This book challenges the role of scientists in policy making and the idea of deliberative democracy. The author argues that awareness must increase among both politicians and the citizens who elect them. We must revitalise the decision-making processes in representative democracy. The book proposes new institutional structures.

This work examines the ways in which the French left adapted, through a series of transformations, to the exigencies of presidentialism and the myths which underpin it. The role played by language in the political practice of representative democracy is emphasised. The study looks at the relationship in French political culture between language and political practice, aiming to throw new light on the role of myth in moden politics and to open up new ground in political theory concerning party politics and leadership theory. John Gaffney's previous publications include research on the inner city riots, political leadership in Britain, French political culture and political discourse.

Germany's unification initially raised fears about an all-powerful and undemocratic Germany at the heart of Europe. Based on hundreds of in-depth interviews, the book examines the democratic views of parliamentarians in Germany and compares them to the views of ordinary citizens. The book argues that although the majority of Germans support democratic values, especially in western Germany, there is significant evidence for lingering authoritarianism in the East. More than just an analysis of German political culture, the book offers compelling conclusions about the future of democracy in all post-socialist states.

This book is about Bangladesh's first female prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, who served three terms in office and achieved enormous popularity. Her charisma inexorably emanates from her sense of dignity, integrity, uncompromising principles, and commitment to freedom, independence, and sovereignty of Bangladesh--a new and small country bordering the larger India, which is always up to its hegemonic designs. Begum Zia (and her husband, President Ziaur Rahman) were able to foreign conspiracies at bay. Begum Zia's incredible success in government and overwhelming struggle for democracy, against the dictatorship of Ershad in the 1980s and the fascism of Hasina since 2009, have made her into a national political leader of true greatness. Khaleda Zia received little respite from her enemies while in office but was able to make great accomplishments for the country. Uncomfortable with her prominence and outspokenness, Hasina orchestrated, in collaboration with partisan prosecutors and judges, to send the aging and ailing former Prime Minister to jail terms in a solitary cell. Nevertheless, she remained greatly revered by dint of her devotion and dedication to her people and the nation and to her insurmountable sufferings at the hands of her enemies.

In spite of the fact that Conservative, Christian democratic and Liberal parties continue to play a crucial role in the democratic politics and governance of every Western European country, they are rarely paid the attention they deserve. This cutting-edge comparative collection, combining qualitative case studies with large-N quantitative analysis, reveals a mainstream right squeezed by the need to adapt to both 'the silent revolution' that has seen the spread of postmaterialist, liberal and cosmopolitan values and the backlash against those values - the 'silent counter-revolution' that has brought with it the rise of a myriad far right parties offering populist and nativist answers to many of the continent's thorniest political problems. What explains why some mainstream right parties seem to be coping with that challenge better than others? And does the temptation to ride the populist wave rather than resist it ultimately pose a danger to liberal democracy?

This second, revised edition presents a broader discussion of Schumpeter's and other leadership models of democracy and also includes a new chapter on presidential leadership and foreign policy. The first part of the book is centred around Schumpeter's theories and his emphasis upon the role of leadership in democracy. Such leadership normally involves only an adaptive, incremental response to change but it can also take the form of an adaptive innovation, a creative response, or a pioneering leader's entrepreneurial-style initiative and innovation. The second part of the book uses the US and British examples of democracy to assess how much entrepreneurial-style, pioneering leadership occurred during the 1960s-90s in democracies' electoral, governmental, legislative, administrative, and policy-advocacy sectors. The second edition's conclusion offers a new appraisal of the prospects for this pioneering leadership, and the merely adaptive form of innovative leadership, in the decades and crises that lie ahead.

Democracy has many attractive features. Among them is its tendency to track the truth, at least under certain idealized assumptions. That basic result has been known since 1785, when Condorcet published his famous jury theorem. But that theorem has typically been dismissed as little more than a mathematical curiosity, with assumptions too restrictive for it to apply to the real world. In An Epistemic Theory of Democracy, Goodin and Spiekermann propose different ways of interpreting voter independence and competence to make jury theorems more generally applicable. They go on to assess a wide range of familiar political practices and alternative institutional arrangements, to determine what constellation of them might most fully exploit the truth-tracking potential of majoritarian democracy. The book closes with a discussion of how epistemic democracy might be undermined, using as case studies the Trump and Brexit campaigns.

This study departs from traditional interpretations of cohabitation in French politics, which suggest French institutions are capable of coping when the President and Prime Minister originate from different political parties. Instead, it offers the opposite view that cohabitation leads to partisan conflict and inertia in the policy-making process.

