The rise of presidential power poses a significant threat to America's democratic values. It is clear that the tectonic plates of the American political system are gravitating towards a model of presidential government not envisioned and, in fact, precluded by the constitutional design of the framers of the United States Constitution. As the presidency eclipses Congress, the courts in power, and public/media attention, the balance of powers has tilted. In this accessible book, leading scholars explore the reasons for and implications of the rising power of the presidency.

A complex relationship exists between democratic politics and the management of the environment. Democracy and the Environment presents major new work on the challenges and dilemmas which environmental problems pose for the processes of democratic politics. The relationship between environmental values and goals and democratic theory and practice is explored through original essays by established scholars whose conclusions are then integrated by the editors into a concluding essay. This major book illustrates and analyses the many ways in which environmental problems pose difficulties for democratic decision-makers. Environmental problems impact across established regional and national boundaries, and involve complex social processes, intricate patterns of loss and gain, and time scales which do not synchronise with electoral political systems. The essays in Democracy and the Environment reflect critically upon the experience of democratic states, explore the contradiction between popular participation and environmental management, and consider the kind of reforms needed to enhance the capacity of democratic systems to handle environmental problems. Focusing on the democratic process and combining theoretical and empirical analysis with discussion of the pragmatic implications, the authors present constructive criticism and analysis which seeks to encourage more effective environmental decision making and the promotion of global sustainable development.

Political corruption has traditionally been presented as a phenomenon characteristic of developing countries, authoritarian regimes, or societies in which the value system favored tacit patrimony and clientelism. Recently, however, the thesis of an inverse correlation between corruption and economic and political development (and therefore democratic "maturity") has been frequently and convincingly challenged. Countries with a long democratic tradition, such as the United States, Belgium, Britain, and Italy, have all experienced a combination of headline-grabbing scandals and smaller-scale cases of misappropriation.

In "Corrupt Exchanges," primary research on Italian cases (judicial proceedings, in-depth interviews, parliamentary documents, and press databases), combined with a cross-national comparison based on a secondary analysis of corruption in democratic systems, is used to develop a model to analyze corruption as a network of illegal exchanges. The authors explore in great detail the structure of that network, by examining both the characteristics of the actors who directly engage in the corruption and the resources they exchange. These processes of degeneration have caused a crisis in the dominant paradigm in both academic and political considerations of corruption.

The book is organized around the analysis of the resources that are exchanged and of the different actors who take part. Politicians in business, illegal brokers, Mafia members, protected entrepreneurs, and party-appointed bureaucrats exchange resources on the illegal market, altering the institutional system of interactions between the state and the market. In this complex web of exchanges, bonds of trust are established that allow the corrupt exchange to thrive. The book will serve both as a theoretical approach to a political problem of large bearing on democratic institutions and a descriptive warning of a system in peril.

This book empirically discusses recent struggles over land and mining, exploring state-society relations conflicts on various scales. In contrast with the existing literature, analyses in this volume deliberately focus on large-scale land use changes both in relation to the expansion of industrial mining and to agro-industry. The authors contend that there are significant parallels between contestations over different variants of resource extractivism, as they reflect the same global trends and processes. Chapters draw on critical theoretical approaches from political ecology, political economy, spatial theory, contentious politics, and the study of democracy. The authors not only provide empirical insights on actual resource struggles from different world regions based on in-depth field research, but also contribute to theory-building by linking concepts from various critical approaches to one another, developing a perspective for analysing struggles over resources related to current global crisis phenomena.

The Politics of Problem-solving in Postwar Democracies focuses explicitly on the way in which and the extent to which public policy formation in multi-party systems can be both effective and legitimate; effective in finding solutions for societal problems which are beyond the citizens capacity; and legitimate in formulating policies that are acceptable to most involved. Cross-national variations in the way political institutions work and can be conducive to political consensus and cooperative behaviour are - so it is argued and evidenced throughout the book - the key factors for successful policy-making and related problem-solving.

