Democracy

Author(s):  
Ludvig Beckman

Democracy is a term that is used to denote a variety of distinct objects and ideas. Democracy describes either a set of political institutions or an ideal of collective self-rule. Democracy can also be short for a normative principle of either legitimacy or justice. Finally, democracy might be used to denote an egalitarian attitude. These four uses of the term should be kept distinct and raises separate conceptual and normative issues. The value of democracy, whether democratic political institutions or democratic self-rule, is either instrumental, non-instrumental, or both. The non-instrumental value of democracy derives either from the alleged fairness of majority rule or from the value of the social relationships enabled by participation in democratic procedures. The instrumental value of democracy lends support from a growing body of empirical research. Yet, the claim that democracy has a positive causal effect on public goods is inconclusive with respect to the moral justification of democratic institutions. Normative reasons for democracy’s instrumental value must instead appeal to the fact that it contributes to equality, liberty, truth, or the realization of popular will. Democracy as a principle of either political legitimacy or justice is a normative view that evades concerns with the definition and value of democracy. Normative democracy is a claim about the conditions either for legitimacy or justice of either public authority or coercion. Debates in normative democracy are largely divorced from the conceptual and empirical concerns that inform studies of democracy elsewhere. The boundaries of the people entitled to participate in collective decisions is a question that applies to all four uses of democracy. The boundary question raises three distinct issues. The first is the extent of inclusion required among the members of the unit. The second is if membership in the unit is necessary for inclusion or if people that are not recognized as members are on certain conditions also entitled to participate. The third and final issue concerns the boundaries of the unit itself.

Author(s):  
Ben Berger

This chapter examines the most prominent arguments for political engagement's importance to democratic polities, including those put forward by Alexis de Tocqueville, and shows that each presents circumstantial and ultimately inconclusive evidence. It first considers the benefits that political engagement offers to individuals and communities before discussing how essential those benefits are to the health of liberal democracy. It then evaluates defenses of political engagement's intrinsic and instrumental value and proceeds to build a case for the importance of political engagement that can stand up to critical scrutiny. It contends that were should avoid very low political engagement because it might badly undermine a democracy's claims to political legitimacy. Instead, we should care about the increased, voluntary political engagement that might ensue if political institutions were more responsive, political education were more effective, and if our attention deficit democracy could be treated through liberal means.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
A.L. Zhuravlev ◽  
D.A. Kitova

Objective. Analysis of the psychological characteristics of the image of Peter I in the structure of the political consciousness of users of the social network Twitter. Background. The leading basis of the study is the provision on the subjective determination of political consciousness, which manifests itself in the multiple attitudes of people to the same facts of history. Secondly, the phenomenon of historical memory is one of the important foundations of the national self-identification of an individual, and manipulation of political consciousness becomes a means of influencing the self-consciousness of a person and society. Thirdly, it is important to turn to “digital” research technologies, which is associated with the promising development of scientific technologies and the acquisition of socially significant knowledge relevant to society as a whole. Methodology. Concepts of image psychology, structural and content analysis of messages, methods of grounded theory, neural network model, analysis of the emotional background of short non-formalized texts. Conclusions. It was revealed that the image of Peter I is highly appreciated in the field of international, military, economic, educational, legislative and administrative activities and is due to his outstanding achievements at the international and domestic political levels. At the same time, the development of political institutions under the emperor is not assessed so highly and unequivocally, the social essence of state administration and the rejection of the cultural traditions of the people are subjected to the greatest criticism. In particular, analysis of the emotional background of messages showed that the bulk of user messages differ in a moderately negative or neutral background.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladislav Krivoshchekov ◽  
Olga Gulevich

