Pomiędzy utopią a predykcją (refleksje publicystyczne)

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (247) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Jankowski
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
End Of History ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The World

The article presents the vision of the development of countries and societies as seen in threeworks from the 1990s: Francis Fukuyama’s End of History, Samuel Huntington’s The Clash ofCivilisations and Benjamin Barber’s Jihad vs McWorld. The author compares these visions to the contemporary world, together with their utopian and dystopian aspects, wondering whichof them more accurately predicted the directions of its development. Treating these works asan entry point, he considers the alternatives of the dominating liberal democracy, analysesthe features of the more and more popular neomedievalism and the flaws and advantages ofdirect democracy. Talking about direct democracy, he describes the only functioning exampleof such political system in Switzerland. Describing its details and specification, he wonders ifthe system analogous to the Swiss one could be useful somewhere else. By referring to thisproblem in the context of technological advancement, he considers the issue of developingdirect democracy with the use of electronic media. In the end, the again refers to the worksby Barber, Fukuyama and Huntington, expressing his regret for the lack of other, equally boldvisions of the world and political systems development in contemporary times.Key words: political system, liberalism, direct democracy, neomedievalism

Demokracja nieprzedstawicielska – egalitarne „wyjście awaryjne”czy narzędzie autorytarnych populistów?

1970 ◽  
Vol 23 (301) ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Bartosz Rydliński
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Democratic Political System

The article presents the main ideological and theoretic assumptions of non-representative democracy, having historically strongly left-wing character, not an easy practice of applying this form of democracy in Polish and European conditions. The author tries to indicate a certain dialectic dualism of direct democracy, which more and more often constitutes contemporary crisis of liberal democracy in the contemporary debate on the negative impact of neoliberal globalization on democratic political system.

The ongoing aftermath to the financial crisis and the Great Recession

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 560-570
Author(s):  
Gerardo del Cerro Santamaría
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
The West ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The World

This article discusses the consequences of the financial crisis that started in 2008 in the West, and particularly in the United States, as a manifestation of neoliberal capitalism’s multiple failures. In doing so, it focuses on the scholarly contributions of Manuel Castells and his colleagues in two important books: Aftermath: The Cultures of the Economic Crisis (2012) and Another Economy is Possible (2017). Both books are collective works led and edited by Castells. Also included in the review is a third book by Castells, Rupture: The Crisis of Liberal Democracy (2018), which can be read as a statement on some of the political consequences of the 2008 financial crisis and a report on the current crisis of liberal democracy. The contention is that Castells et al. make an important contribution to the socio-economic literature on the financial crisis, its consequences, and the interpretation of the societal changes that ensued and are key to understand our contemporary world. Such contribution, as observed in the three books under review, can be summarized as follows: (1) Castells and colleagues provide cases and examples from around the world in a broad comparative fashion, thus expanding our understanding of a crisis that was essentially a crisis of the West with ramifications in other countries but never a truly global crisis. (2) The approach of Castells and his colleagues is interdisciplinary and goes beyond purely economic arguments to include sociological, political and cultural ideas and insights that help us understand the complexity of the historical period under analysis; readers develop an awareness of the systemic character of the crisis, where all events were closely interrelated; in particular, both micro and macro processes leading to the crisis converged into a mutually dialectical and reinforcing relationship that warrants the contention by the authors that ‘economies’ are ‘cultures.’ (3) The authors in both Aftermath and Another Economy is Possible focus on the (long) aftermath of the crisis, which is still ongoing as of September 2019 around the world; in fact, one of Castells’ main points is that the financial crisis brought about irreversible societal change, ongoing and clearly visible today, as it triggered a significant restructuring of global informational capitalism. (4) The authors provide a focus on one of the reactive consequences of the crisis: alternative economic practices developing in the aftermath of the crisis, under the premise that we might be witnessing the rise of a new economic model based on new, alternative values. (5) Castells provides a discussion (in Rupture) of aspects of the contemporary political landscape a decade after the outset of the financial crisis and the Great Recession.