This book aims to shift the limited and often negative popular understanding of the Middle East's place in the world by chronicling the region's contributions to the international order rather than disorder, and to the development of the international human rights system. It elucidates the many paradoxes that make the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region both a troubling place and also a region brimming with great potential for peace, prosperity and progress. By demonstrating the paradox of human rights progress amid regress, the book tells a radically new and more hopeful side of the story of the region that has largely been obfuscated and omitted from the chronicles of history. In so doing, it shows that fostering a human rights culture is not only possible for all universally, it is inevitable.

Democratization in the Third World addresses many current issues of development, democratization and civil society in countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America against the background of theoretical introductions and comparisons with the Swedish historical experience of democratisations. The authors, from seven different continents, examine civil society and its relation to the state throughout the world and assess prospects for sustainable democratization.

Latin America underwent remarkable change in the 1980s as country after country cast off authoritarian regimes and instituted democratic policies and practices. Since then, the Left has weakened, and many of the groups commonly labeled the Right--including traditional groups linked with the Church, the military, and the economically privileged, as well as new groups of neo-liberal intellectuals and businessmen--have moved to a new form of active electoral politics. The future of democracy in the region will depend heavily on how these groups act. This book of up-to-date studies by a group of research scholars from Latin America and the United States examine the factors essential to an understanding of the Right's goals, organizations, and commitment to democracy. The book is divided into four distinctive sections, the first of which deals with the general characteristics of the Right. The following three sections explore in-depth the political strategies and organizations of the Right in elections and governing coalitions, the conservative trends that are changing the Church, and the fate of neo-liberal ideas among businessmen traditionally dependent on the State. Several chapters are devoted to the distinctive dynamics in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru.

Taken together, the essays in this book document the profound changes of the Right. But it also shows that the impact of the Right on democracy--whether it will improve it or weaken it--is not yet clear. The Right is increasingly involved in democratic institutions, but political parties are still weak and authoritarian temptations still strong. In this time of economic crises, business organizations have remained fragile. Conservative social policies have created terrifying social problems. Offering a unique analysis of the contemporary Right, this work is an essential tool in understanding the fate of democracy in post-Cold War Latin America.

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.

Spain and Portugal have recently adopted European-style democratic and political systems. Yet their pattern of historical development is distinctive and, in many respects, their political systems still reflect unique features. In this provocative text Wiard and Mott analyze the special features of Spanish history: the Catholic tradition, seven centuries of Moorish rule, the Christian Reconquest, and the special nature of Spanish feudalism and nationalism. Building on these foundations, the authors analyze Spanish and Portuguese modern history, the regimes of Franco and Salazar, and the recent transitions to democracy. Successive chapters deal with class structure and interest groups, political parties and elections, the structure of the state and state-society relations, regional politics, and patterns of public policy. While becoming more European socially, culturally, and politically, these two Iberian political systems show also some remarkable continuities with the past, including notions of organic democracy, neocorporatism, and tensions between regionalism and centralism, democracy and authoritarianism, and religiousity and secularism. Students and scholars involved with European politics, comparative politics, Iberian Studies, and transitions to democracy will find this an accessible and provocative analysis.

First published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This interdisciplinary examination of present-day identities and histories of the former Yugoslavia explores relationships with the social, political, cultural and historical 'facts and fictions' that have marked the different parts of the region. It shows that while nationalism remains important other social dynamics also exert a strong influence.

Is information technology enhancing democracy? Developments in information technology and the Internet are taking place at an almost bewildering pace. Such improvements, however, are believed to present opportunities for improving the responsiveness and accountability of political institutions and enhancing citizen participation. In this text the theoretical arguments for and against "electronic democracy" and the potential of information and communication technology are closely examined. The book is underpinned by a series of case studies in the US and Europe that demonstrate the application of "electronic democracy" in a number of city and civic projects. The book aims to provide a balanced and considered evaluation of the potential for "electronic democracy" based on empirical research.