According to the Self-Determination Theory, the social context — the actions of those around us — promotes or hinders the autonomy need satisfaction. The latter, in turn, improves the attitudes toward the people around. Most of the studies that have demonstrated this relationship have been conducted in the proximal social context (family, school, organizations). At the same time, few studies examined the role of the distal social context (culture, political system, economic structure of society). We aimed to examine the relationship between the political regime, autonomy need satisfaction, and trust in political institutions. To examine the link, we used data from two waves of the European Values Study (2008, 2017). The results revealed that the political regime (as estimated by Freedom House Index) was positively associated with one’s reported autonomy need satisfaction. However, the former was not related to the trust in political institutions. In addition, autonomy need satisfaction was positively associated with political trust in the police, the justice system, parliament, government, and political parties. However, the severity of this link, in some cases, varied between the regimes: it was more pronounced in more democratic countries than in less democratic ones.


Author(s):  
Jason Frank

The transition from royal to popular sovereignty during the age of democratic revolutions—from 1776 to 1848—entailed not only the reorganization of institutions of governance and norms of political legitimacy, but also a dramatic transformation in the iconography and symbolism of political power. The representational difficulties posed by the replacement of the personal and external rule of the king, whose body was the tangible locus of authority, with the impersonal and immanent self-rule of the people, whose power could not be incontestably embodied, went beyond questions of institutionalization and law into the aesthetic realm of visualization, composition, and form. How to make the people’s sovereign will tangible to popular judgment was—and is—a crucial problem of democratic political aesthetics. This book explores how the revolutionary proliferation of popular assemblies—crowds, demonstrations, gatherings of the “people out of doors”—mediated and gave tangibility to the people manifesting itself as a collective actor capable of enacting dramatic political reforms and change. During the age of democratic revolutions, popular assemblies became privileged sites of democratic representation because they at once claim to represent the people while also signaling the material plenitude beyond any representational claim. They retain this power in part because popular assemblies make manifest that which escapes representational capture; they rend a tear in the established representational space of appearance and draw their power from tarrying with the ineffability and resistant materiality of the people’s will. During the age of democratic revolutions, popular assemblies became the locus of the democratic sublime.


Author(s):  
Alex Levitov

This article offers a critical overview of the major normative theories of political legitimacy from the seventeenth century to the present day, with a special focus on the leading representatives of the social contract tradition: the voluntarist theory, according to which legitimate political authority must derive from the free choices of its subjects; and the natural duty theory, which holds that a state’s legitimacy depends on the extent to which its institutions are just, regardless of whether it has been freely authorized by its subjects. The article then explores the prospects of a hybrid theory that would combine elements of the two and concludes by examining the ways in which the various conceptions of state legitimacy under consideration might be applied or adapted to the case of supranational political institutions.


Liquidity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
Iwan Subandi ◽  
Fathurrahman Djamil

Health is the basic right for everybody, therefore every citizen is entitled to get the health care. In enforcing the regulation for Jaringan Kesehatan Nasional (National Health Supports), it is heavily influenced by the foreign interests. Economically, this program does not reduce the people’s burdens, on the contrary, it will increase them. This means the health supports in which should place the government as the guarantor of the public health, but the people themselves that should pay for the health care. In the realization of the health support the are elements against the Syariah principles. Indonesian Muslim Religious Leaders (MUI) only say that the BPJS Kesehatan (Sosial Support Institution for Health) does not conform with the syariah. The society is asked to register and continue the participation in the program of Social Supports Institution for Health. The best solution is to enforce the mechanism which is in accordance with the syariah principles. The establishment of BPJS based on syariah has to be carried out in cooperation from the elements of Social Supports Institution (BPJS), Indonesian Muslim Religious (MUI), Financial Institution Authorities, National Social Supports Council, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Finance. Accordingly, the Social Supports Institution for Helath (BPJS Kesehatan) based on syariah principles could be obtained and could became the solution of the polemics in the society.


