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Is democracy worth saving? Responding to the erosion of democracy, philosophical debates have pivoted from analyzing the best forms of democracy to questioning what is so valuable about democracy to begin with, how we can save it, and whether it is indeed worth saving. Contemporary Democratic Theory charts this pivot and surveys the most important new developments in the philosophical, theoretical, and normative examination of the concept of democracy. Comparisons that dominated 20th century democratic theory - between direct democracy, participatory democracy, deliberative democracy, and agonistic democracy - are in the 21st century giving way to comparisons between democracy and its challe...
In Reasonable Democracy, Simone Chambers describes, explains, and defends a discursive politics inspired by the work of Jürgen Habermas. In addition to comparing Habermas's ideas with other non-Kantian liberal theories in clear and accessible prose, Chambers develops her own views regarding the role of discourse and its importance within liberal democracies.Beginning with a deceptively simple question—"Why is talking better than fighting?"—Chambers explains how the idea of talking provides a rich and compelling view of morality, rationality, and political stability. She considers talking as a way for people to respect each other as moral agents, as a way to reach reasonable and legitima...
Is deliberative democracy the ideal goal of free speech? How do social movement organizations, activists, and political candidates use the media to frame their discourse? What responsibilities does the media have in maintaining or promoting democracy? In this broadly interdisciplinary volume, top scholars in communication, political science, sociology, law, and philosophy offer new perspectives on these and other intersections within democratic discourse and media. Interweaving elements of social, political, and communication theory, they take on First Amendment and legal issues, privacy rights, media effects and agenda setting, publicity, multiculturalism, gender issues, universalism and global culture, and the rhetoric of the body, among other topics. This unique book provides a foundation for evaluating the current state of democratic discourse and will be of interest to students and scholars of deliberative democracy across the social sciences.
This text considers how a host of ethical traditions define civil society. It considers a range of traditions, including libertarianism, critical theory, Islam and Judaism, and to the extent which they agree or disagree on how to define civil society's limits and evaluate it's benefits and harms.
While discourse and deliberation cannot replace voting, bargaining, or compromise, Chambers argues, it is important to maintain a background moral conversation in which to anchor other activities.
As the referendum becomes a more regular component of decision making, it leaves few, if any, institutions, processes and values of democracy untouched. Political actors of all kinds - including political parties and interest groups - seek to use the referendum device to further their own objectives. The end result is a different kind of democracy than existed before. This book lays out the comparative research agenda on the impact of referendums on the practice of liberal democracy.
To the ancient Greeks, democracy meant gathering in public and debating laws set by a randomly selected assembly of several hundred citizens. To the Icelandic Vikings, democracy meant meeting every summer in a field to discuss issues until consensus was reached. Our contemporary representative democracies are very different. Modern parliaments are gated and guarded, and it seems as if only certain people are welcome. Diagnosing what is wrong with representative government and aiming to recover some of the openness of ancient democracies, Open Democracy presents a new paradigm of democracy. Supporting a fresh nonelectoral understanding of democratic representation, Hélène Landemore demonstrates that placing ordinary citizens, rather than elites, at the heart of democratic power is not only the true meaning of a government of, by, and for the people, but also feasible and, more than ever, urgently needed. -- Cover page 4.
This book examines how civil society engages with transitional justice in Russia, demonstrating a broad range of roles civil society can undertake while operating in a restrictive political context. Based on sociolegal research, the study focuses on three types of civil society groups dealing with the legacies of the Soviet repression in Russia – a prominent organisation that works on recovering historical truth, the International Memorial; a parish of the Orthodox Church of Russia operating at a former mass execution and mass burial site, the Church at Butovo; and contentious groups that could hinder attempts at reckoning and promote state narratives built on the Stalinist and WWII victor...
A bracingly provocative challenge to one of our most cherished ideas and institutions Most people believe democracy is a uniquely just form of government. They believe people have the right to an equal share of political power. And they believe that political participation is good for us—it empowers us, helps us get what we want, and tends to make us smarter, more virtuous, and more caring for one another. These are some of our most cherished ideas about democracy. But Jason Brennan says they are all wrong. In this trenchant book, Brennan argues that democracy should be judged by its results—and the results are not good enough. Just as defendants have a right to a fair trial, citizens ha...
Examines the interplay between the normative and empirical aspects of the deliberative model of democracy.