The relevance of social participation and intermediary associations for democracy has been at the centre of approaches to democratic politics since the 19th century. More recently the rise of new states in Central and Eastern Europe and contemporary discussions about social conflict, civil society, communitarianism, and social capital have stimulated a revival of the subject. This study explores the changing role and functions of voluntary associations, intermediary organizations and other social movements in democratic societies. The contributors employ macro- and mico-perspectives to examine the relationship between social and political involvement in the democratic process, and use previously unpublished empirical data from countries such as Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, Belgium, Norway and Spain. They find the structure of voluntary associations and intermediary organizations throughout these countries has changed significantly and their membership levels and relevance to democratic decision-making have grown pointing to a changing, but not declining, democratic culture in Western Europe.

Modern societies currently lack positive alternative visions of the future. Many writers have claimed that the only option is a return to free-market capitalism, in which success and survival depend on being as competitive as possible whether as a nation, firm or individual. Paul Hirst argues that there are viable alternative futures and widely applicable models that can be used to structure change. Hirst's distinctive approach to political theory reasons from real political problems rather than confining itself to abstract concepts. Presenting an innovative political position, this collection of essays represents an attempt to re-state a practical third way between the discredited ideals of state socialism and laissez-faire capitalism.

Citizens' participation, especially participatory budgeting, has spread in both Asia and Europe, and has been a symbol of democratic renewal. These transformations are already very visible in Europe, where more than 200 municipalities have adopted participatory budgeting. By contrast, in some Asian democracies, such as Japan or South Korea, it has considerably enlarged the agenda of citizen participation, integrating new forms such as taxpayers' budgets. In other countries, especially in China, participatory budgeting represents some adaptations of opening and transparency. With a global cast of authors, this study provides an overview of the impact of these devices, such as improving the modernisation of public administration or improving the contact between citizens and politicians, and documents the latest developments of citizen participation in both continents.

Values, in terms of human rights and democracy, have become importantfactors for individual state's participation in the international community. Janne Haaland Matláry, former Secretary of State in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Norway, explores the ethical and moral conflict between the international system and the rights of sovereign powers in cases such as Kosovo, Bosnia and Rwanda.

What role have parliaments played in the dramatic changes occurring in Eastern and Central Europe? Adopting a common research framework, the contributors analyze in detail the role and operations of parliaments in ten of the new democracies. They focus on what determines their capacity to have some impact on public policy. They identify the significance of parliaments operating in often hybrid systems of government, with the relationship between the executive and legislature not well defined, and with an absence of constraining influence that typify western political systems.

This book examines how the war crime legacy resulting from the Yugoslav war of the 1990s on political and military transformation in Serbia was an impediment to security reform, democratization and the achievement of Western standards in the Belgrade armed forces.Using original empirical research, it traces the processes of restructuring, civilianisation, legal framework and democratic control and security policy communities, in relation to reforming the Serbian military. Crucially, the book focuses on the war crimes legacy from the 1990s, not as a matter of international conditionality, but as a key factor obstructing successful reform. This book, for the first time, examines the networks linked to security, intelligence and military agencies that protected war crimes suspects, such as General Ratko Mladic, delaying democratic control of the armed forces. Only when that network was broken, could the process of democratization begin to be complete.This unique book linking war crimes and security sector reform will appeal to scholars working on Serbia/former Yugoslavia, law and conflict, security and development, civil-military relations and Central and Eastern European politics.

Criminology and Democratic Politics brings together a range of international leading experts to consider the relationship between criminology and democratic politics. How does criminology relate to democratic politics? What has been the impact of criminology on crime and justice? How can we make sense of the uses, non-uses, and abuses of criminology? Such questions are far from new, but in recent times they have moved to the centre of debate in criminology in different parts of the world. The chapters in Criminology and Democratic Politics aim to contribute to this global debate. Chapters cover a range of themes such as punishment, knowledge, and penal politics; crime, fear, and the media; democratic politics and the uses of criminological knowledge; and the public role of criminology. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, and politics and all those interested in how criminology relates to democratic politics in modern times.