Political Opposition in the Contemporary World

1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Blondel
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
General Picture ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Classical Work ◽  
The World ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Western Democracies

ALTHOUGH THE CLASSICAL WORK ON POLITICAL OPPOSITION IN Western Democracies, edited by Robert Dahl, was published decades ago, in 1966, the analysis of the characteristics of opposition, in democracies or elsewhere, has advanced rather less than other aspects of comparative politics. The word ‘opposition’ is used daily to account for a variety of developments; but its many meanings have not been systematically related to the differences among the political systems of the world. A number of comparative studies did appear after the 1966 seminal work, admittedly, including one by Dahl himself in 1973, as well as those by Ionescu and Madariaga in 1968, by Schapiro in 1972, by Tokes in 1979, by Kolinsky in 1988 and by Rodan in 1996; these volumes explore aspects of the concept which could not have been even referred to in the original study, since that study was confined to Western democracies and to the part played by political parties in the context of opposition. Yet the problem has still not been tackled truly comprehensively, as, with the exception of the 1973 Dahl volume, the works on the subject are comparative only in the sense that they deal with more than one country; but their scope remains limited to a region or to a particular type of political system. Meanwhile, many country analyses examine the nature of political opposition in each particular case, but the information which they provide has to be brought within a common framework before we can hope to obtain a general picture of the characteristics of opposition across the world.

Liberal democracy as the end of history

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doh Chull Shin ◽  
Hannah June Kim
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Asian Population ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
End Of History ◽  
The Third ◽  
The End Of History

A growing number of political scientists have recently advocated the theses that democracy has emerged as a universal value and that it is also becoming the universally preferred system of government. Do most people in East Asia prefer democracy to nondemocratic systems, as advocates of these Western theses claim? Do they embrace liberal democracy as the most preferred system as they become socioeconomically modernized and culturally liberalized? To address these questions, we first propose a typology of privately concealed political system preferences as a new conceptual tool in order to ascertain their types and subtypes without using the word “democracy”. By means of this typology, we analyze the third wave of the Asian Barometer Survey conducted in 12 democratic and nondemocratic countries. The analysis reveals that a hybrid system, not liberal democracy, is the most preferred system even among the culturally liberalized and socioeconomically modernized segments of the East Asian population. Our results show that the increasingly popular theses of universal and liberal democratization serve merely in East Asia as prodemocracy rhetoric, not as theoretically meaningful propositions.

scholarly journals Kritik Pemikiran Khalifah Hizbut Tahrir yang Autokratik

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 434-458
Author(s):  
Ainur Rofiq Al Amin
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Compatible System ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
The World ◽  
Central Elements ◽  
Muslim Communities

The proponents of Hizbut Tahrir (HT) claim that the structure of HT’s political system has been the sole best system and it is deemed as a single compatible system to deal with all problems faced by the modern people in this modern age. The political system has been claimed as being capable to replace all existing political systems in the world nowadays. They call this political system khilāfah coupled with khalīfah as the central elements. To the proponents of HT, the khilāfah system they promulgate among the Islamic communities throughout the world has been a legacy of the Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, the Muslim communities have to uphold this system regardless of their geographical boundaries. This article seeks to track roots of thought, which provide the political system called khilāfah and khalīfah propagated by HT foundation for its existence. In doing so, I will refer to authoritative references written and published by the proponents of HT. The study finds that the model of election, appointment, impeachment, and power of khalīfah along with obedience upon him leads to autocratic governance.

scholarly journals Federal System and Direct Democracy in Switzerland

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 91-101
Author(s):  
Miroslaw Matyja
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Federal System ◽  
Federal Constitution ◽  
Unique System ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way

The main aim of this work is to present and analyze the structure and the way of operating of the Swiss instruments of direct democracy, as well as its significance for the country’s development. The Swiss example is the best case of functioning democracy in the world. Throughout the centuries, the Swiss political system has evolved into a mature and efficient democracy. The process of its improvement is still going on. Today, the political system of Switzerland can be described as parliamentary-cantonal. In 1848, the country adopted the Federal Constitution and a system based on referenda, while local issues, such as taxes, judiciary, schooling, police, and welfare were left to the cantons. In 1874, the document was amended and the optional referendum was introduced. In 1891, another amendment cemented the unique system by rooting in strongly in direct democracy. The current constitution of Switzerland was adopted by the majority of voter through a referendum that took place in 1999.

scholarly journals Estimating and examining the replicability of belief system networks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark John Brandt
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Belief System ◽  
System Structure ◽  
Centrality Measures ◽  
The Political ◽  
World Values Survey ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
System P ◽  
The World

