scholarly journals Drowning Democracy

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-29
Author(s):  
Peter Schrag

In the past century, California has grown a convoluted governing nonsystem that combines the hyper-democracy of the initiative process with the increasingly constricted representative democracy of the formal elective governmental system, most of it imposed by direct democracy. Particularly in the past three decades, the initiative process, driven by a radically changed political culture and reinforced by a spectrum of new technologies, has come close to overwhelming representative democracy. By their very nature, initiatives either require or prohibit specified actions of the ordinary government. As legislatures, governors, county supervisors, city councils, and school boards—and sometimes the courts as well—become more constrained and unable to cope, public frustration increases, producing yet more demands for ballot solutions. As a consequence, the past thirty years have produced vicious cycles of initiatives in which one measure leads to another. The ultimate effect of that dynamic is not just to cloud government accountability but, in the end, the accountability of the voters themselves.

Author(s):  
Jagan M. Gudimettla ◽  
Michael F. Praul ◽  
Jim Grove

Concrete materials and paving technologies have evolved considerably during the past century. However, testing technologies for concrete during construction have not kept pace. Some of the tests that are routinely used are not necessarily performance indicators and some are not made in real time. Seven new technologies are presented that are simple, real-time, field implementable, and economical and in many cases are performance indicators. Although some of these technologies could be used during the mixture design stage, others could be used during construction and some for both purposes. These technologies can be used to supplement or, in some cases, to replace the traditional tests for paving concrete. The discussion focuses on three items: ( a) traditional tests for paving concrete, ( b) new tests and technologies that could be used to supplement or replace the traditional tests, and ( c) suggested future specifications. Data collected by the FHWA Mobile Concrete Laboratory from its technology implementation efforts are presented to support the narrative on the benefits of these new technologies.


2011 ◽  
Vol 681 ◽  
pp. 461-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Berti ◽  
Francesco De Marco ◽  
S. Aldrighetti

The early stage diagnoses of material lattices is becoming a crucial requirement where investigation methods and technologies are faced with both aging of components and materials. The mixing effects of wear, fatigue, temperature variation and environment conditions translate into variations of the atomic flux rate and internal rearrangement of grain size and boundaries of lattices. The related lattice measurements (e.g. the d-.spacing is one important among others) become the only one usable for early stage diagnoses of the lattice structural integrity. When such a diagnoses are the base to identify the qualification of material for the use or the re-qualification for the maintenance in the use, new technologies are required, with methods and appropriate concepts shall be used. The authors bid here to describe shortly the historical evolution of methods and techniques since the 70’s, along with the basic tests performed during the early 90’s of the past century. The technological follow up from those tests is reported along with some results which indicate the significant step up of the most recent technology toward the early stage diagnosis of material via on site x-ray diffraction. Further foreseeable development and advances are also mentioned.


2020 ◽  
pp. 53-78
Author(s):  
Hélène Landemore

This chapter examines the alternative to representative democracy sometimes defended by its democratic critics: direct (or unmediated) democracy. For all its appeal, direct democracy, whether face-to-face or enabled by new technologies, is not a viable solution to the problems of representative democracy because it is either feasible but normatively undesirable or, if it is defined in normatively desirable terms, entirely unfeasible. The chapter pushes back against three common beliefs: the Rousseauvian (originally Hobbesian) idea that sovereignty is essentially about having the final say; the historical claim that representation was rendered necessary by the size of mass societies; and the view of Classical Athens as the archetype of a direct democracy. It argues that direct democracy is a false alternative, one that is credible only if one accepts the mistaken Rousseauvian view of sovereignty as limited to having the final say — and a non-deliberative one at that. In the end, direct democracy is parasitic on non-democratic forms of agenda-setting and deliberation, or else must turn representative — i.e., involve a delegation of authority — to some degree. Even Classical Athens was not the paragon of “direct” democracy as it is often portrayed and functioned along broadly representative or proto-representative (though non-electoral) lines.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (103) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
Luis Miguel González de la Garza