"Radical Democracy and the Internet "provides a systematic and mutual interrogation of radical democratic theory and Internet practice. Contributors critically examine a range of radical democratic theories in relation to online communication, from deliberative to agonistic to autonomist Marxist, and explore how such communication may be advancing democracy beyond what is conceptualized and practised within present liberal-capitalist political contexts. The result is an important contribution to both democratic theory and new media studies, and essential reading in politics, media studies, communications, and sociology.

Farrelly argues against the principled paradigm of ideal theory and champions instead a virtue-oriented theory of justice entitled 'civic liberalism'. He critically assesses the main contemporary theories of justice and tackles a number of applied topics, ranging from constitutional design and free speech to welfare reform and economic incentives. "Justice, Democracy and Reasonable Agreement" is a plea for political philosophers to take seriously a range of non-ideal considerations such as scarcity, pervasive disadvantage, non-compliance, indeterminacy, disagreement and fallibility.

As different forms of authority becomes increasingly both distributed and inter-dependent, Frank Vibert's book offers a systemic analysis of regulation. It presents an ambitious and far-reaching study using and developing the concept of regulatory space. It studies systems as a whole and relates regulation to other systems of authority. It offers a rare example of a study that examines both the internal workings of systems and their relationships with other systems. A creative and thought-provoking work.' - Mark Thatcher, London School of Economics, UKThis groundbreaking book analyzes changing patterns of governance in modern democratic societies. Frank Vibert discusses how far we should be concerned about such changes and what we should be concerned about. Crucially, Vibert clarifies the status of regulation, revealing how regulation should be viewed, not only as a technique offering specific responses to particular policy problems, but also in its new role as the key mechanism for making adjustments between the different systems of coordination used in contemporary governance. There are three main aims of the book: first, to clarify the status and role of regulation itself in modern systems of social coordination; second, to identify the key challenges to the integrity of the different systems and how far they can be attributed to the growth of regulation and third to identify what to do to protect the integrity of the different domains against challenge. This work innovates in the use of the concept of the 'regulatory space' to analyze relationships across systems of governance as well as in the utilization of 'social framing' as methods of inquiry into why we regulate. It also breaks new ground in discussing 'accountability' in terms of being able to monitor the changing patterns. The New Regulatory Space is an interdisciplinary discussion and will appeal to scholars and researchers as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students of public administration and regulation, political economy, law and society and law and regulation. Regulatory practitioners will also find an invaluable overview of theory and practice. Contents: Introduction 1. Defining the regulatory space 2. Analysing the regulatory space 3. Framing the regulatory space 4. The regulatory space and the market 5. The regulatory space and democratic politics 6. The regulatory space and the law 7. The regulatory space and social norms 8. Inferiority: The status of the regulatory space 9. The distinctive appeal of the regulatory space 10. The dynamics of the regulatory space 11. Accountability and the integrity of systems 12. Conclusions Bibliography Index

The book is a call for change in the present world-order which is dominated by free market consumer culture, military industrial interests and control and manipulation of freedom of people by using media and modern technology. It explains the history of development of democracy and its crisis in the framework of the present global-order, and takes a penetrating look into the issues of human rights which are being distorted by the economic interests of monopoly capitalism, or the authoritarian rulers. The book describes how we may replace the present system, which has been shaped mostly by the actions, will and freedom nurtured by the instinct-bound man, by an enlightened order, which would project the higher realm of consciousness of the human mind. Instead of building a society, which inspires man to grab, compete, dominate and exploit the weaker fellow beings by using the existing economic and military disparities in the world, it dreams about creating an enlightened-society where human beings may find meaning of life in sharing ones knowledge, innovation and creative abilities for the benefit of the mankind as a whole. It wishes to inspire the readers to pave the path of fulfilling the meaning of human existence as the bearer of a great cosmic mind and envisions a world of loving and compassionate human beings, who wish to empower, guide and teach the fellow human beings suffering around them. Without sinking in the belief that what are happening in the world today represent the true nature of the human behaviour, the book seeks to bring the changes in the "reality of history" by empowering, guiding and teaching the fellow human beings about the "higher-nature" of man which resides in us all.