From small-scale experiments, deliberative mini-publics have recently taken a constitutional turn in Europe. Iceland and Ireland have turned to deliberative democracy to reform their constitutions. Estonia, Luxembourg and Romania have also experienced constitutional process in a deliberative mode. In Belgium the G1000, a citizen-led initiative of deliberative democracy, has fostered a wider societal debate about the role and place of citizens in the country's democracy. At the same time, European institutions have introduced different forms of deliberative democracy as a way to connect citizens back in. These empirical cases are emblematic of a possibly constitutional turn in deliberative democracy in Europe. The purpose of this book is to critically assess these developments, bringing together academics involved in the designing of these new forms of constitutional deliberative democracy with the theorists who propagated the ideas and evaluated democratic standards.

This is the first full-length presentation of a republican alternative to the liberal and communitarian theories that have dominated political philosophy in recent years. The latest addition to the acclaimed Oxford Political Theory series, Pettit's eloquent and compelling account opens with an examination of the traditional republican conception of freedom as non-domination, contrasting this with established negative and positive views of liberty.
The first part of the book traces the rise and decline of this conception, displays its many attractions, and makes a case for why it should still be regarded as a central political ideal. The second part of the book looks at what the implementation of the ideal would require with regard to substantive policy-making, constitutional and democratic design, regulatory control and the relation between state and civil society. Prominent in this account is a novel concept of democracy, under which government is exposed to systematic contestation, and a vision of state-societal relations founded upon civility and trust.
Pettit's powerful and insightful new work offers not only a unified, theoretical overview of the many strands of republican ideas, but also a new and sophisticated perspective on studies in related fields including the history of ideas, jurisprudence, and criminology.

Native scholars offer clearly written coverage of the relationship between post-Soviet and Asian political parties and democracy in their nations. Political Parties and Democracy: Volume III: Post-Soviet and Asian Political Parties is the third volume in this five-volume set. It offers clearly written, up-to-date coverage of post-Soviet and Asian political parties from the unique perspective of distinguished indigenous scholars who have lived the truths they tell and, thus, write with unique breadth, depth, and scope. Presented in two parts, this volume overviews post-Soviet parties, then discusses the realities on the ground in Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine. Likewise, the book offers an introduction to Asian political parties, followed by chapters on China, India, Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea. Throughout, contributors explore the relationship between political parties and democracy (or democratization) in their respective nations, providing necessary historical, socioeconomic, and institutional context, and clarifying the balance of power among parties—and between them and competing agencies of power—today.

Today Iran is once again in the headlines. Reputed to be developing nuclear weapons, the future of Iraq's next-door neighbor is a matter of grave concern both for the stability of the region and for the safety of the global community. President George W. Bush labeled it part of the "Axis of Evil," and rails against the country's authoritarian leadership. Yet as Bush trumpets the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East, few note that Iran has one of the longest-running experiences with democracy in the region.
In this book, Ali Gheissari and Vali Nasr look at the political history of Iran in the modern era, and offer an in-depth analysis of the prospects for democracy to flourish there. After having produced the only successful Islamist challenge to the state, a revolution, and an Islamic Republic, Iran is now poised to produce a genuine and indigenous democratic movement in the Muslim world. Democracy in Iran is neither a sudden development nor a western import, Gheissari and Nasr argue. The concept of democracy in Iran today may appear to be a reaction to authoritarianism, but it is an old idea with a complex history, one that is tightly interwoven with the main forces that have shaped Iranian society and politics, institutions, identities, and interests. Indeed, the demand for democracy first surfaced in Iran a century ago at the end of the Qajar period, and helped produce Iran's surprisingly liberal first constitution in 1906. Gheissari and Nasr seek to understand why democracy failed to grow roots and lost ground to an autocratic Iranian state. Why was democracy absent from the ideological debates of the 1960s and 1970s? Most important, why has it now become a powerfulsocial, political, and intellectual force? How have modernization, social change, economic growth, and the experience of the revolution converged to make this possible?
Gheissari and Nasr trace the fortunes of the democratic ideal from the inchoate demands for rule of law and constitutionalism of a century ago to today's calls for individual rights and civil liberties. In the process they provide not just a fresh look at Iran's politics but also a new understanding of the way in which democracy can develop in a Muslim country.

