scholarly journals Democracy in the prison of political science

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212093243
Author(s):  
Felipe Antunes de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
The Core ◽  
Individual Traits ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Societal Dynamics

After the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump, a widespread perception emerged that the world was witnessing a crisis of liberal democracy. Not surprisingly, said crisis is at the core of a new batch of political science literature. This review article takes stock of some key contributions to the literature, namely Albright (2018), Levitsky and Ziblatt (2018), Norris and Inglehart (2018), Runciman (2018a) and Eatwell and Goodwin (2018). My key argument is that the reviewed books are fundamentally limited by problematic ontological assumptions stemming from artificial disciplinary boundaries. Privileging either individual traits of authoritarian leaders or the very specific experience of the USA or the UK, they fail to capture varied, yet deeply interconnected international expressions of contemporary authoritarianism. Following Justin Rosenberg’s open invitation to place the concept of multiplicity at the centre of a renewed research agenda, I suggest that a more holistic take on the crisis of democracy requires a renewed attention to inter-societal dynamics.

Strategie Management in Eleven National Libraries: A Report on a Research Study

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Chalmers
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
National Libraries

In 1996 the national libraries of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK and the USA took part in a study of their experiences with strategic management. A literature review had identified 15 key aspects of strategic management. Respondents were asked their views of the importance of each aspect, and how satisfied they were with the library's achievement of it. In every case the importance attached to the aspect was greater than the library's satisfaction with achievement. Each library was also asked to nominate from a checklist the reason or reasons why it had produced its first strategic document. The centrality of the digital information environment to the core functions of national libraries has been highlighted by the study.

scholarly journals A REVIEW ON COVID-19: ORIGIN, SYMPTOMS, PRECAUTION, AND RECENT UPDATE OF COVID-19 AND DATABASE SURVEY OF EIGHT COUNTRIES ON PANDEMIC CORONAVIRUS DISEASE

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
DYADE GK ◽  
CHANDGUDE SHRUSHTI ◽  
DYADE DEEKSHA ◽  
CHANDGUDE PRASAD
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Antiviral Treatment ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Infected Person ◽  
Preventive Control ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a communicable disease caused with newly discovered severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. These droplets are too heavy to suspend in the air and quickly fall on floors or surfaces. Persons can be infected by touching contaminated surface and then to touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. This disease since December 2019 when first was identified spread globally, resulting in the on-going 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. As of May 8, 2020, more than 3,916,338 cases have been reported across 185 countries and territories, resulting in more than 270,711 deaths. More than 1,343,054 people have recovered. The purpose of this review article was to study preventive and measurable actions implemented by the respective countries nationwide to prevent COVID-19’s severity, spread, and mortality. The most affected nations were the USA, Spain, Italy, the UK, France, and Germany, and less affected India, whereas countries like New Zealand were not much affected. To this date, India was able to control spread of COVID-19 due to early measurable preventive control on this disease. The study including recovered rate of disease, growth rate of disease, and mortality rate was carried out for these countries. The study proved that measurable actions such as lockdown imposing and social distance maintenance were effective to prevent spread of COVID-19 and would be effective, as currently, there is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for this.

scholarly journals Urban Uprisings: The Troubled Relationship Between Citizens and Police in France, the UK, and the USA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luuk Slooter
Keyword(s):  
Collective Violence ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
The West ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The Core ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Political Perspective ◽  
Political Protests ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Violent outbursts in Paris (2005), London (2011), and Ferguson (2014) illustrate the problematic and disturbing relationship between citizens and police in the ‘West’. While these episodes are often portrayed as ‘apolitical’ and ‘criminal’ in media and political debates, they are in the academic literature predominantly seen as (unarticulated) forms of political protests against structural inequalities. Building on this political perspective, I will first argue that the interplay between structural, police, and ‘private’ violence is at the core of these urban uprisings. Subsequently, I will identify four common factors that contributed to the onset and legitimization of collective violence in Paris, London, and Ferguson: an emotive and symbolically significant incident, often with a young inhabitant of a marginalized neighbourhood as protagonist; police involvement; unclarity and pre-violence rumours; and pre-existing us-them divides. In the conclusion, I will emphasize the importance and need of a systemic approach towards police reform.

In defiance of an ageing culture

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIKE HEPWORTH
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Middle Years ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

Margaret Morganroth Gullette, Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of the Midlife. Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia 1997, 276pp, $29.95 cloth ISBN 0-8139-1721-2.Margaret Morganroth Gullette is one of America's foremost critics of the concept of ageing as a universal and comprehensive process of decline which begins in the middle years. She is a formidable critic of biological essentialism, defender of social constructionism, and opponent of ‘middle ageism’. Her most recent book, published in 1997 and not yet available in the UK, has been widely acclaimed in the USA. This review article describes Gullette's analysis of the social construction of decline in the context of her previous writings on midlife and outlines her strategy for combatting the decline model of ageing into old age.

A Theory of International Involvement and its Societal Effects

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-44
Author(s):  
Dana El Kurd
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Societal Interactions ◽  
Societal Dynamics

What is the effect of international involvement on authoritarianism? Moreover, what is the effect of this involvement on societal dynamics, in the long-term? This chapter presents a theory of international involvement and its societal effects, arguing that such involvement not only affects behavior or preferences on the margins, but also restructures regime dynamics and societal interactions in a way that has yet to be examined fully in the political science literature. There is evidence to suggest that such involvement leads to polarization within society, but it is also important to understand the effect of that polarization on political behavior in the long-term. The theory presented argues international involvement has three specific effects: firstly, creating a principle-agent problem between regime and society, thus disrupting state–society relations, secondly, increasing polarization within society, and thirdly, inhibiting political engagement.