Resumen:El trabajo que presentamos trata de contemplar como la erosión del sistema representativo de partidos políticos ha deteriorado gravemente la confianza de los ciudadanos en su efectividad y responsabilidad, hasta el extremo de que nuevos movimientos sociales y políticos propugnen retornar a modelos de democracia directa. Defendemos aquí que ello no es posible, ni deseable precisamente en un momento en el que los nuevos medios técnicos hacen más posible que nunca la aparición de populismos articulados sobre bases tecnológicas que son de una extraordinario peligro para las democracias del siglo XXI. Para ello estudiamos algunas de las ideas centrales de la democracia representativa y de la democracia directa, poniéndolas en conexión con elpoder que las nuevas tecnologías como el Big Data, la propaganda cognitiva electoral y otras técnicas de comunicación electrónica virtual están desplegando sobre nuestras modernas democracias de opinión. Tratamosde poner en evidencia algunos de sus riesgos más relevantes sugiriendo, también, algunos instrumentos para mejorar la siempre perfectible tanto como necesaria democracia representativa, basada en partidos políticos más responsables donde el mandato imperativo de partido sea atemperado por instituciones como el Recall de cada vez mayor uso en el marco del Derecho Constitucional comparado. Aspectos como el rediseño de la privacidad forman parte, brevemente, de la investigación ya que en una ecología de nuevos medios técnicos de procesamiento de la información sólo una intensificación normativa del respeto de la privacidad puede ser la única estrategia de contención de un futuro que sin ella afectaría gravemente a la dignidad humana.Summary:1. A democracy of excessively discontinuous exercise 2. The new media as mirrors where formal democracy reflects. 2.1 Direct democracy and representative democracy, the insufficiency of an unveiled fiction. 2.2. Citizens in advanced democracy wish to participate. 2.3. From a class society to a classified society, the role of big data, 2.3.1. The psychometric profiles, 2.3.2. Electoral cognitive advertising and microtargeting. 2.4 Powers private public powers. 3. The new forms of communication include new ways of participation and control as the recall. 4. Political parties have deteriorated the confidence of citizens in democracy.Abstract:The work that we present tries to contemplate how the erosion of the representative system of political parties has seriously deteriorated the confidence of the citizens in their effectiveness and responsibility, to the extent that new social and political movements propose to return to models of direct democracy. We argue here that this is neither possible nor desirable at a time when the new technical means make more possible than ever the emergence of populisms articulated on technological bases that are an extraordinary danger for the democracies of the 21st century. To this end, we study some of the central ideas of representative democracy and direct democracy, linking them to the power that new technologies such as Big Data, electoral cognitive propaganda and other virtual electronic communication  techniques are deploying on our modern democracies of opinion. We try to highlight some of its most relevant risks, suggesting also some instruments to improve the always perfectible as much as necessary representative democracy based on more responsible political parties where the imperative party mandate is tempered by institutions like the Recall at a time greater use within the framework of comparative Constitutional Law. Aspects such as the redesign of privacy are briefly part of the research since in an ecology of new technical means of information processing, only a normative intensification of respect for privacy may be the only strategy to contain a future that without It would seriously affect human dignity.


Author(s):  
S. K. Bhattacharyya

This paper reviews the changing nature of research underpinning the revolution in the automotive sector. Legislation controlling vehicle emissions has brought urgency to research, so we are now noticing a more rapid development of new technologies than at any time in the past century. The light-weighting of structures, the refinement of advanced propulsion systems, the advent of new smart materials, and greater in-vehicle intelligence and connectivity with transport infrastructure all require a fundamental rethink of established technologies used for many decades—defining a range of new multi-disciplinary research challenges. While meeting escalating emission penalties, cars must also fulfil the human desire for speed, reliability, beauty, refinement and elegance, qualities that mark out the truly great automobile.


Author(s):  
Shawn VanCour

Reflecting on the forms of mediamaking discussed in preceding chapters, the conclusion assesses their continued relevance for contemporary sound culture and lays out guiding principles for future scholarship. Mediamaking, it argues, entails not only the development of dominant production practices but also the professionalization and legitimation of media labor, playing a vital role in shaping new technologies. Although shifts in radio technologies, industries, content, and audiences have yielded corresponding changes in mediamaking practices throughout the past century, foundational strategies developed by radio workers during the prenetwork era have shown surprising longevity and continue to inform key dimensions of contemporary soundwork. In tracing these transformations in future histories, scholars will need to show continued consideration of more institutionally specific pressures and demands but will reap continued rewards from cultivating transmedia perspectives that connect these developments to larger shifts in period sound cultures.


2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 1143
Author(s):  
Ian J. Lean

Considerable progress has been made in reducing starvation during the past century. This was achieved through increased use of arable land and adoption of new technologies. Future increases in food production will depend to a greater extent than in the past on the adoption of new technologies and must be even more rapidly achieved than in the past to meet the increase in demand for food. Intensive industries such as the poultry industry are under pressure from those engaged with a naturalistic fallacy. Technologies such as antibiotics for chickens or hormonal growth promotants (HGPs) for beef cattle that are safe for people, reduce environmental impacts of production, increase profits for producers, and improve animal well-being will be needed to achieve these increases in food production. The precedent set in the EU in banning HGPs can be understood as a response to the illegal abuse of diethylstilboestrol in the EU and as a non-tariff trade barrier to reduce the importation of beef from more efficient producers. The banning of antibiotics in the EU reflects the unwise application of a ‘precautionary principle’ through which risks were not soundly assessed. However, the unilateral ban established by Coles Supermarkets Pty Ltd on HGPs in Australia represents a more dangerous development, in which marketing ploys have been accorded a higher value than the care of animals, the environment, or the profit made by producers. Decisions such as these have reduced the viability of animal production in the UK and pose a threat to sustainable agricultural production in Australia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-209
Author(s):  
Viktoriya Prystavka

