Emergent Democracy

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-73
Author(s):  
Lucy Atkinson ◽  
Andrew Blick ◽  
Matt Qvortrup
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Winston Churchill

Chapter 1 considers how the idea of using referendums came onto the political agenda, and how on a number of occasions its imminent entry into use seemed plausible but did not take place. Important figures such as Albert Venn Dicey, Joseph Chamberlain, Arthur Balfour, Stanley Baldwin, Herbert Henry Asquith, and Winston Churchill played a part in events. Even without being held, the prospect of referendums had an impact on British political thought, words, and actions. There was also practical use of the device: at local level, and as part of external initiatives in which Britain played a part. The referendum could come to the forefront of political attention, recede and then return to it again. Though the extent of its prominence varied, once it appeared on the political landscape the referendum was, in some form, a continual presence.

scholarly journals Changing Character of Political Islam in Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-78
Author(s):  
Qamar Abbas Cheema ◽  
Syed Qandil Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Intellectual Diversity ◽  
Transnational Connections ◽  
Islamic Party

Pakistan's confessional parties are re-inventing themselves. The Parties that are carrying a legacy from the time before partition are struggling to keep themselves relevant in mainstream political discourse. Pakistan's political landscape is changing because of the rise of Tehreek-i-Insaf, a progressive center-right political party that has altered the electioneering environment in Pakistan. Two main confessional parties Jamaat Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulma e Islam Fazal Ur Rehman (JUI-F) are trying to develop an inclusive and pluralist political agenda. JI is a hierarchical Islamic party whereas JUI-F is a network Islamic party. Political Islam is in the process of shrinking in Pakistan because of the rise of political alternatives and outdatedness of the political and electoral discourse of confessional parties. Political Islam in Pakistan is changing by improving its ideological, political, and organizational structure in relation to its contemporary rivals. Changes in political Islam are not because of intellectual diversity and growth within confessional parties but to manage and compete for the rise of competing domestic political perspectives. Transnational connections with like-minded Islamist groups have scaled-down as the like-minded religio-ideological partners are termed as extremists and terrorists.

scholarly journals How Water is Reshaping the Political Landscape

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Rood
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Industrial Agriculture ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The Impact ◽  
New Zealanders

New Zealanders place great value on the quality of their freshwater rivers, streams and lakes for recreation, conservation and food gathering. But over the last 25 years they have become increasingly concerned at the deterioration in water quality, the loss of swimming holes and fishing spots, and the impact of pollution on native and valued introduced species and their habitat. The issue has deeply divided the community and become more and more acrimonious. Recreational and conservation groups blame industrial agriculture for much of the decline, and accuse central and local government of turning a blind eye to the problem and failing to protect the environment. Scientists have added their voices to the debate, but big agriculture and its lobby groups have responded aggressively, denying the problem exists, attacking their accusers and warning government against tackling the problem with tighter controls. Public frustration at the political paralysis and inaction has seen water quality become New Zealanders’ biggest single concern. The issue is now firmly established on the political agenda and one any political party wanting to govern the country ignores at its peril.

Health impact assessment (HIA) of political proposals at the local level: successful introduction, but what has happened 15 years later?

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Berensson ◽  
Per Tillgren
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
National Public Health

Health impact assessments (HIAs) were first introduced in Sweden in the mid-to-late 1990s, with the aim of placing health issues on the political agenda and helping to reduce health inequalities. In the early 2000s, HIAs entered a second phase and the Swedish Parliament adopted a national public health policy. A national survey conducted in 2001 showed that 10/289 municipalities had begun to use HIA and 55/289 had decided to use HIA or had initiated an adoption process. In a 2013 follow-up study based on a strategic sample of municipalities, 9/36 municipalities reported using HIA and/or similar tools. Corresponding figures for the 21 Swedish regions were 10 regions in 2001 and four in 2013. HIA and similar tools (sustainability analyses, child impact assessments, and others) were applied to the same extent as HIA. Fifteen years after implementation began, HIA is still being used. Regions show a clear decrease in the use of HIA. There are several explanations for this development. One is the political context, and other explanations are shifts in which actors are responsible for HIA and for public health at the local/regional levels.

The Gilets Jaunes

2020 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 866-876
Author(s):  
Marta Camell Galí ◽  
Matteo Polleri ◽  
Federico Puletti
Keyword(s):  
Direct Contact ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Done

This contribution is dedicated to an in-depth look at the cycle of the Gilets Jaunes protests that marked the French and European political landscape between November 2018 and the beginning of 2020. An unexpected social and political phenomenon, this movement accompanied the presidency of Emmanuel Macron and influenced his political agenda. Through “co-research” work done in direct contact with the movement, the essay analyzes the social and geographical composition of the participants, the political context in which it emerged, and its forms of organization and struggle. It argues that by subverting the frustration of social and geographical declassing, the Gilets Jaunes managed to constitute an unprecedented case of democratic counter-power.

Enmity or Friendship?

2019 ◽  
pp. 11-36
Author(s):  
Gerald M. Mara
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Carl Schmitt ◽  
The Political ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
History Of

Chapter 1 interprets statements offered by two twentieth-century philosophers, Carl Schmitt, principally in The Concept of the Political, and Jacques Derrida, in his critique of Schmitt in The Politics of Friendship. Both works make the importance of political philosophy’s frame of reference explicit, though they offer opposed characterizations of its content. I argue that the substantive positions taken in the two works share more characteristics than initially apparent. Schmitt’s characterization of enmity as the essence of politics must accommodate a kind of mutuality. And Derrida’s political friendship eventually constructs its own distinctive enemy. Those complicating parallels diminish confidence in either author’s ability to settle the question of how political thought should be framed and prompt a reconsideration of how allegedly overarching imperatives of war and peace have been treated within the history of Western political philosophy.

