Some Notes on Democratic Theory and Practice

1980 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Stanley Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Liberal Theory ◽  
Essential Difference ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Political Democracy ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries

It is impossible not to be struck by the present sad state of democratic theory. I mean by democratic theory the quest for a social and political order that would give to citizens the greatest possible control of their fate — a formula obviously broad enough to be compatible with a vast variety of institutional experiments. This sad slate is the result of three facts : the demise of past democratic theory, i.e.. liberal theory ; the tragedy of socialist theory, which aimed at unmasking the fallacies and remedying the vices of liberalism ; the current decline of political philosophy. I will briefly examine the first fact below. As for the second, since my purpose in this note is not to review past theories but to try to understand why the dominant one went wrong and to suggest a few starting points for reconstruction, let me say simply that socialist theory seems split between perversion and impotence. There is perversion insofar as its Marxist-Leninist version has led to less, not more democracy, through the establishment not of classless societies, but of dictatorships over classes in the name of future liberation, to a ruthless suppression or denial of political liberties, and to the imposition of formidable sacrifices on individuals (justified by the « construction of socialism ») without their consent And there is impotence insofar as the social-democratic version, which defines socialism as the extension of political democracy to economic concentrations of power, i.e., the application of democratic procedures to all common enterprises, whether economic or political, has seemed incapable of achieving its goal, by contrast with liberal theory which, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, had succeeded in inspiring and mobilizing enough of a coalition of political and social forces to overthrow authoritarian and feudal regimes in a number of countries. (There is therefore an essential difference between the demise of liberal theory and the impotence of social democracy : the former results from developments subsequent to, indeed partly provoked by, the success of liberalism, the latter results from the inability to overcome the trends that have undermined reigning liberalism).

Towards a Social Democratic Theory of the State

1987 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Pettit
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Theory ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Equal Respect ◽  
The Ideal

The paper attempts two tasks. The first is to provide a characterization of the social democratic approach which sets it in contrast to liberal democratic theories. This is pursued by contrasting the different interpretations of the ideal of equal respect which are associated with the two approaches. The second task is to establish that the social democratic approach is, if not clearly superior, at least worth considering further. This task is pursued by the attempt to vindicate three assumptions which the social democratic approach must make about the state.

scholarly journals Contestando a “Ciência Social Norte-Americana”: críticas à postura conservadora das teorias do mainstream das Relações Internacionais / Disputing the "American Social Science": critical to conservative stance of the mainstream theories of IR

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 448-480
Author(s):  
Hermes Moreira Jr.
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status

A concepção de uma disciplina acadêmica sistematizada para o estudo das relações internacionais se deu atrelada à necessidade de criação de um arcabouço teórico para a compreensão da dinâmica do sistema internacional e das possibilidades de mudança ou estabilidade da ordem política nesse sistema. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste texto é demonstrar em que medida as teorias do chamado mainstream acadêmico, tradicionais na análise da política internacional, ao naturalizar a conformação da ordem política internacional e minimizar o papel das disputas entre as forças sociais na constituição das relações internacionais, exercem um papel favorável à manutenção da ordem hegemônica e conservação do status quo. Não obstante, perspectivas contestatórias reconheceram e evidenciaram os limites das teorias do mainstream e preencheram a lacuna político-acadêmica contida nas teorias tradicionais de Relações Internacionais ao longo do desenvolvimento de seu campo acadêmico e institucional. Abstract: The design of an academic discipline for the systematic study of international relations occurred tied to the need to establish a theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of the international system and the possibilities for change or stability of the political order in this system. Accordingly, this paper aims to demonstrate the extent to which the so-called mainstream academic theories, traditional analysis of international politics, to naturalize the conformation of the international political order and minimize the role of the disputes between the social forces in the constitution of international relations, play a role in favor of maintaining the hegemonic order and preserving the status quo. Nevertheless, prospects contesting recognized and showed the limits of the mainstream theories and filled the political and academic gap contained in traditional theories of international relations during the development of their academic and institutional concepts. 

