Democratic Practice and ‘Caring to Deliberate’: A Gadamerian Account of Conversation and Listening

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-51
Author(s):  
Sophie Bourgault
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Practice

Mortal Democracy and Plato’s Apology

2020 ◽  
pp. 009059172098295
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Barringer
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Partial Transformation ◽  
Critical Space ◽  
Athenian Democracy ◽  
Precarious Work ◽  
Democratic Practice

The Apology is often read as showing a conflict between democracy and philosophy. I argue here that Socrates’s defense critically engages deeply political Athenian conventions of death, showing a mutual entanglement between Socratic philosophy and democratic practice. I suggest that Socrates’s aporetic insistence within the Apology that we “do not know if death is a good or a bad thing” structures a critical space of inquiry that I term “mortal ignorance;” a space from which Socrates reapproaches settled questions of death’s appropriate place in political life, ultimately prompting a partial transformation of Athenian democracy. I argue here that Socratic mortal ignorance supports a self-reflective politics of death, one which produces many potential responses and accepts the impossibility of closing off death’s meaning in any final sense—an aporia suitable for the unending, precarious work of democratic politics.

Constitutional Majoritarianism against Popular “Regulation” in the Federalist

2021 ◽  
pp. 009059172110437
Author(s):  
James Lindley Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Design ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Democratic Deliberation ◽  
Common Life ◽  
Analysis And Evaluation ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
The Federalist ◽  
Before And After ◽  
New Form ◽  
Adequate Analysis

In this essay, I make the interpretive claim that we cannot properly understand the Federalist without appreciating the extent to which the papers mount a sustained rejection of extra-constitutional democracy—practices in which people aim to assert authority over the terms of common life in ways that are not sanctioned by existing laws. I survey such practices, which were common in America before and after the Revolution. I argue that there is continuity between Publius’s justification for rejecting extra-constitutional democracy and his justification for his preferred system against constitutional alternatives. Adequate analysis and evaluation of the Federalist’s arguments about faction, representation, and institutional design require attention to the double duty the arguments play against constitutional and extra-constitutional opposition. This interpretive argument supports several analytic and evaluative conclusions. First, we must distinguish a new form of “non-hierarchical dualist” constitutionalism, according to which irregular democratic activity need not be limited to extraordinary “constitutional moments” or revolutions. Second, the politically egalitarian character of procedures depends not on the procedures alone, but how the maintenance of such procedures limits other forms of democratic practice. Third, the argument suggests a novel defense of “uncivil” disobedient politics: one grounded not in contributions to democratic deliberation, but in the entitlements of citizens to direct assertions of authority over common life.

DEMOCRATIC MILIEU: ANALYSING DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE IN THE NEW GOVERNANCE

2010 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Farrelly ◽  
Chris Skelcher
Keyword(s):  
New Governance ◽  
Democratic Practice

scholarly journals Utebarnehager – et sted for demokratisk praksis?

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathrine Melhuus
Keyword(s):  
Open Space ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Children's Play ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
Children’S Play

The questions in the title is posed to discuss how an outdoor kindergarten space is contextualized and understood by those who are staying there. Nature is often seen as an especially open space, free from strong guidelines and structures. Being part of an educational practice gives the place new structures. The activities the children participate in and the employees expressed attitudes and practices are part of different discourses, which give certain limits or possibilities for what is going on at the Hut, and thus influence a democratic practice. Especially children’s play activities represent an opposition to the adult’s framing of the place. Democracy presupposes some frames, but if the frames in an institution are too limited this will possibly inhibit such a practice (Biesta 2009, Lawy & Biesta 2006). Keywords: outdoor kindergartens, place, nature, democracy, contextualisation

scholarly journals Gender-Oriented Budgeting as a Democratic Practice during a Self-Government Reform: Ukrainian Experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikram Aghasiev ◽  
◽  
Nataliia Pavlikha ◽  
Nataliia Riabushenko ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Government Reform ◽  
Democratic Practice

Students as Consumers: Commodifying or Democratising Learning?

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajani Naidoo ◽  
Geoff Whitty
Keyword(s):  
Student Voice ◽  
Widening Participation ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Academic Values ◽  
Passive Learning ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
Outcomes Of Education ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Organisational Cultures ◽  
Liberal Policy

AbstractThe positioning of students as ‘consumers’ of education is becoming a global phenomenon. This paper begins by drawing on insights from both the marketing and education literatures to assess the impact of this development on the processes and outcomes of education, on the professional practices of faculty and on widening participation. Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual framework is then applied to analyse how consumer mechanisms are mediated by the organisational cultures and practices within universities. These theoretical insights are combined with data from different national contexts to identify both positive and negative aspects of this trend. The paper goes on to consider the critique of consumerism as something that promotes commodification and passive learning. Some other ways of empowering students more actively in their learning, including ‘student voice’ and ‘co-production’ initiatives that are currently fashionable in Western policy contexts, are then discussed. While these are seen by some commentators as examples of ‘pre-figurative democratic practice’, others have identified them as having the potential to alienate students through tokenistic provision or as serving a neo-liberal policy agenda through the ‘responsibilisation’ of students. The paper concludes by suggesting that such initiatives may have the potential to challenge academic complacency without undermining core academic values.

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