This book examines the reasons why young people vote. Viewing political behavior through a psychological lens, this book uses psychological developmental models to test the theory of political identity development and explain how and why young people vote. Rather than studying why young people do not vote, as the majority of the literature does, the book discusses the mechanisms and purpose behind youth voting. Themes of the text include identifying how political identities develop in young people, how leaders can contribute to identity development, and how we can explain differences between young Independents who will vote and those who will not. The first chapter engages the reader with the background for each theoretical element of the book and develops the argument for the book as a whole. Three major substantive chapters discuss and test the theories of political identity development, political leadership as identity role models, and how we misunderstand political independence by not taking into account why young people might choose to identify as an Independent. The final chapter discusses implications for upcoming elections and how this research might better inform people and institutions interested in increasing youth turnout to reformulate their approach. An overarching discussion of identity and the political components of identity development, this book will be of interest to political scientists studying public opinion and voting behavior, campaigns and elections, and political psychology, as well as practitioners such as civic engagement and youth voting groups who wish to engage young people in the political process.

American democracy owes its origins to the colonial settlement of North America by Europeans. Since the birth of the republic, observers such as Alexis de Tocqueville and J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur have emphasized how American democratic identity arose out of the distinct pattern by which English settlers colonized the New World. Empire of the People explores a new way of understanding this process-and in doing so, offers a fundamental reinterpretation of modern democratic thought in the Americas. In Empire of the People, Adam Dahl examines the ideological development of American democratic thought in the context of settler colonialism, a distinct form of colonialism aimed at the appropriation of Native land rather than the exploitation of Native labor. By placing the development of American political thought and culture in the context of nineteenth-century settler expansion, his work reveals how practices and ideologies of Indigenous dispossession have laid the cultural and social foundations of American democracy, and in doing so profoundly shaped key concepts in modern democratic theory such as consent, social equality, popular sovereignty, and federalism. To uphold its legitimacy, Dahl also argues, settler political thought must disavow the origins of democracy in colonial dispossession-and in turn erase the political and historical presence of native peoples. Empire of the People traces this thread through the conceptual and theoretical architecture of American democratic politics-in the works of thinkers such as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Alexis de Tocqueville, John O'Sullivan, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and William Apess. In its focus on the disavowal of Native dispossession in democratic thought, the book provides a new perspective on the problematic relationship between race and democracy-and a different and more nuanced interpretation of the role of settler colonialism in the foundations of democratic culture and society.

Populism is a concept that is currently in vogue among political commentators and, more often than not, used pejoratively. The phenomenon of populism is typically seen as something adverse and, in the European context routinely related to xenophobic politics. What populism exactly is and who its main representatives are, however, often remains unclear. This text has two main aims: to identify populist parties in 21st century Europe and to explain their electoral performance. It argues that populist parties should not be dismissed as dangerous pariahs out of hand but rather that their rise tells us something about the state of representative democracy. The study has a broad scope, including populist parties of various ideological kinds - thus moving beyond examples of the 'right' - and covering long-established Western European countries as well as post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It presents the results of an innovative mixed-methods research project, combining a fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of populist parties in 31 European countries with three in-depth case studies of the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom.

Referendums and Democratic Government is the most systematic analysis of the referendum so far. The referendum phenomenon is approached from different perspectives: social choice theory, theories of democracy, a comparative study on 22 democracies, and in-depth case studies of Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. The referendum is not a unitary phenomenon but it serves various functions and different normative goals in the political systems studied. This variation may largely be explained by the differences in the initiating and agenda-setting procedures.

This book examines the status of village democracy, studies the achievements and the problems, explains its dynamics, and investigates the prospects of China's democratization. It challenges the skeptics with a nuanced assessment of village democracy in its variety and diversity. It develops an understanding of how three key factors - township, economy and kinship-- shape village democracy and account for the variations of rural democracy. The extension of village to township elections has been examined and an idea of mixed regime being formulated with an examination of its key features and implications for our understanding of political development in China.

Party and Democracy questions why political parties today are held in such low estimation in advanced democracies. The first part of the volume reviews theoretical motivations behind the growing disdain for the political party. In surveying the parties' lengthy attempt to gain legitimacy, particular attention is devoted to the cultural and political conditions which led to their emergence on the ground' and then to their political and theoretical acceptance as the sole master in the chain of delegation. The second part traces the evolution of the party's organization and public confidence against the backdrop of the transition from industrial to post-industrial societies. The book suggests that, in the post-war period, parties shifted from a golden age of organizational development and positive reception by public opinion towards a more difficult relationship with society as it moved into post industrialism. Parties were unable to master societal change and thus moved towards the state to recover resources they were no longer able to extract from their constituencies. Parties have become richer and more powerful thanks to their interpenetration into the state, but they have paid' for their pervasive presence in society and the state with a declining legitimacy. Even if some changes have been introduced recently in party organizations to counteract their decline, they seem to have become ineffective; even worse, they have dampened democratic standing inside and outside parties, favouring plebiscitary tendencies. The party today is caught in a dramatic contradiction. It has become a sort of Leviathan with clay feet: very powerful thanks to the resources it gets from the state and to its control of the societal and state spheres, but very weak in terms of legitimacy and confidence in the eyes of the mass public. However, it is argued that there is still no alternative to the party. Democracy is still inextricably linked to the party system.

