Democracy's Dignity

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 827-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOSIAH OBER
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Real World ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Simple Games ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Social Agents ◽  
Collective Self

Dignity, as equal high standing characterized by nonhumiliation and noninfantilization, is democracy's third core value. Along with liberty and equality, it is a necessary condition for collective self-governance. Dignity enables robust exercise of liberty and equality while resisting both neglectful libertarianism and paternalistic egalitarianism. The civic dignity required for democracy is specified through a taxonomy of incompletely and fully moralized forms of dignity. Distinctive features of different regimes of dignity are modeled by simple games and illustrated by historical case studies. Unlike traditional meritocracy and universal human dignity, a civic dignity regime is theoretically stable in a population of self-interested social agents. It is real-world stable because citizens are predictably well motivated to defend those threatened with indignity and because they have resources for effective collective action against threats to dignity. Meritocracy and civic dignity are not inherently liberal, but may persist within a liberal democracy committed to universal human dignity.

Gitanas without a tambourine: Notes on the historical representation and personal self-representation of the Spanish Romani woman

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-165
Author(s):  
Ester Alba Pagán ◽  
Aneta Vasileva Ivanova
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Self Perception ◽  
Historical Representation ◽  
Social Agents ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
Roma Women

The performative representation of the Spanish Roma woman reveals a historical journey that brings her closer to many symbolic elaborations of the feminine, giving her a special affinity with the imaginary concerning the colonized woman, particularly with the Orientalist vision. Developed initially by the travelling intellectuals in Spain who sought a fusion of the topics of sexualized exoticism, the myth was reworked by local artists and thinkers without undermining their power to silence and make invisible the reality of the most vulnerable and most represented members of the ethnic group, their women. Today, a growing awareness of the importance of collective action directs Roma women to initiatives such as the revision of their historical memory, at the intersection between the external gaze and self-perception. These searches lead to the pioneering creation of community museum institutions, which have arisen around feminine Roma associations and are a symptom of an emerging desire to be heard. Based on the terminological tools shared by women and memory studies, this article seeks the personal dimension of this invitation to listen. The authors analyse a series of interviews with Roma women that investigate the social agents of representation, self-representation and their conceptual and experiential foundations.

scholarly journals The Future of the European University: Liberal Democracy or Authoritarian Capitalism?

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Rider
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Free Enterprise ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
The One ◽  
Autonomous Agency ◽  
The University ◽  
University Science

This paper examines the prevalent notion that that the production of knowledge, academic research and teaching can and ought to be audited and assessed in the same manner as the production of other goods and services. The emphasis on similarities between industry and the academy leads to a neglect of fundamental differences in their aims and, as a consequence, a tendency to evaluate scientific research in terms of patents and product development and colleges and universities in terms of the labour market. The article examines the idea of the free academy, on the one hand, and compares and contrasts it to the idea of free enterprise, on the other. It is argued that the view of the university as a supplier of specific solutions for pre-determined, non-scientific needs (a workforce with skills currently in demand, innovations for commercial partners, justifications for political decisions, etc) undermines the public legitimacy of university science and weakens the fabric of scientific training and practice. The article proposes that the university’s main purpose must be to provide a recognized neutral, autonomous agency of rigorous, disinterested investigation and scientific education, which constitutes a necessary condition for an enlightened liberal democracy: an informed, capable and critical citizenry.

Promoting Justice Across Borders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia M. Rafanelli
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Philosophical Analysis ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Real ◽  
Moral Permissibility ◽  
Collective Self ◽  
Degree Of Control

This book develops a theory of the ethics of “reform intervention,” a category that includes any attempt to promote justice in a society other than one’s own. It identifies several dimensions along which reform interventions can vary (the degree of control interveners exercise over recipients, the urgency of interveners’ objectives, the costs an intervention poses to recipients, and how interveners interact with recipients’ existing political institutions) and examines how these variations affect the moral permissibility of reform intervention. The book argues that, once one acknowledges the variety of forms reform intervention can take, it becomes clear that not all of them are vulnerable to the objections usually leveled against intervention. In particular, not all reform interventions treat recipients with intolerance, disrespect recipients’ legitimate institutions, or undermine recipients’ collective self-determination. Combining philosophical analysis and discussion of several real-world cases, the book investigates which kinds of reform intervention are or are not vulnerable to these objections. In so doing, it also develops new understandings of the roles toleration, legitimacy, and collective self-determination should play in global politics. After developing principles to specify when different kinds of reform interventions are morally permissible, the book investigates how these principles could be applied in the real world. Ultimately, it argues that some reform interventions are, all things considered, morally permissible and that sometimes reform intervention is morally required. It argues we should reconceive the ordinary boundaries of political activity and begin to see the pursuit of justice via political contestation as humanity’s collective project.

Towards an Integrated Theology of Youth

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Graham D. Stanton
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Social Agents ◽  
Prophetic Voice ◽  
Theological Perspective ◽  
God's Image ◽  
Made In

Abstract This article summarises eight theological perspectives on youth and young people. Young people are variously seen as (1) sinful creatures in need of redemption; (2) gifts of God and sources of joy; (3) developing beings in need of guidance and instruction; (4) open to conversion; (5) vulnerable to exploitation; (6) fully human, made in God’s image; (7) a prophetic presence; and (8) a prophetic voice. Rather than simply affirm all 8 perspectives as important, an integrated theological perspective on youth views young people within the distinctive features of their created reality, with particular strengths and assets along with distinct needs and deficits, to be fully capable as bearers of the divine image, and with emerging capability as social agents.