This research article focuses on the theme of violence and its representation by the characters of the novel “This Savage Song” by Victoria Schwab. How violence is transmitted through genes to next generations and to what extent socio- psycho factors are involved in it, has also been discussed. Similarly, in what manner violent events and deeds by the parents affect the psychology of children and how it inculcates aggressive behaviour in their minds has been studied. What role is played by the parents in grooming the personality of children and ultimately their decisions to choose the right or wrong way has been argued. In the light of the theory of Judith Harris, this research paper highlights all the phenomena involved: How the social hierarchy controls the behaviour. In addition, the aggressive approach of the people in their lives has been analyzed in the light of the study of second theorist Thomas W Blume. As the novel is a unique representation of supernatural characters, the monsters, which are the products of some cruel deeds, this research paper brings out different dimensions of human sufferings with respect to these supernatural beings. Moreover, the researcher also discusses that, in what manner the curse of violence creates an inevitable vicious cycle of cruel monsters that makes the life of the characters turbulent and miserable.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Ahmad Fauzi ◽  
Chusnul Muali

Pesantren and social value system is the result of constructing kiai's thoughts and social actions as an inseparable entity. This study aims to interpret the role and social action of kiai Moh Hasan, both as a fighter (al-haiah al-jihaadi li'izzi al-Islaami wal muslimin) in the community as well as guidance and guidance for the community (al-haiah al ta 'awuny wa al takafuly wal al ittijaahi) and teaching in educational institutions (al-haiah al ta'lim wa al-tarbiyah), significantly contributes greatly to the social realities of society in Indonesia. Portrait of central figure kiai Moh Hasan can not be separated from the depth of his field of Islamic science, simplicity, kezuhudan, struggle, sincerity and generosity. This view, not only recognized among the people around the boarding school, students and colleagues, but also spread in some areas in Indonesia. The fame of kiai Moh Hasan among scholars, habaib and society has many karamah and some other privileges, not even a few from the social recognition of kiai Moh Hasan Genggong, because the kiai are believed to have closeness with God, thus perceived as auliya'Allah. Thus the role and social actions of the kiai above, gave birth to the value system, so as to influence and move the social action of other individuals. The internalization of the aforementioned values becomes social capital in building a spiritual-based transformative leadership, as a strong leadership model and conducts various changes in the social field, by transforming the value of the ethical values.


2020 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 656-676
Author(s):  
Igor V. Omeliyanchuk

The article examines the main forms and methods of agitation and propagandistic activities of monarchic parties in Russia in the beginning of the 20th century. Among them the author singles out such ones as periodical press, publication of books, brochures and flyers, organization of manifestations, religious processions, public prayers and funeral services, sending deputations to the monarch, organization of public lectures and readings for the people, as well as various philanthropic events. Using various forms of propagandistic activities the monarchists aspired to embrace all social groups and classes of the population in order to organize all-class and all-estate political movement in support of the autocracy. While they gained certain success in promoting their ideology, the Rights, nevertheless, lost to their adversaries from the radical opposition camp, as the monarchists constrained by their conservative ideology, could not promise immediate social and political changes to the population, and that fact was excessively used by their opponents. Moreover, the ideological paradigm of the Right camp expressed in the “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality” formula no longer agreed with the social and economic realities of Russia due to modernization processes that were underway in the country from the middle of the 19th century.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Syufaat Syufaat

Waqf has two dimensional meaning; the spiritual dimension that is taqarrub to Allah and the social dimension as the source of Islamic financial for the welfare of the people. Waqf disputes can be caused by several reasons; waqf land is not accompanied with a pledge; waqf is done on the basis of mutual trust so it has no legal proof and ownership. Currently, the choice to use the court is less effective in resolving disputes. Hence, the public ultimately chooses non-litigation efforts as a way to resolve the disputes. Mediation process is preferred by many as it is viewed to be the fairest way where none of the two parties wins or loses (win-win solution). It is also fast and cheap. This study is intended to examine how to solve waqf dispute with mediation model according to the waqf law, and how the application of mediation in the Religious Courts system


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