The aim of the article is to study such a design phenomenon as «zine» in terms of etymology of the name and its synonymous variability in English and Ukrainian. The main attention is paid to the ordering and systematization of the chronology of the formation of zine culture in Ukraine and America from the first carriers of the idea of distribution of limited editions to the present day. The development of zine culture in these regions took place in parallel with the acquisition of originality, depending on the socio-cultural situation and technological progress. Adherence to the set goal involves the study of the possibilities of using zines in society, in particular in modern Ukraine. Currently, samizdat has integrated into a new culture and is becoming part of contemporary art and literature. Research methodology. To carry out this study, the method of analysis, comparison and generalization of the documentation of the development of zine culture and its scientific analysis was used. Scientific novelty. The article reviews the parallel formation of zine culture in Ukraine and America. Based on the analysis of different points of view on the stages of development of zines and significant events that influenced it, the author’s chronology is proposed, structured according to three criteria – purpose and content, technical progress, institutionalization of zine culture. Conclusions. The article provides an overview of the historical background of the origin of the terms «zine» and «samizdat», which revealed the semantic similarity of the terms «zine» and «magazine». At the same time, the unique properties of zine as an object with permission for authentic (uncensored) expression, free from commerce, independent of common aesthetic, linguistic and spelling standards, full of unique ability to broadcast creativity and innovation, become apparent. Zine has been found to be a recognized category of publications that a number of scholars and practitioners have sought to single out as an independent form of design. The Zines draw on a long history of independent, alternative, and sometimes radical publications that began long before the first Zines appeared in the 1930s. Over the past century, they have evolved with the communities that produced them and the new technologies that have become available.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-381
Author(s):  
Ny Anjara Fifi Ravelomanantsoa ◽  
Sarah Guth ◽  
Angelo Andrianiaina ◽  
Santino Andry ◽  
Anecia Gentles ◽  
...  

Seven zoonoses — human infections of animal origin — have emerged from the Coronaviridae family in the past century, including three viruses responsible for significant human mortality (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2) in the past twenty years alone. These three viruses, in addition to two older CoV zoonoses (HCoV-229E and HCoV-NL63) are believed to be originally derived from wild bat reservoir species. We review the molecular biology of the bat-derived Alpha- and Betacoronavirus genera, highlighting features that contribute to their potential for cross-species emergence, including the use of well-conserved mammalian host cell machinery for cell entry and a unique capacity for adaptation to novel host environments after host switching. The adaptive capacity of coronaviruses largely results from their large genomes, which reduce the risk of deleterious mutational errors and facilitate range-expanding recombination events by offering heightened redundancy in essential genetic material. Large CoV genomes are made possible by the unique proofreading capacity encoded for their RNA-dependent polymerase. We find that bat-borne SARS-related coronaviruses in the subgenus Sarbecovirus, the source clade for SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, present a particularly poignant pandemic threat, due to the extraordinary viral genetic diversity represented among several sympatric species of their horseshoe bat hosts. To date, Sarbecovirus surveillance has been almost entirely restricted to China. More vigorous field research efforts tracking the circulation of Sarbecoviruses specifically and Betacoronaviruses more generally is needed across a broader global range if we are to avoid future repeats of the COVID-19 pandemic.


VASA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Gebauer ◽  
Holger Reinecke

Abstract. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) has been proven to be a causal factor of atherosclerosis and, along with other triggers like inflammation, the most frequent reason for peripheral arterial disease. Moreover, a linear correlation between LDL-C concentration and cardiovascular outcome in high-risk patients could be established during the past century. After the development of statins, numerous randomized trials have shown the superiority for LDL-C reduction and hence the decrease in cardiovascular outcomes including mortality. Over the past decades it became evident that more intense LDL-C lowering, by either the use of highly potent statin supplements or by additional cholesterol absorption inhibitor application, accounted for an even more profound cardiovascular risk reduction. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), a serin protease with effect on the LDL receptor cycle leading to its degradation and therefore preventing continuing LDL-C clearance from the blood, is the target of a newly developed monoclonal antibody facilitating astounding LDL-C reduction far below to what has been set as target level by recent ESC/EAS guidelines in management of dyslipidaemias. Large randomized outcome trials including subjects with PAD so far have been able to prove significant and even more intense cardiovascular risk reduction via further LDL-C debasement on top of high-intensity statin medication. Another approach for LDL-C reduction is a silencing interfering RNA muting the translation of PCSK9 intracellularly. Moreover, PCSK9 concentrations are elevated in cells involved in plaque composition, so the potency of intracellular PCSK9 inhibition and therefore prevention or reversal of plaques may provide this mechanism of action on PCSK9 with additional beneficial effects on cells involved in plaque formation. Thus, simultaneous application of statins and PCSK9 inhibitors promise to reduce cardiovascular event burden by both LDL-C reduction and pleiotropic effects of both agents.


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