Contemporary Populist Representation and Its Implications for Democracy

Alternative Form ◽

Actual Performance ◽

Party Government ◽

Conceptual Background ◽

Theoretical Assessment ◽

This chapter aims to shed light on the connections between populism, democracy, and democratic theory by providing a theoretical assessment of contemporary populism and populist representation as an alternative form of political representation to party government or as a corrective of it. The chapter summarizes the conceptual background relating to democracies, populism, and contextual surroundings. Then, it proceeds to investigate how they relate to each other in present-day politics. The author argues that populism is a strategic political style that exploits the gap between the promise and the actual performance of democracies thus reflects on democratic reality. Hence, it embodies what realist democratic theory has argued for quite some time now about the nature of politics. Namely: voters are irrational, our notions of democracy are delusional and populist politicians seem to have realized it first..

Les Sans-papiers

Postcolonial Realms of Memory ◽

10.3828/liverpool/9781789620665.003.0024 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 255-266

Author(s):

Dominic Thomas

Keyword(s):

Police Officers ◽

French Society ◽

The Public ◽

Public Representation ◽

History Of ◽

Sans Papiers ◽

Saint Bernard ◽

The Church ◽

Control and selection have been implicit dimensions of the history of immigration in France, shaping and defining the parameters of national identity over centuries. The year 1996 was a turning point when several hundred African sans-papiers sought refuge in the Saint-Bernard de la Chapelle church in the 18th arrondissement of Paris while awaiting a decision on their petition for amnesty and legalization. The church was later stormed by heavily armed police officers, and although there was widespread support for government policies intended to encourage legal paths to immigration, the police raids provoked outrage. This provided the impetus for social mobilization and the sans-papiers behaved contrary to expectations and decided to deliberately enter the public domain in order to shed light on their conditions. Emerging in this way from the dubious safety of legal invisibility, claims were made for more direct public representation and ultimately for regularization, while also countering popular misconceptions and stereotypes concerning their presence and role in French society. The sans-papiers movement is inspired by a shared memory of resistance and political representation that helps define a lieu de mémoire, a space which is, from a broadly postcolonial perspective, very much inscribed in collective memory.

Responsive versus responsible? Party democracy in times of crisis

Party Politics ◽

10.1177/1354068818761199 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 271-279 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Johannes Karremans ◽

Zoe Lefkofridi

Keyword(s):

Policy Making ◽

The Political ◽

Individual Contribution ◽

Eurozone Crisis ◽

Special Issue ◽

Present Evidence ◽

Party Government ◽

Electoral Incentives ◽

Responsible Party

This essay introduces a collection of papers dealing with the responsive–responsible dilemma of party government. The political developments surrounding the Eurozone crisis attest that the duties of government and the demands of political representation may at times be in sharp contrast with one another. In such contexts, it becomes hard for parties in government to combine responsiveness with responsible policy-making. Late Peter Mair theorized this phenomenon as the increasing bifurcation between the growing complexity of governing in a world of interdependence and the need to respond to often polarizing electoral demands. The key question is whether and how in such contexts parties find the balance between their representative and governing duties. The papers included in this special issue deal with this question in the context of the Eurozone crisis and present evidence about parties’ behavior, rhetoric, and policy outputs. In introducing the contributions here, we illustrate how this collective endeavor helps advance the debate on the major challenges to contemporary representative democracy. More specifically, we first discuss how the framework of the responsive–responsible dilemma helps understanding contemporary political developments. We then critically reflect on the distinction between responsiveness and responsibility. Finally, we present how each individual contribution approaches the question of how parties manage the tension between electoral incentives and governmental duties.

Beyond the Empirical-Normative Divide: The Democratic Theory of Jane Mansbridge

Political Science and Politics ◽

10.1017/s1049096512001035 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 45 (04) ◽

pp. 797-805

Author(s):

Melissa S. Williams

Keyword(s):

Political Science ◽

Direct Democracy ◽

Democratic Theory ◽

James Madison ◽

Graduate Course ◽

Course Syllabi ◽

Self Interest ◽

Science Methodology ◽

Scholarly Inquiry

Jane Mansbridge's intellectual career is marked by field-shifting contributions to democratic theory, feminist scholarship, political science methodology, and the empirical study of social movements and direct democracy. Her work has fundamentally challenged existing paradigms in both normative political theory and empirical political science and launched new lines of scholarly inquiry on the most basic questions of democratic equality, deliberation, collective action, and political representation. Her three best-known books—Beyond Adversary Democracy(1980),Why We Lost the ERA(1986) andBeyond Self-Interest(1990a)—have become part of the political science canon and remain staples on graduate course syllabi decades after their publication. The importance of Mansbridge's work has been recognized by her colleagues through a trifecta of major APSA awards: the Gladys M. Kammerer Award (1987), the Victoria Schuck Award (1988), and, most recently, the James Madison Award and Lecture (2011).