Democracy and Good Governance

2019 ◽  
pp. 91-96
Author(s):  
Henk Addink
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government

Democracy is about government and governance by the people in different forms. Democracy is direct or by representation. Sovereignty of the people, however, is not the same as democracy. The position of minorities related to majorities, in a democracy, is not always easy to regulate. This situation has made clear that democracy also has qualitative contents and it is even clearer when we speak about democracy in the sense of a liberal democracy or of a social democracy. Two key elements in and topics related to democracy are the participation of the people and the elections by the people and the transparency of the government. There are some restrictions in a representative democracy and, for that reason, participation will be necessary to maintain the connection between the government and the people. But to have an adequate functioning of this participation and of the elections, transparency on behalf of the government is a necessary condition for a democracy.

The Sleeping Night‐Watchman and Some Alternatives: Citizenship, Participation and Bases of Democratic Legitimacy in Britain

1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-360
Author(s):  
Robert Pinkney
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
The State ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Islamic Fundamentalism ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Past Generation ◽  
The World

WE TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT THE SURVIVAL OF THE STATE DEPENDS on democratic consent. With the demise of Marxism and fascism, Diamond suggests that, apart from Islamic fundamentalism, democracy is the only model with ideological legitimacy. And Fukuyama asserts that ‘the democratic transitions of the past generation could not have occurred had not populations around the world finally become conscious of the fact that liberal democracy alone provides the possibility of fully rational recognition of human dignity’.

Designing for Participation: Dignity and Autonomy of Service (Part 2)

Design Issues ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-102
Author(s):  
Miso Kim
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Mass Production ◽  
Information Control ◽  
Ethical Aspects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Shared Goal

This paper explores a conceptual framework for deepening our understanding of the social and ethical aspects of service, such as human dignity. A philosophical survey of this topic reveals that the basis of dignity is autonomy; however, current frameworks of service, which are often based on the logics of mass production and information control, generally attempt to control people rather than supporting their autonomous actions. As an alternative, I propose a framework of service based on the concept of participation, defined as the collective action of parts related to the whole for the purpose of achieving a shared goal.

Liberal Democracy and National Security: Continuities in the Bush and Obama Administrations

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-178
Author(s):  
Silvina M. Romano
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
National Security ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Bush Administration ◽  
Central Intelligence Agency ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Patriot Act ◽  
Intelligence Agency ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Cold War

The antiterrorist policy of the George W. Bush Administration established a relationship between democracy and security that implied the limitation of the former as a necessary condition for the achievement of the latter. This strategy led to the diminishing of the basic liberties promoted by liberal democracy through legal means with the putative objective of guaranteeing the ‘security’ of American citizens. A key starting point of these policies can be found in undercover operations carried out abroad by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of State at the beginning of the Cold War. This article focuses on the continuities and ruptures between the official discourse of the G. W. Bush Administration and that of the first years of the Cold War, focusing on the realist and liberal patterns present in those discourses. This leads to an analysis of the relationship between democracy and national security under the antiterrorist policy implemented by the G. W. Bush government, approached from a power elite perspective. The aggressive foreign and homeland policies of the US government were based upon a booming military–industrial pole, closely bound to free market expansionism and liberal democracy as key dimensions in the reproduction of capitalism. Included in this consideration are the 2002 and 2006 National Security Strategies, the Patriot Act (2001), and the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (2003) (or ‘Patriot Act II’) put in place by the G.W. Bush Administration, as well as the National Security Strategy (2009) established by President Obama.

Economics of Alliances: The Lessons for Collective Action

2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 869-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Sandler ◽  
Keith Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Real World ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
Empirical Knowledge ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Real World Applications ◽  
Further Development

This essay provides an up-to-date summary of the findings of the literature on the economics of alliances. We show that the study of the economics of alliances has played a pivotal role in understanding and applying public good analysis to real-world applications. We establish that the manner in which alliances address burden sharing and allocative issues is related to strategic doctrines, weapon technology, perceived threats, and membership composition. Past contributions are evaluated, and areas needing further development are identified. The theoretical and empirical knowledge gained from the study of alliances is shown to be directly applicable to a wide range of international collectives.

scholarly journals The disconnect between researcher ambitions and reality in achieving impact in the Earth & Environmental Sciences – narrowing the gap

F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Andrew Kelly ◽  
Victoria Gardner ◽  
Anna Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Real World ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Environmental Sciences ◽  
Global Society ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Research Endeavour ◽  
Real World Problems

Background: There is an increasing desire for research to provide solutions to the grand challenges facing our global society, such as those expressed in the UN SDGs (“real-world impact”). Herein, we consider whether the frameworks that underpin the research endeavour are appropriately oriented to support these aspirations and maximize the capability of research to achieve these goals. Methods: We conducted a survey of authors who had published in >100 of our Earth & Environmental Science journals. The survey was sent to just under 60,000 authors and we received 2,695 responses (4% response rate).   Results: Respondents indicated that the majority of their research in the Earth & Environmental Sciences is currently concerned with addressing urgent global needs or that this will become a priority in the future; however, the impetus seems to be altruistic researcher desire, rather than incentives or support from publishers, funders, or their institutions. Indeed, when contextualised within other forms of impact, respondents indicated that citations or downloads were more important to them than contributing to tackling real-world problems. Herein, we analyse survey feedback, suggest the presence of a misalignment between researcher ambition and current realities, and discuss the role and value of the research journal in forming new connections for their researchers, both within and without academia. Conclusions: At present, it seems that this laudable ambition of achieving real-world impact is seemingly being lost amidst the realities of being a researcher. We offer for comment a series of suggestions, with the aim of simulating discussion and collective action to tackle these challenges as a community.

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