Holding Government Accountable

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Braunstein
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Government Control ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Moral Communities

Chapter 5 demonstrates that Interfaith and the Patriots developed different ways of enacting active citizenship in the course of their work together, and specifically in their efforts to hold government accountable. Although holding government accountable was a central component of both groups’ efforts, the ways in which they organized their neighbors for collective action, described how accountability should work, became informed about political issues and processes, and interacted with public officials differed in significant ways. Interfaith’s efforts to work alongside public officials to solve shared problems were grounded in a vision of a covenantal relationship between moral communities, political authorities and God. Meanwhile, the Patriots’ confrontational relationship with government reflected a contractual model of citizenship, which framed their individual God-given rights as perpetually threatened by government control. The chapter concludes by demonstrating that the groups’ choices about how to hold government accountable reflected differences in their democratic imaginaries—their ways of understanding how democracy works and the proper role of active citizens in it.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Braunstein
Keyword(s):  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
Good Citizen ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Democratic Tradition ◽  
Democratic Ideals

Chapter 7 summarizes the key findings and contributions of the book. First, it highlights the book’s contributions to understanding how broadly shared democratic ideals can refract into different understandings of what it means to be a good citizen in practice, and ultimately, different styles of engaging in active citizenship. It then discusses the implications of these findings for American democracy itself. Although Interfaith and the Patriots disagree about how democracy ought to work and the proper role of citizens within it, they share an abiding faith in the American democratic project itself. Moreover, the book suggests that this disagreement is not new, and that the complexity of America’s democratic tradition is both a blessing and a curse, fueling perpetual disagreement over what it means to be a good citizen, but also encouraging political commitment. It concludes by suggesting that as long as groups like Interfaith and the Patriots continue to cultivate and enact many different stories of America, and no single story becomes dominant, then citizens can productively interrogate their respective benefits and drawbacks.

Putting Faith into Action

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Braunstein
Keyword(s):  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Public Role ◽  
Religious Others ◽  
Democratic Societies

Chapter 4 demonstrates that Interfaith and the Patriots developed different ways of enacting active citizenship in the course of their work together, and specifically their efforts to put their faith in action. Although both groups asserted that there was a public role for religion in diverse and pluralistic democratic societies, they differed in their understandings of how this should work in practice. Interfaith’s efforts to put their faith in action were driven primarily by concerns about religious inclusion, while the Patriots were driven primarily by concerns about religious liberty. Participants in the groups thus emphasized subtly different religious values, developed different ways of engaging with religious others, and engaged in different kinds of religious (and civil religious) practices. The chapter concludes by tracing the groups’ choices about how to put their faith in action to differences in their democratic imaginaries—their ways of understanding how democracy works and the proper role of active citizens in it.

Rawlsian Public Reason and the Theological Framework of Martin Luther King's “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Buckley Dyer ◽  
Kevin E. Stuart
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Public Reason ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Martin Luther King ◽  
The Ideal

AbstractThe ideal of public reason, made prominent by John Rawls, has become a mainstay of discussions about the proper role of religious arguments in a politically liberal society. In particular, Rawls's theory of public reason requires citizens and public officials to refrain from appealing to comprehensive religious and philosophical doctrines in public deliberation on matters of basic justice and constitutional essentials. In this essay, we review the ways in which the public life of Martin Luther King, Jr. — with its frequent appeals to a comprehensive doctrine to justify disobedience to the law — represents a challenge to the ideal of public reason, and we consider several Rawlsian rejoinders. What is missing from the existing body of scholarship on public reason is a thorough analysis of King's philosophical and theological arguments, including the examples of legal injustice he offered in his celebrated “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” As we note, King's specific examples of unjust laws rely on a theological framework that bedevils the attempt to reconcile his Letter with the constructivist underpinnings of Rawls's theory of public reason. Indeed, Rawls is in something of a bind: either King's argument is not acceptable under the terms of public reason or public reason simply cannot limit contemporary public discourse in the way Rawls has in mind. We consider several possible Rawlsian arguments for the accommodation of King's theological rhetoric, but conclude that the Rawlsian idea of public reason remains deeply problematic.

Narratives of Active Citizenship

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Braunstein
Keyword(s):  
American Culture ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Shared Commitment ◽  
Active Citizen ◽  
The Ideal

Chapters 3 traces how Interfaith’s and the Patriots’ shared commitment to the ideal of active citizenship began to refract into two different group styles of active citizenship. Specifically, this chapter identifies a key process through which the groups’ developed different ways of imagining what it meant to be an active citizen in practice. Both groups drew on American culture and history to develop narratives of active citizenship, yet the groups’ narratives highlighted different combinations of characters, events and plotlines that coalesced into different ideal-typical models of active citizenship—the prophet and the patriot. The fact that they told such different stories about the origins and development of the American democratic project reveals profoundly different democratic imaginaries—ways of understanding how democracy works and the proper role of active citizens in it. Consequently, when these narratives were referenced in the course of the groups’ efforts, they offered different blueprints for their action.

