of party competition, when a new language of politics that constitutes anew parties' self-understanding of what they stand for and compete over emerges in a party system. By comparing cases of contested foreign policy change, the book shows how such transformations in party competition determine whether and when international pressures on a state will translate into decisions to institute foreign policy change and what degree of change will be ultimately implemented. With a novel framework which bridges concepts of international relations and comparative politics, the book will be of interest to researchers and students in the areas of international relations theory, foreign policy analysis and comparative politics, and generally to anyone wanting to understand how and when parties, elections and voters contribute to international change.

Liberal democracy is in trouble. This volume considers the crosscutting causes and manifestations of the current crisis facing the liberal order. Over the last decade, liberal democracy has come under mounting pressure in many unanticipated ways. In response to seemingly endless crisis conditions, governments have turned with alarming frequency to extraordinary emergency powers derogating the rule of law and democratic processes. The shifting interconnections between new technologies and public power have raised questions about threats posed to democratic values and norms. Finally, the liberal order has been challenged by authoritarian and populist forces promoting anti- pluralist agendas. Adopting a synoptic perspective that puts liberal disorder at the center of its investigation, this book uses multiple sources to build a common historical and conceptual framework for understanding major contemporary political currents. The contributions weave together historical studies and conceptual analyses of states of exception, emergency powers, and their links with technological innovations, as well as the tension-ridden relationship between populism and democracy and its theoretical, ideological, and practical implications. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of a number of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences: history, political science, philosophy, constitutional and international law, sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, and economics.

The concept of economic democracy is traditionally identified with workplace democracy and participation at the enterprise level. This is a very important dimension, but the concept of new economic democracy also recognizes that, in a world of increasing complexity, the principles of democratic deliberation and social participation have to be applied to other areas as well. This book takes a fresh look at economic democracy from various perspectives. It provides rich historical narratives of episodes of social participation in the economy and society, more broadly, from the 19th to the 21st century. It dissects the various analytical underpinnings informing the theory of economic democracy connecting it with collective choice, social contract theory, Marxian analysis and libertarian critiques. The book identifies new areas of application of the principles of democratic deliberation and oversight such as the adoption of austerity policies, the signing of free trade agreements, the conduct of central bank policies, international investment treaties and natural resource management. It takes a guided tour through the evolution of economic, social and cultural rights and their impact on the design and implementation of social policy and the welfare/ developmental state. The book expands the notion of economic democracy from factory level to the macro-economy and then to global economic governance. It also discusses the critical links between political democracy and economic democracy and the need for a more democratic and socially equitable economy in the 21st century. This volume will find an audience among economists, political scientists, social activists, philosophers and sociologists.

The character of social democracy in the constituent countries of the European Union is more significant and much better understood than the available literature would appear to suggest. This thought-provoking and edifying handbook aims to redress this disparity by bringing together a range of top political scientists from across Europe to provide a definitive collection on social democracy in the EU, one that offers students and scholars both an informative and easy-to-use guide to social democracy as a system of governance in Europe.
Through establishing a common framework for analysis and by exploring all 27 countries in the European Union according to this structure, The Palgrave Handbook of Social Democracy in Europe constitutes a compendium that is truly comparative in nature. This comparative and comprehensive framework coupled with the unprecedented overview of European social democracy over the past decade makes this handbook the go-to guide for those interested in all aspects of social democracy in the European Union.

Confidence in the future of democracy has been shaken by the authoritarian resurgence of the past decade, and some now argue that it is not realistic for the US to continue to champion democracy abroad. Does Democracy Matter? provides the conclusions of eleven scholars from widely different backgrounds who ask whether and, if so, how the US should support democracy beyond its own borders. The authors agree that American strategic interests are served in the long run by the spread of democracy abroad, but they differ as to how this support meshes with other national security goals. The concluding chapter outlines a system of triage for realistically assessing where and how such assistance can be effective in promoting US security interests. Contributions by Adrian A. Basora, Sarah Bush, Larry Diamond, Carl Gershman, Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Melinda Haring, Michal Koran, Richard Kraemer, Agnieszka Marczyk, Tsveta Petrova, and Kenneth Yalowitz.

