scholarly journals The Contested Ethics of Democracy Promotion

2018 ◽  
pp. 426-439
Author(s):  
Milja Kurki
Keyword(s):  
International Politics ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Political Groups

This chapter explores the ethical justifications actors in international politics may have to promote democracy in other countries. Although ethical debates surrounding the promotion of democracy often remain rather implicit, this chapter seeks to show that it is not irrelevant for our understanding of the practice, or for the practitioners themselves, to think through more carefully the ethical underpinnings that actually and potentially frame this policy agenda. Paying attention to the ethics of democracy promotion is significant not least because we observe that a variety of differing, and contested, ethical assumptions and frameworks can be used to frame the activity by different actors, organizations, and political groups.

scholarly journals Voting patterns and alliance formation in the European Parliament

2008 ◽  
Vol 364 (1518) ◽  
pp. 821-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Hix ◽  
Abdul Noury ◽  
Gérard Roland
Keyword(s):  
European Parliament ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Alliance Formation ◽  
European Union Policy ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Union Policy ◽  
Political Groups

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voluntarily formed transnational political groups and invariably follow the voting instructions of these groups. This is intriguing as there are few obvious incentives for doing so. Unlike national parties, for example, the political groups in the European Parliament are not punished by the electorate if they are divided on key issues, as citizens know very little about what goes on inside the European Parliament. This paper pieces together an explanation of why the European political groups exist and why they have become so powerful by looking at the determinants of group cohesion and by undertaking a spatial analysis of voting in the European Parliament. MEPs who share preferences on a range of issues on the European Union policy agenda have an incentive to establish a division-of-labour contract and to share the costs of collecting information. Once internal party policy specialization and agenda setting has been established, MEPs have incentives to follow the voting instructions of their group owing to the advantages of cohesion in a context of repeated voting.

Monitoring Democracy

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith G. Kelley
Keyword(s):  
International Politics ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Government Behavior ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
The World

In recent decades, governments and NGOs—in an effort to promote democracy, freedom, fairness, and stability throughout the world—have organized teams of observers to monitor elections in a variety of countries. But when more organizations join the practice without uniform standards, are assessments reliable? When politicians nonetheless cheat and monitors must return to countries even after two decades of engagement, what is accomplished? This book argues that the practice of international election monitoring is broken, but still worth fixing. By analyzing the evolving interaction between domestic and international politics, the book refutes prevailing arguments that international efforts cannot curb government behavior and that democratization is entirely a domestic process. Yet, the book also shows that democracy promotion efforts are deficient and that outside actors often have no power and sometimes even do harm. Analyzing original data on over 600 monitoring missions and 1,300 elections, the book grounds its investigation in solid historical context as well as studies of long-term developments over several elections in fifteen countries. It pinpoints the weaknesses of international election monitoring and looks at how practitioners and policymakers might help to improve them.

scholarly journals Brazil Is Not (Perceived as) a Serious Country: Exposing Gaps between the External Images and the International Ambitions of the Nation

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 285-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Buarque
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Nation Branding ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Affairs

This paper analyses international perceptions about Brazil and shows that there is a gap between the images of the nation to the rest of the world and the country’s historic aspirations to be a relevant player in global affairs. By discussing these perceptions, this article brings the study of nation branding closer to the debate of international relations constructivist theories, arguing that images do matter. It analyses secondary data about Brazil from ten different brand surveys, then discusses what it means to be a “serious country” and how that is related to foreign perceptions about the nation. The idea of Brazil as one the "coolest" nations in the world could be considered positive in terms of nation branding, but it may be in contrast with the historic foreign policy agenda of an ambitious nation that tries to project itself as an emerging power in international politics. Being “cool” is often associated with being a nation of parties and fun, which reinforces the frequent description that Brazil “is not a serious country”.

Public Policy Agenda Adapts to Needs

ASHA Leader ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (15) ◽  
pp. 23-23
Author(s):  
George Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Agenda
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