Kämpfe um Bergbau und die Möglichkeiten demokratischer Transformation

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (189) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Dietz
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Political Effects ◽  
Mining Project ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The Relationship

The article explores the political effects of popular consultations as a means of direct democracy in struggles over mining. Building on concepts from participatory and materialist democracy theory, it shows the transformative potentials of processes of direct democracy towards democratization and emancipation under, and beyond, capitalist and liberal democratic conditions. Empirically the analysis is based on a case study on the protests against the La Colosa gold mining project in Colombia. The analysis reveals that although processes of direct democracy in conflicts over mining cannot transform existing class inequalities and social power relations fundamentally, they can nevertheless alter elements thereof. These are for example the relationship between local and national governments, changes of the political agenda of mining and the opening of new spaces for political participation, where previously there were none. It is here where it’s emancipatory potential can be found.

Orthodox arrangement of the Pochaiv Lavra in the second third of the XIX century.

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-41
Author(s):  
Ella Volodymyrivna Bystrytska
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Political Motivation ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Xix Century

Abstract: A series of imperial decrees of the 1820s ordering the establishment of a Greco-Uniate Theological Collegium and appropriate consistories contributed to the spread of the autocratic synodal system of government and the establishment of control over Greek Uniate church institutions in the annexed territories of Right-Bank Ukraine. As a result, the Greco-Uniate Church was put on hold in favor of the government's favorable grounds for the rapid localization of its activities. Basilian accusations of supporting the Polish November Uprising of 1830-1831 made it possible to liquidate the OSBM and most monasteries. The transfer of the Pochaiv Monastery to the ownership of the Orthodox clergy in 1831 was a milestone in the liquidation of the Greco-Uniate Church and the establishment of a Russian-style Orthodox mono-confessionalism. On the basis of archival documents, the political motivation of the emperor's decree to confiscate the Pochayiv Monastery from the Basilians with all its property and capital was confirmed. The transfer to the category of monasteries of the 1st class and the granting of the status of a lavra indicated its special role in strengthening the position of the autocracy in the western region of the Russian Empire. The orders of the Holy Synod outline the key tasks of ensuring the viability of the Lavra as an Orthodox religious center: the introduction of continuous worship, strengthening the personal composition of the population, delimitation of spiritual responsibilities, clarifying the affiliation of the printing house. However, maintaining the rhythm of worship and financial and economic activities established by the Basilians proved to be a difficult task, the solution of which required ten years of hard work. In order to make quick changes in the monastery, decisions were made by the emperor and senior government officials, and government agencies were involved at the local level, which required the coordination of actions of all parties to the process.

Simone Weil

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatrice Marovich
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sovereign Power ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Intellectual Curiosity ◽  
Creation Theology ◽  
Simone Weil

Few of Giorgio Agamben’s works are as mysterious as his unpublished dissertation, reportedly on the political thought of the French philosopher Simone Weil. If Weil was an early subject of Agamben’s intellectual curiosity, it would appear – judging from his published works – that her influence upon him has been neither central nor lasting.1 Leland de la Durantaye argues that Weil’s work has left a mark on Agamben’s philosophy of potentiality, largely in his discussion of the concept of decreation; but de la Durantaye does not make much of Weil’s influence here, determining that her theory of decreation is ‘essentially dialectical’ and still too bound up with creation theology. 2 Alessia Ricciardi, however, argues that de la Durantaye’s dismissal of Weil’s influence is hasty.3 Ricciardi analyses deeper resonances between Weil’s and Agamben’s philosophies, ultimately claiming that Agamben ‘seems to extend many of the implications and claims of Weil’s idea of force’,4 arguably spreading Weil’s influence into Agamben’s reflections on sovereign power and bare life.

“There is such a situation that Comrade Svoboda is under pressure”. The Soviet leadership and the settlement of relations with Czechoslovakia. May 1969

2019 ◽  
pp. 512-519
Author(s):  
Teymur Dzhalilov ◽  
Nikita Pivovarov
Keyword(s):  
Central Committee ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common

The published document is a part of the working record of The Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee on May 5, 1969. The employees of The Common Department of the CPSU Central Committee started writing such working records from the end of 1965. In contrast to the protocols, the working notes include speeches of the secretaries of the Central Committee, that allow to deeper analyze the reactions of the top party leadership, to understand their position regarding the political agenda. The peculiarity of the published document is that the Secretariat of the Central Committee did not deal with the most important foreign policy issues. It was the responsibility of the Politburo. However, it was at a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee when Brezhnev raised the question of inviting G. Husák to Moscow. The latter replaced A. Dubček as the first Secretary of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia in April 1969. As follows from the document, Leonid Brezhnev tried to solve this issue at a meeting of the Politburo, but failed. However, even at the Secretariat of the Central Committee the Leonid Brezhnev’s initiative at the invitation of G. Husák was not supported. The published document reveals to us not only new facets in the mechanisms of decision-making in the CPSU Central Committee, the role of the Secretary General in this process, but also reflects the acute discussions within the Soviet government about the future of the world socialist systems.

The Political Thought of George Grant

1991 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-68
Author(s):  
H.D. Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
The Political ◽  
George Grant
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