Economic Significance of Social Capital

2011 ◽  
pp. 46-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Polishchuk ◽  
R. Menyashev
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Formal Institutions ◽  
Transmission Channels ◽  
Economic Significance ◽  
Bonding And Bridging ◽  
The Impact

The paper deals with economics of social capital which is defined as the capacity of society for collective action in pursuit of common good. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between social capital and formal institutions, and the impact of social capital on government efficiency. Structure of social capital and the dichotomy between its bonding and bridging forms are analyzed. Social capital measurement, its economic payoff, and transmission channels between social capital and economic outcomes are discussed. In the concluding section of the paper we summarize the results of our analysis of the role of social capital in economic conditions and welfare of Russian cities.

Catch them Young : Role of Educational Institutions in Community Development- A Descriptive Study on the Perception of College Students in Chennai

GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 170-182
Author(s):  
Dr. R. Sundari ◽  
Ms. Sangeetha Manoj
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Grass Root Level

Community Development is a process of collective action taken by the members of a community to generate solutions for common problems.  The aspects of community well being namely Economic, Social, Environmental and Cultural well being evolves from this type of collective action taken at multiple societal levels. (Weaver, 1971) defines community development as a process of “A public-group approach dedicated to achieving the goals of the total body politic.” Therefore, it is evident that a community can be developed through the effective participation of citizens. It is universally acceptable that community service is a vehicle for safeguarding the environment that is initiated from the participants of the community. In order to imbibe the community consciousness among the citizens, every country should “Catch them Young”. The purpose of the paper is to integrate Participative Model (Active Citizenship, Citizen Networks and Co-production) with Self-service Model (Social Governance, Societal Discipline and Accountability). National and international reviews show that the perception about the community and realisation has to be ingrained at the grass root level; this can be achieved through the participation of academic institutions. This paper is an attempt to highlight. The initiatives taken by educational institutions to imbibe social consciousness, The perceptions of students about their role in community development, and, To identify the effective Private Public Partnership areas for community building Factor analysis has been applied to identify the role of educational institutions and individual citizen’s( Students) in building community consciousness. Linear Regression had been applied in the study to measure the influence of Educational Institutions on the role of Students in building the community.  A weighted average score is awarded by the students for the potential areas of public private partnership for community development is highlighted. The results of the study provide an impact created by the institution over the students. The Study also, consolidates some of the successful community bonding and building activities carried out Academic Institutions.

Inside the Enemy's Computer

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clement Guitton
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Technical Problem ◽  
Technical Information ◽  
Cyber Attack ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Current Thinking ◽  
Standards Of Evidence

Attribution — tracing those responsible for a cyber attack — is of primary importance when classifying it as a criminal act, an act of war, or an act of terrorism. Three assumptions dominate current thinking: attribution is a technical problem; it is unsolvable; and it is unique. Approaching attribution as a problem forces us to consider it either as solved or unsolved. Yet attribution is far more nuanced, and is best approached as a process in constant flux, driven by judicial and political pressures. In the criminal context, courts must assess the guilt of criminals, mainly based on technical evidence. In the national security context, decision-makers must analyze unreliable and mainly non-technical information in order to identify an enemy of the state. Attribution in both contexts is political: in criminal cases, laws reflect society’s prevailing norms and powers; in national security cases, attribution reflects a state’s will to maintain, increase or assert its power. However, both processes differ on many levels. The constraints, which reflect common aspects of many other political issues, constitute the structure of the book: the need for judgment calls, the role of private companies, the standards of evidence, the role of time, and the plausible deniability of attacks.

Intellectual Property Rights and Access to Energy Services in Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Professor Adebambo Adewopo ◽  
Dr Tobias Schonwetter ◽  
Helen Chuma-Okoro
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Energy Services ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
The Law

This chapter examines the proper role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in achieving access to modern energy services in Africa as part of a broader objective of a pro-development intellectual property agenda for African countries. It discusses the role of intellectual property rights, particularly patents, in consonance with pertinent development questions in Africa connected with the implementation of intellectual property standards, which do not wholly assume that innovation in Africa is dependent on strong intellectual property systems. The chapter examines how existing intellectual property legal landscapes in Africa enhance or impede access to modern energy, and how the law can be directed towards improved energy access in African countries. While suggesting that IPRs could serve an important role in achieving modern energy access, the chapter calls for circumspection in applying IP laws in order not to inhibit access to useful technologies for achieving access to modern energy services.

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