Local Elites in Western Democracies: A Comparative Analysis of Urban Political Leaders in the U.S., Sweden, & The Netherlands.Samuel J. Eldersveld

1996 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 905-908
Author(s):  
Laura A. Reese
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Western Democracies

Democratic Legitimacy

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Rosanvallon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
International Debate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Democratic Authority ◽  
Original Contribution ◽  
Western Democracies

It's a commonplace occurrence that citizens in Western democracies are disaffected with their political leaders and traditional democratic institutions. But this book argues that this crisis of confidence is partly a crisis of understanding. The book makes the case that the sources of democratic legitimacy have shifted and multiplied over the past thirty years and that we need to comprehend and make better use of these new sources of legitimacy in order to strengthen our political self-belief and commitment to democracy. Drawing on examples from France and the United States, the book notes that there has been a major expansion of independent commissions, NGOs, regulatory authorities, and watchdogs in recent decades. At the same time, constitutional courts have become more willing and able to challenge legislatures. These institutional developments, which serve the democratic values of impartiality and reflexivity, have been accompanied by a new attentiveness to what the book calls the value of proximity, as governing structures have sought to find new spaces for minorities, the particular, and the local. To improve our democracies, we need to use these new sources of legitimacy more effectively and we need to incorporate them into our accounts of democratic government. This book is an original contribution to the vigorous international debate about democratic authority and legitimacy.

scholarly journals Sailing Together or Ships Passing in the Night? India and the U.S. in Southeast Asia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Ladwig ◽  
Anit Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Security Architecture ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The Future ◽  
The U.S

Political leaders and analysts have described U.S.-India relations as a globalpartnership with the potential to shape the future security architecture of theIndo-Pacific. As is widely acknowledged, the two countries’ extraregional interestsalign most closely in Southeast Asia. Accordingly, this article examines thepotential for and limitations of U.S. and Indian cooperation in the region to achieveshared aims. It argues that extensive diplomatic consultations between the twocountries have led to a significant convergence in their positions on regionalsecurity challenges. Active cooperation, however, remains constrained by anumber of factors, including India’s need to prioritize foreign policy challengescloser to home, concerns about provoking China, and a discomfort among countriesin Southeast Asia regarding the idea of a joint U.S.-India approach toward theregion. Due to these limitations, U.S.-India policies in Southeast Asia are expectedto operate in parallel instead of becoming a joint endeavor.

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