Belief system structure can be investigated by estimating belief systems as networks of interacting political attitudes, but we do not know if these estimates are replicable. In a sample of 31 countries from the World Values Survey (N = 52,826), I find that country’s belief system networks are relatively replicable in terms of connectivity, proportion of positive edges, some centrality measures (e.g., expected influence), and the estimates of individual edges. Betweenness, closeness, and strength centrality estimates are more unstable. Belief system networks estimated with smaller samples or in countries with more unstable political systems tend to be less replicable than networks estimated with larger samples in stable political systems. Although these analyses are restricted to the items available in the World Values Survey, they show that belief system networks can be replicable, but that this replicability is related to features of the study design and the political system.

scholarly journals BREXIT AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE CRISIS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
Populist Movements

The publication is devoted to the analysis of the UK exit from the European Union as a manifestation of the systemic crisis of the liberal democracy model. The causes and difficulties of this process are analyzed under the conditions of the failure of the political system to make political decisions. The problematic issues of liberal ideology and the model of liberal democracy were examined. The differences in the ideological convictions of the two founders of liberalism – Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, as well as the role of these differences in the modern functioning of liberal democracy in the United Kingdom. The role of globalization processes in the world in the context of the development and functioning of liberal democracy is analyzed. Some features of the course of globalization processes in the world are highlighted. The features of the existence of the European Union as an international supranational organization in the context of its influence on the functioning and stability of the political system of the United Kingdom are examined. The features of the functioning of the model of liberal democracy under conditions of strengthening the international way of making political, economic and legal decisions are emphasized. Particular attention is paid to the political motives of organizing of start of the process of the UK’s exit from the European Union, as well as the consequences of such a decision. In addition, the role of populist movements in this process, that have Euro-skeptical positions, has been established. The features of the functioning of populist movements are highlighted. The essence of the crisis of the model of liberal democracy in the United Kingdom is determined. The author analyzes the risks of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union in the context of a peace settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland as one of the indicators of the crisis of the liberal political system. In conclusion is performed analysis of some results of the referendum on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

scholarly journals Liberalizm wobec polaryzacji politycznych

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (`1) ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Janusz A. Majcherek
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Main Criterion ◽  
Strong Connection ◽  
Primary Model ◽  
The World ◽  
Democratic Systems

Liberalism and political polarization: The customary classification of the ideological doctri‑ nes in democratic systems, which expanded along a left–right axis, is nowadays obsolescent and has been deconstructed. At the same time, the close and strong connection between de‑ mocracy and liberalism, on which the primary model of liberal democracy was established, has been broken in many places of the world. The emerging of illiberal democracies has made the liberal component the main criterion for the classification of contemporary political systems, instead of dividing them into democratic and nondemocratic systems as before. Numerous ideological options could also be classified as being contrary to the liberal one. Liberalism has thus become important in the typologies and analyses of contemporary political systems and ideological options as the opposite to those systems on many new axes.

scholarly journals ESCALATION OF CRISIS IN POLITICAL SYSTEMS

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-198
Author(s):  
Lidiia Kostetska
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The World

Transformational changes have been taking place in the political systems in many countries of the world over the last few decades. This issue arouses the great interest of scientists and researchers. In the article, I pay particular attention to the study of the “traditional” and “new” party systems and their role in the country’s contemporary political life. Given the challenge of the day, I see populism as a problem with its impact on democracy along with such issues as the role of populist parties and the citizens’ attitude to them; the analysis of problems developing in the political process, particularly, in parties and movements of the populist type; the formation and development of multi-party systems and democracy as a whole.Populism is considered in the article as a political ideology. This phenomenon is investigated as a component of the political parties’ activities, especially, of the Ukrainian parties. A comparative analysis of populist parties in the European Union and Ukraine has been carried out.I analyze the main factors of populism’s influence on the party-political system on the examples of the European countries and Ukraine. I also prove that populism has always occupied a special place in the implementation of programs of political leaders and parties. It is noted that populism remains the current day phenomenon of both the party-political system and the socio-economic life of the countries in the world. Having a considerable influence over the politics of the countries, where functioning of democratic institutions is relatively inexperienced, populism has a rather clear manifestation in the modern political space and the “old” democracies. There is a clear link between increasing populism and exacerbating socio-economic problems. The inability of the political establishment, including the democratic one, to respond effectively to new problems and challenges is an important factor contributing to the emergence and growth of populist influence.The in-depth analysis of the populist rhetorical and political effects on the development of modern democracy is particularly important, i. e. the margins between the reality and virtuality, truth and falsehood are leveling; facts lose their value; deconstruction of truth takes place; traditional ideologies are destroyed; moral relativism, hypocrisy and  double standards are spreading out.

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