This book compares the current status of democracy in selected Eastern European countries. The focus is on young people's attitudes towards and experiences of democracy, including active political engagement. In many of these countries, democracy has been hard-won and may well need to be defended again in the future. The contributors collectively reflect on young adults exercising their civic rights and how they can influence the political system at both formal and informal levels. The chapters present different issues that arise in unique contexts but overall reflect the changing status of democracy and its effects on young people's citizenship activity and education. The volume compares perspectives of three groups of Eastern European countries with different traditions and past histories of democracy and citizenship: Central European countries (Poland, Czech, Hungary); Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia); and post-soviet republics (Ukraine, Moldova). These countries differ in the status given to democracy, citizenship action traditions and education. At the same time, many countries have experienced recent turbulence related to democracy and different kinds of actions by young people. Comparing them leads to conclusions about omissions made in current citizenship education provision and what needs to be done for a better understanding of the needs of citizenship education in these difficult times. This volume will be of interest to students and scholars in citizenship and civic education, sociology, political science and Eastern European Studies.

Analyses several cultures and historical periods, combining them in an innovative way. Offers a fresh perspective to the study of nationalism.

This book offers a comparative study of the management of legal pluralism. The authors describe and analyse the way state and non-state legal systems acknowledge legal pluralism - defined as the coexistence of a state and non-state legal systems in the same space in respect of the same subject matter for the same population - and determine its consequences for their own purposes. The book sheds light on the management processes deployed by legal systems in Africa, Canada, Central Europe and the South Pacific, the multitudinous factors circumscribing the action of systems and individuals with respect to legal pluralism, and the effects of management strategies and processes on systems as well as on individuals. The book offers fresh practical and analytical insight on applied legal pluralism, a fast-growing field of scholarship and professional practice. Drawing from a wealth of original empirical data collected in several countries by a multilingual and multidisciplinary team, it provides a thorough account of the intricate patterns of state and non-state practices with respect to legal pluralism. As the book's non-prescriptive approach helps to uncover and evaluate several biases or assumptions on the part of policy makers, scholars and development agencies regarding the nature and the consequences of legal pluralism, it will appeal to a wide range of scholars and practitioners in law, development studies, political science and social sciences.

This book rethinks the idea of privacy. It argues that a satisfactory account of privacy should not limit itself to identifying why privacy might be valuable. It also needs to attend to the further question of how it can be secured in those circumstances in which it proves to be valuable. Drawing on republican ideas about the relationship between freedom and self-government, the book asserts that privacy is valuable, because it enables us to lead non-dominated lives. It prevents others from acquiring power to interfere in our choices - to remove options that would otherwise be available to us, and to manipulate our decision-making. It further examines the means through which citizens might exercise effective control over decisions and actions that affect their privacy and proposes a democratic theory of privacy. With the emergence of the 'surveillance state,' this volume will be indispensable for scholars, students, and researchers in political theory, political philosophy, law, and human and civil rights. It will be of particular interest to policymakers, lawyers, and human rights activists.

This book rethinks the idea of privacy. It argues that a satisfactory account of privacy should not limit itself to identifying why privacy might be valuable. It also needs to attend to the further question of how it can be secured in those circumstances in which it proves to be valuable. Drawing on republican ideas about the relationship between freedom and self-government, the book asserts that privacy is valuable, because it enables us to lead non-dominated lives. It prevents others from acquiring power to interfere in our choices - to remove options that would otherwise be available to us, and to manipulate our decision-making. It further examines the means through which citizens might exercise effective control over decisions and actions that affect their privacy and proposes a democratic theory of privacy. With the emergence of the 'surveillance state,' this volume will be indispensable for scholars, students, and researchers in political theory, political philosophy, law, and human and civil rights. It will be of particular interest to policymakers, lawyers, and human rights activists.

At the foundations of our modern conception of open government are a handful of disgruntled citizens in the Progressive Era who demanded accountability from their local officials, were rebuffed, and then brought their cases to court. Drawing on newspaper accounts, angry letters to editors, local histories, and court records, David Ress uncovers a number of miniature yet critical moments in the history of government accountability, tracing its decline as the gap between citizens and officials widened with the idea of the community as corporation and citizens as consumers. Together, these moments tell the story of how a nation thought about democracy and the place of the individual in an increasingly complex society, with important lessons for policy makers, journalists, and activists today.