Throughout World War II, Detroit's automobile manufacturers accounted for one-fifth of the dollar value of the nation's total war production, and this amazing output from ""the arsenal of democracy"" directly contributed to the allied victory. In fact, automobile makers achieved such production miracles that many of their methods were adopted by other defence industries, particularly the aircraft industry. In Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II, award-winning historian Charles K. Hyde details the industry's transition to a wartime production powerhouse and some of its notable achievements along the way. Hyde examines several innovative cooperative relationships that developed between the executive branch of the federal government, U.S. military services, automobile industry leaders, auto industry suppliers, and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union, which set up the industry to achieve production miracles. He goes on to examine the struggles and achievements of individual automakers during the war years in producing items like aircraft engines, aircraft components, and complete aircraft; tanks and other armoured vehicles; jeeps, trucks, and amphibians; guns, shells, and bullets of all types; and a wide range of other weapons and war goods ranging from search lights to submarine nets and gyroscopes. Hyde also considers the important role played by previously underused workers-namely African Americans and women-in the war effort and their experiences on the line. Arsenal of Democracy includes an analysis of wartime production nationally, on the automotive industry level, by individual automakers, and at the single plant level. For this thorough history, Hyde has consulted previously overlooked records collected by the Automobile Manufacturers Association that are now housed in the National Automotive History Collection of the Detroit Public Library. Automotive historians, World War II scholars, and American history buffs will welcome the compelling look at wartime industry in Arsenal of Democracy.

European integration confronts us with the limits of current constitutional and democratic language. The way out of this impasse will only appear through a refinement of what we consider the European Union to be as a political entity and of our concepts of democracy. In this challenging and thoughtful new book Professor Verhoeven offers a crystal-clear synthesis and analysis of the current state of the European Union as a constitutional project. While she recognizes the continuity of this project with social contract theory and the federal ideal - and uncovers the specific aspects of democracy and constitutionalism the EU has already embraced - she shows how the terms and presuppositions of those persistent conceptual frameworks must be fundamentally revised. At the root of these necessary revisions lies the irreversible onset of multiculturalism and globalisation, twin challenges that force us to reconsider issues of sovereignty and self-governance. Professor Verhoeven does not neglect the much-debated issues at the centre of her topic. Her analysis extends to such critiques as the view of the European constitution as a Court-led process of vertical integration, the meaning of EU citizenship, variability in EU decision-making procedures, the concept of institutional balance, territorial differences in the application of EU law, the whole area of delegated rule-making and the relationship between the European and national legal orders. As a thorough investigation of how democracy and constitutionalism can be reconceptualised in order to meet the challenge of European integration, The European Union in Search of a Democratic and Constitutional Theory will greatly reward the attention oflawyers, policymakers, and scholars in the field.

This review examines the literature on procedural justice and the fair trial over the past two decades in the People's Republic of China. Part 1 gives a wide-angle view of the key political events and developments that have shaped the experience of procedural justice and the fair trial in contemporary China. It provides a storyline that explains the political environment in which these concepts have developed over time. Part 2 examines how scholars understand the legal structures of the criminal process in relation to China's political culture. Part 3 presents scholarly views on three enduring problems relating to the fair trial: a presumption of innocence, interrogational torture, and the role of lawyers in the criminal trial process. Procedural justice is a particularly pertinent issue today in China, because Xi Jinping's yifa zhiguo (governing the nation in accordance with the law) governance platform seeks to embed a greater appreciation for procedural justice in criminal justice decision-making, to correct a politico-legal tradition overwhelmingly focused on substantive justice. Overall, the literature reviewed in this article points to the serious limitations in overcoming the politico-legal barriers to justice reforms that remain intact in the system, despite nearly four decades of constant reform.

This book presents a powerful new argument for how and why the Greek city-states, including their distinctive society and culture, came to be - and why they had the highly unusual and influential form they took. After reviewing early city-state formation, and the economic underpinnings of city-state society, three key chapters examine the way the Greeks developed their unique society. The spear, scroll and pebble encapsulate the book's core ideas. The Spear: city-state Greeks developed a citizen-militia military system that gave relatively equal importance to each citizen-warrior, thereby emboldening the citizen-warriors to demand political rights. The Pebble: the resultant growth of collective political systems of oligarchy and democracy led to thousands of citizens forming the sovereign element of the state; they made political decisions through communal debate and voting. The Scroll: in order for such systems to function, a shared information base had to be created, and this was done by setting up public notices of laws, proposed policies, public meeting agendas, and a host of other information. To access this information, these military and political citizens had to be able to read. Billows examines the spread of schools and literacy throughout the Greek world, showing that the male city-state Greeks formed the world's first-known mass literate society. He concludes by showing that it was the mass-literate nature of the Greek city-state society that explains the remarkable and influential culture the classical Greeks produced.