A discussion of Alexander S. Kirschner's A Theory of Militant Democracy: The Ethics of Combatting Political Extremism

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 796-797
Author(s):  
Giovanni Capoccia
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Political Extremism ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Core ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The U.S

The legitimacy claims of liberal democratic states are typically couched in the language of individual rights and the rule of law. But contemporary liberal democratic states increasingly appeal to a logic of security, law and order, and the need to combat “political extremism.” This logic plays out in Ukraine, Egypt, and Turkey, and in Greece and Germany, but also in the U.S., France, and the UK. It is an increasingly important feature of politics in societies that may be experiencing a rough “transition to democracy,” but also in societies that are conventionally regarded as “consolidated democracies.” The normative and practical challenges presented by this situation are fundamental. Alexander S. Kirschner’s A Theory of Militant Democracy: The Ethics of Combatting Political Extremism offers one interesting take on these issues, which cut to the core of political science as a discipline. We have thus invited a range of political scientists from a variety of subfield and methodological perspectives to comment on the book and on the broader topic the book engages—the ethics of combatting political extremism and indeed the very political construction of “political extremism.” -- Jeffrey C. Isaac

Response to Eric Uslaner's review of A Culture of Corruption: Everyday Deception and Popular Discontent in Nigeria

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1176-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Jordan Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Science ◽  
The Political ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ordinary Citizens

I am grateful for Eric Uslaner's thoughtful review of my book. The exchange between us highlights for me, above all, the benefits of reading and conversing across disciplinary boundaries. Uslaner correctly notes that my book refers relatively little to a vast political science literature on corruption. My aim was to understand corruption in Nigeria as it is experienced by ordinary citizens, rather than to contribute to Western analytical debates about (possibly) more universal aspects of corruption and its consequences. But I certainly acknowledge and accept that my own analysis and understanding (as well as the larger contribution of my book) would have benefited from a deeper engagement with the political science literature on corruption. I would quibble with his contrast between anthropologists' “stories” and political scientists' “data.” To me, real people's lives and narratives are among the most powerful data in the social sciences—but that is why I am an anthropologist.

A Delphi study of late-onset personality disorders

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (07) ◽  
pp. 1007-1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erlene Rosowsky ◽  
Emily Lodish ◽  
James M. Ellison ◽  
S. P. J. van Alphen
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Delphi Study ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Late Life ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

ABSTRACTObjectives:The DSM-5 describes personality disorders (PDs) as emerging in early life and remaining continuous throughout the life-span. Yet case studies and expert opinion support the existence of late-onset PDs. Little is known about PDs in late life, and our instruments for assessing them are not well validated. Thus, the focus of this exploratory Delphi study was the late-onset PD, with special attention to the accuracy of the core criteria for the diagnosis.Design:A Delphi study was designed to assess the presentation of PDs in late life. The Delphi consisted of three successive rounds of inquiry. Between rounds, the participants were provided with a summary of the panel’s responses.Participants:A panel of 21 experts included published authors, researchers, and teachers from the USA, the UK, Australia, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.Measurements:Researchers designed a survey that included an introduction, a demographic questionnaire, and five questions that varied in presentation and response format.Results:Experts reached consensus that a variant of PD appears de novo in old age. The core features of inflexibility and pervasiveness may not pertain to late-onset PD. There was agreement that frequently occurring life events contribute selectively to the expression of late-onset PD, with the major ones being death of a spouse or partner and transition to a nursing or assisted-living facility.Conclusions:Nearly all participants took the position that PD can present for the first time in old age and be clinically identifiable without having been so identified earlier in life.

A discussion of Alexander S. Kirschner's A Theory of Militant Democracy: The Ethics of Combatting Political Extremism

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 789-791
Author(s):  
Cas Mudde
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Political Extremism ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Core ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The U.S

The legitimacy claims of liberal democratic states are typically couched in the language of individual rights and the rule of law. But contemporary liberal democratic states increasingly appeal to a logic of security, law and order, and the need to combat “political extremism.” This logic plays out in Ukraine, Egypt, and Turkey, and in Greece and Germany, but also in the U.S., France, and the UK. It is an increasingly important feature of politics in societies that may be experiencing a rough “transition to democracy,” but also in societies that are conventionally regarded as “consolidated democracies.” The normative and practical challenges presented by this situation are fundamental. Alexander S. Kirschner’s A Theory of Militant Democracy: The Ethics of Combatting Political Extremism offers one interesting take on these issues, which cut to the core of political science as a discipline. We have thus invited a range of political scientists from a variety of subfield and methodological perspectives to comment on the book and on the broader topic the book engages—the ethics of combatting political extremism and indeed the very political construction of “political extremism.” — Jeffrey C. Isaac

A discussion of Alexander S. Kirschner's A Theory of Militant Democracy: The Ethics of Combatting Political Extremism

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 794-795
Author(s):  
Nomi Claire Lazar
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Political Extremism ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Core ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The U.S

The legitimacy claims of liberal democratic states are typically couched in the language of individual rights and the rule of law. But contemporary liberal democratic states increasingly appeal to a logic of security, law and order, and the need to combat “political extremism.” This logic plays out in Ukraine, Egypt, and Turkey, and in Greece and Germany, but also in the U.S., France, and the UK. It is an increasingly important feature of politics in societies that may be experiencing a rough “transition to democracy,” but also in societies that are conventionally regarded as “consolidated democracies.” The normative and practical challenges presented by this situation are fundamental. Alexander S. Kirschner’s A Theory of Militant Democracy: The Ethics of Combatting Political Extremism offers one interesting take on these issues, which cut to the core of political science as a discipline. We have thus invited a range of political scientists from a variety of subfield and methodological perspectives to comment on the book and on the broader topic the book engages—the ethics of combatting political extremism and indeed the very political construction of “political extremism.” -- Jeffrey C. Isaac

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