Conceptual foundations for the development of J.G.Turner’s general sociological theory: Metatheoretical ideas, basic concepts and analytical scheme

2019 ◽  
pp. 40-60
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Reznik
Keyword(s):  
Social Evolution ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Analytical Scheme ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
The Social ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Conceptual Foundations

The article discusses the conceptual foundations of the development of the general sociological theory of J.G.Turner. These foundations are metatheoretical ideas, basic concepts and an analytical scheme. Turner began to develop a general sociological theory with a synthesis of metatheoretical ideas of social forces and social selection. He formulated a synthetic metatheoretical statement: social forces cause selection pressures on individuals and force them to change the patterns of their social organization and create new types of sociocultural formations to survive under these pressures. Turner systematized the basic concepts of his theorizing with the allocation of micro-, meso- and macro-levels of social reality. On this basis, he substantiated a simple conceptual scheme of social dynamics. According to this scheme, the forces of macrosocial dynamics of the population, production, distribution, regulation and reproduction cause social evolution. These forces force individual and corporate actors to structurally adapt their communities in altered circumstances. Such adaptation helps to overcome or avoid the disintegration consequences of these forces. The initial stage of Turner's general theorizing is a kind of audit, modification, modernization and systematization of the conceptual apparatus of sociology. The initial results obtained became the basis for the development of his conception of the dynamics of functional selection in the social world.

Eyblism and the Social Environment in Theory and Practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
N. N. Khomutova ◽  
K. A. Vizner ◽  
S. A. Makhortova ◽  
S. N. Chudievich
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Good Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
Free Environment ◽  
Barrier Free

The problem of the discrimination of people with disabilities remains being an urgent social problem. Misunderstanding of the meaning of this problem by others results in a situation when invalid’s level of life cannot be equal to a healthy person’s level of life. This article raises the issue of ableism in order to explore the idea of barrier-free environment integration. The results of a social survey are demonstrating a good level of respondent’s awareness concerning this problem and their will to participate in a discussion and taking of measures for the integration of a barrier-free environment with the intention to raise the invalid’s level of life.

Sentencing Policy as a Force for Social Cohesion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Henham
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sentencing Policy

This chapter sets out the case for adopting a normative approach to conceptualizing the social reality of sentencing. It argues that policy-makers need to comprehend how sentencing is implicated in realizing state values and take greater account of the social forces that diminish the moral credibility of state sponsored punishment. The chapter reflects on the problems of relating social values to legal processes such as sentencing and argues that crude notions of ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ approaches to policy-making should be replaced by a process of contextualized policy-making. Finally, the chapter stresses the need for sentencing policy to reflect those moral attachments that bind citizens together in a relational or communitarian sense. It concludes by exploring these assertions in the light of the sentencing approach taken by the courts following the English riots of 2011.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aled Davies
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Financial Centre ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post War ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

This book is a study of the political economy of Britain’s chief financial centre, the City of London, in the two decades prior to the election of Margaret Thatcher’s first Conservative government in 1979. The primary purpose of the book is to evaluate the relationship between the financial sector based in the City, and the economic strategy of social democracy in post-war Britain. In particular, it focuses on how the financial system related to the social democratic pursuit of national industrial development and modernization, and on how the norms of social democratic economic policy were challenged by a variety of fundamental changes to the City that took place during the period....

The Politics of Banking and Social Democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aled Davies
Keyword(s):  
Banking System ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Industrial Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Political Demand

This chapter concerns the politics of managing the domestic banking system in post-war Britain. It examines the pressures brought to bear on the post-war settlement in banking during the 1960s and 1970s—in particular, the growth of new credit creating institutions and the political demand for more competition between banks. This undermined the social democratic model for managing credit established since the war. The chapter focuses in particular on how the Labour Party attempted in the 1970s to produce a banking system that was competitive, efficient, and able to channel credit to the struggling industrial economy.

Theory and Practice of the Social Studies.Earl S. Johnson

1957 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-327
Author(s):  
Lloyd Allen Cook
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Social
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