Direct democracy makes you richer. Research shows that the average citizen earns nearly a $1000 for every referendum held, and that a strong correlation exists between the frequency of referendums and a GDP per capita. Referendums can also improve the quality of democracy. So why don't we see more? Drawing on a three decades of research, Qvortrup presents a definitive statement on the benefits and history referendums, including examples of how this instrument of democracy has been both utilised and abused. The book outlines the history of referendums, explains when politicians have submitted issues to the voters, why these votes have been won or lost - and ultimately why it matters. Uniquely, the book also examines the role of social media in referendum campaigns and make suggestions for improving the process of direct democracy Written in a lucid style by one of the world's leading experts on referendums, Democracy on demand is a timely reminder of the importance of democracy in our politics, offering new insights into how direct democracy can both improve our lives and at the same time strengthen our societies. -- .

This important new text brings together an outstanding group of international scholars to look at the current state of electoral politics around the world. Elements of the modern (or American) model of election campaigning have been adopted in many countries in recent years--including the use of mass media, the personalization of campaigns, use of public opinion polls, and a general professionalization of campaigns--and conditions would seem to favor the spread of that model. Contributors to this volume, from established democracies, new and restored democracies, and democracies facing destabilizing pressure, examine the extent to which electoral politics in their countries have been affected by the emergence of high-tech professional campaigns. Countries examined provide a cross-section of today's democracies, including the United States, Britain, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Poland, Spain, Israel, Italy, Argentina, and Venezuela. The work will be of interest to scholars and students alike in political communication, political parties and elections, and comparative politics.

The book theoretically examines the recent and topical debates over democracy and social rights, arguing that there are four fundamental rights that should be constitutionalized; minimum income; housing; healthcare; and education. The theoretical discussion is explored within an analysis of important legal cases.

This collection argues that although constitutionalism has traditionally been the primary mechanism for facilitating the mutual accommodation of sub-state and state national societies in plurinational states.

In this stimulating and carefully researched study, Conteh-Morgan offers a multidimensional look at the political economy of African states. While many books focus on explanations of the processes and outcomes of political transitions, this work demonstrates a deeper understanding of democratization by combining macro and micro issues and actors, and historical and contemporary dynamics, into a theoretical framework that underscores anomalies, dilemmas, and paradoxes in the political transformation of Africa. Offering one of the first detailed and balanced evaluations of democratization, Conteh-Morgan breaks new ground by providing thought provoking insights into political transitions in developing countries. The work will be of interest to scholars in comparative politics, development studies, and African studies.

This book presents a set of original and innovative contributions on state, institutions and democracy in the field of political economy. Modern political economy has implied the interaction between politics and economics to understand political, electoral and public issues in different nations, and in this volume a group of leading political economists and political scientists from Europe, America and Asia provides theoretical advances, modelling and case studies on main topics in political economy. The analysis of the role and performance of politics and democracy in diverse nations implies the study of the organization of the state, lobbying, political participation, public policies, electoral politics, public administration and the provision of public services. This book provides advances in the research frontier of these topics and combines historical evidence, institutional analysis, mathematical models and empirical analysis in an interdisciplinary approach. Political and social scientists, economists and those interested in the performance of states, democracy and elections can find new research results in this volume.

Since 1974, when the current wave of democratisation began, the movement towards democracy in Asia has remained limited. Many countries in Asia, in fact, are not making a decisive move towards democracy, and find themselves struggling with the challenges of democratic consolidation and governance. Focusing on Indonesia, Thailand and Korea, this book analyses why democratisation is so difficult in Asia. The book investigates the dynamics by which citizens embrace democratic rule and reject authoritarianism, and also compares these dynamics with those of consolidating democracies around the world. The book looks at the forces that affect the emergence and stability of democracy, such as elite interactions, economic development and popular attitudes as beliefs and perceptions about the legitimacy of political systems have long been recognised as some of the most critical influences on regime change. The book also discusses what it is about the nature of public opinion and the processes of day-to-day democratic participation that have made these countries vulnerable to repeated crises of legitimacy. Using Indonesia, Korea, and Thailand as case studies, this book highlights the uniqueness of the Asia's path to democracy, and shows both the challenges and opportunities in getting there. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian Politics, Comparative Politics and International Studies.

This is a revised and updated edition of Snow's classic study of Argentine politics. The work is a description and analysis of the role played by Argentina's major political actors: the political parties, the armed forces, labor unions, the Catholic Church, and students. Their traditional roles are examined, but emphasis is placed on the part they have played since publication of the last edition of the work in 1979, especially the dramatic transition to democracy beginning in 1983. Snow and his new co-author, Manzetti, are slightly more optimistic than most analysts, and believe that Argentina's major political actors may have finally decided that authoritarian regimes are not to their--nor Argentina's--advantage. Written primarily as a supplementary text for courses in Latin American politics, this work will be of interest to scholars and students of contemporary Latin America.