What is the role and influence of European integration in affecting and confirming post-Communist democratization in applicant states of Central & Eastern Europe? Drawing on theories of regime change and of European integration, Geoffrey Pridham focuses on the development and application of the EU's strategy of democratic conditionality and the patterns and dynamics of domestic politics in these new democracies and how these affect motivation towards accession. Making intensive use of elite interviews, the study proceeds by examining three levels of these countries: governance, intermediary actors and the socio-economic arena.

Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond features a collection of original essays that represent the first extended treatment of political philosopher John Rawls' idea of a property-owning democracy. * Offers new and essential insights into Rawls's idea of "property-owning democracy" * Addresses the proposed political and economic institutions and policies which Rawls's theory would require * Considers radical alternatives to existing forms of capitalism * Provides a major contribution to debates among progressive policymakers and activists about the programmatic direction progressive politics should take in the near future

"Values and Weapons" looks at the determinants of legitimacy for using military force in the US and Europe. The non-intervention norm is weakened by the advent of terror groups in failed states as well as by so-called humanitarian intervention. The development of a norm that calls for a 'duty to protect' has paved the way for intervention also into so-called 'failed' states. Sovereignty has been redefined to be conditional on democratic government, and this makes it much easier to intervene into non-democratic states.

Trumplandia: Populist Nationalism in America is a collection of essays about the transformation of America, which has turned from a united nation to one more divided than ever under the presidency of Donald Trump. Some pundits predict that if things don't change another civil war could occur. Have we reached a point of no return? Author and attorney Tiberiu Dianu writes in the hope that America is mature enough to learn from its mistakes and avoid further scars along its evolving history.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of populism on the European democratic polity. In the last two decades, European democracies have come under strain amid growing populism. By asserting the superiority of the majority over the law, of direct democracy over representation, and claiming the necessity to defend national sovereignty against foreign interferences, the populist conception of democracy is in stark contrast with the longstanding Western notion of liberal democracy. This volume investigates populist attempts to radically change what Bobbio called the "rules of the game" of democracy from an eminently legal perspective. Weaving together normative and empirical analysis, the contributions focus on the institutions that have suffered the most from the rise of populism as well as those that have better resisted the populist tide. Special attention will be paid to the Venice Commission's opinions and documents, as they represent the best European standards to evaluate the extent to which populism deviates from constitutional democracy requirements. The book also considers the responses of European States to the explosion of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed been an accelerator of known and studied trends in most constitutional systems, such as the concentration of powers in the executive hands and the consequential loss of parliament's centrality. Various forms of populism across Europe have thus found an ideal breeding ground to implement their agenda of granting the executive broad regulatory and decision-making powers while loosening parliamentary and judicial checks. Against this backdrop, the book analyses how European democracies should adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic, as this reflection can help respond to populist threats and propose a way forward for liberal democracy.

This book investigates whether the theory of "deliberative democracy"--developed in the West to focus democratic theory on the legitimation that deliberation can afford--has any application to Chinese processes of democratization. It discovers pockets of theory especially useful to guide Chinese practices and pockets of Chinese practice that can, in turn, educate the West on possibilities for innovative uses of deliberative democratic theory.

When he passed away in July 1999, Federica Mancini had served for seventeen years at the Court of Justice of the European Communities, first as an Advocate General and then as a Judge. As such, he participated in some of the most important judicial developments in European Community law to date and witnessed the transformation of the Community into a monetary and, to a certain extent, political union. Throughout this time, he also contributed widely to academic debates and literature on the role of the Court in the process of European integration, the changing nature of the European Union and on specific areas of law such as the protection of fundamental rights and labor law. This collection of essays brings together his most important writings in English, which concentrate largely on the issues of democracy, constitutionalism and individual rights in the European Union. The book presents the unique perspective of someone who witnessed the birth of European integration, contributed to

Hancock and Logue, along with their contributors, seek to explicate the achievements, problems, and prospects of simultaneous processes of economic and political transitions from communism to contrasting forms of market economies and democracy in Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, and eastern Germany. Contributors include 14 American and European scholars with intimate professional and personal familiarity with the various case studies.

The contributors draw on process analysis and transition theory to explore different national approaches to privatization. This includes individual voucher schemes, the use of investment funds, the direct sale of former state owned enterprises, employee buy outs, direct foreign investments and their consequences for parallel processes of marketization and democratization. A quarter of the volume is devoted to comparative analyses of contrasting modes of privatization, the role of public opinion and law in the transition process, and the international economic and political context of postcommunist transformation. An important analysis for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with postcommunist economic and political change.