This book provides a comprehensive account of national parliaments' adaptation to European integration. Advancing an explanation based on political parties' constitutional preferences, the volume investigates the nature and variation of parliamentary rights in European Union affairs across countries and levels of governance. In some member states, parliaments have traditionally been strong and parties hold intergovernmental visions of European integration. In these countries, strong parliamentary rights emerge in the context of parties' efforts to realise their preferred constitutional design for the European polity. Parliamentary rights remain weakly developed where federally-oriented parties prevail, and where parliaments have long been marginal arenas in domestic politics. Moreover, divergent constitutional preferences underlie inter-parliamentary disagreement on national parliaments' collective rights at the European level. Constitutional preferences are key to understanding why a 'Senate' of national parliaments never enjoyed support and why the alternatives subsequently put into place have stayed clear of committing national parliaments to any common policies. This volume calls into question existing explanations that focus on strategic partisan incentives arising from minority and coalition government. It, furthermore rejects the exclusive attribution of parliamentary 'deficits' to the structural constraints created by European integration and, instead, restores a sense of accountability for parliamentary rights to political parties and their ideas for the European Union's constitutional design.

This theoretical and empirical study is the first to examine the connection between the image and substance of Spain's democracy and the country's foreign policy in Central America. Rosenberg establishes a linkage between Spain's political model of democratic transition and Spanish foreign policy on the isthmus, while questioning the validity of the model as a foreign policy instrument. This well-documented case study is intended for political scientists and historians, students, scholars, and policymakers dealing with the complex and difficult relationships between Spain, Europe, and Central America and with major questions about the future of democracy. The notion of democracy is explored as a historical and contemporary feature of Central American politics since the nineteenth century. Spain's own democratic successes and failures are measured against the abstraction of the political model that the country uses as a foreign policy instrument. The institutional and operational aspects of Spanish foreign policy in Central America are considered against the backdrop of severe strategic, economic, and social crises there. The rhetoric and actions of the Spanish Socialist government are evaluated and considered in relation to foreign policy and democratic development in Central America.

Recent decades have seen growing concern regarding problems of electoral integrity. The most overt malpractices used by rulers include imprisoning dissidents, harassing adversaries, coercing voters, vote-rigging counts, and even blatant disregard for the popular vote. Elsewhere minor irregularities are common, exemplified by inaccurate voter registers, maladministration of polling facilities, lack of security in absentee ballots, pro-government media bias, ballot miscounts, and gerrymandering. Serious violations of human rights that undermine electoral credibility are widely condemned by domestic observers and the international community. Recent protests about integrity have mobilized in countries as diverse as Russia, Mexico, and Egypt. However, long-standing democracies are far from immune to these ills; past problems include the notorious hanging chads in Florida in 2000 and more recent accusations of voter fraud and voter suppression during the Obama-Romney contest. When problems come to light, however, is anyone held to account and are effective remedies implemented? In response to these developments, there have been growing attempts to analyze flaws in electoral integrity and transparency using systematic data from cross-national time-series, forensic analysis, field experiments, case studies, and new instruments monitoring mass and elite perceptions of malpractices. This volume collects essays from international experts who evaluate the robustness, conceptual validity, and reliability of the growing body of evidence. The essays compare alternative approaches and apply these methods to evaluate the quality of elections in several areas, including the United States, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. Election Watchdogs:Transparency, Accountability and Integrity presents new insights into the importance of diverse actors who promote electoral transparency, accountability, and ultimately the integrity of electoral governance.

The notion of society and politics as drama has drawn much attention in recent years. Yet despite the heritage begun by Aristophanes, few students of politics and the social order have taken comedy and comic inquiry seriously. This book revives the Aristophanic notion of democracy as comedy. Herein the reader will find why and how different aspects of American democracy--public opinion, interest groups, the presidency, and so on--are comic. It is the author's contention that the comic perspective offers insight and understanding on the actual operation of democracy. And they invite all those who wish to understand why American democracy is so comic to join them in their inquiry.

Co-published by Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, University of California, Berkeley & National Taiwan University Press. Taiwan Since Martial Law epitomizes the reinvigoration of cultural pluralism, which characterizes the dynamic processes of democratized Taiwan. With the lifting of martial law in 1987, people have awakened to their respective cultural identities and contributed to a sociopolitical renaissance strengthening the island's sense of national destiny and commitment to self-determination. Nineteen chapters highlight Taiwan's social and cultural diversity and the complexities of its politics and economy. The preface by Bo Tedards depicts the avenues of Taiwan's democratization with his 'trajectories' of political alternatives. The opening chapter by the editor David Blundell traces his personal experiences during the martial law transition and his reflections on an emerging Taiwan "sense of place." Pro-democracy activists organized to demand free elections, human rights, respect for local heritages, and environmental sustainability.