Political Representation in Leader Democracy

Government and Opposition ◽

10.1111/j.1477-7053.2005.00155.x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 358-378 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

András Körösényi

Keyword(s):

Democratic Theory ◽

Democratic Politics ◽

Public Office

AbstractThe essay focuses on the neglected problem of democratic politics, i.e. on the role of leadership. Although in democracies public office holders are controlled to a certain extent, leaders still have wide room for political manoeuvre and decide without any ‘instruction’ of the citizens. Re-working Weber's and Schumpeter's theory, the author aims to build the model of leader democracy. He highlights the major traits of it in a comparison with the deliberative and the aggregative–utilitarian concepts of democratic theory. The theory of leader democracy is applied to the problem of representation, which, in contrast to mechanical mirroring, gains a new, dynamic and qualitative meaning.

The Radical Right versus the Media: from Media Critique to Claims of (Mis)Representation

Politics and Governance ◽

10.17645/pag.v7i3.2131 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 165-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Louise Knops ◽

Benjamin De Cleen

Keyword(s):

Political System ◽

Two Dimensions ◽

Radical Right ◽

Fake News ◽

Media Criticism ◽

Youth Movement ◽

Mainstream Media ◽

The Media ◽

Criticizing mainstream media for their ‘lies’ or ‘fake news’ has become a common political practice on the radical right. Further empirical research is needed to better understand the intricacies of these attacks on media, in particular for the way they relate to criticism of the political system as a whole and to matters of political representation. How do radical right actors construct a sense of political misrepresentation through their critique of media, and how does this allow them to make representative claims? This is what we explore in this article through a discourse analysis of the Flemish radical right youth movement Schild & Vrienden. Drawing inspiration from constructivist theories of representation, we explore the entanglement in empirical practice between two dimensions of representation: 1) between its literal meaning (as ‘portrayal’) and its political meaning (as standing or speaking for), and 2) between representation and misrepresentation. With our analysis, we shed light on the increasing politicization of the media as a non-electoral space of representation and misrepresentation, and on the role played by media criticism in the radical right’s broader (meta)political strategies.

ACTUAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF INNOVATIVE BLINDS / INOVATYVIŲ ŽALIUZIŲ FAKTINIO EFEKTYVUMO TYRIMAS

Mokslas - Lietuvos ateitis ◽

10.3846/mla.2016.942 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 455-460

Author(s):

Giedrius Šiupšinskas ◽

Dovydas Rimdžius ◽

Rasa Džiugaitė-Tumėnienė ◽

Juozas Bielskus ◽

Ignas Šlapkauskas

Keyword(s):

Solar Energy ◽

Natural Circulation ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

The Other ◽

Air Velocity ◽

Actual Performance ◽

Air Supply ◽

Flow Intensity ◽

Experimental Researches ◽

Theoretical Assessment

The paper analyses the innovative internal blinds, which allow to use the solar energy, received through a window for a heating, more efficiently and to ensure a greater air velocity due to the convection. Blinds are constructed that one side is covered with material, which absorbs the solar energy and the other side is reflective. Thus, there is an ability to control an amount of absorbed solar radiation and air supply temperature between the window and the blinds. In addition, the construction of the air to provide locating elements. The elements for air deflection are additionally foreseen in the construction. Due to the natural circulation cold air falls between the blinds and the window, then warms up and rises to the top. The paper presents an empirical and theoretical assessment of an operation of the blinds. In addition, the analysis of the experimental researches of an air flow intensity and a dependency of temperature increase from external (climatic) conditions is performed. Straipsnyje analizuojamos inovatyvios vidinės žaliuzės, kurios leidžia efektyviau panaudoti per langą gautą saulės energiją patalpoms šildyti bei didesniam oro judrumui dėl konvekcijos užtikrinti. Žaliuzės sukonstruotos taip, kad viena jų pusė padengta saulės energiją absorbuojančia medžiaga, o kita pusė yra atspindinti. Taip atsiranda galimybė reguliuoti absorbuojamos saulės spinduliuotės kiekį bei tarp lango ir žaliuzių cirkuliuojančio oro temperatūrą. Papildomai konstrukcijoje numatyti orą nukreipiantys elementai. Šaltas oras natūralios cirkuliacijos būdu patenka tarp žaliuzių ir lango, ten sušyla ir kyla į viršų. Straipsnyje pateikiamas žaliuzių veikimo empirinis ir teorinis įvertinimas. Be to, atliekama eksperimentinių tyrimų analizė, kurios metu vertinamas sukuriamas oro srauto intensyvumas ir temperatūros kitimo priklausomybė nuo išorinių (klimatinių) sąlygų.

Using the Comparative Method in Democratic Theory: A Solution to the “File Drawer Problem”?

Comparative Political Theory ◽

10.1163/26669773-01010004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 29-56

Author(s):

Gergana Dimova

Keyword(s):

Democratic Theory ◽

Comparative Method ◽

Bad News ◽

Good News ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

File Drawer ◽

Fine Tune ◽

Shed Light ◽

Do So ◽

File Drawer Problem

Abstract There are currently dozens of conceptions in democratic theory of what constitutes democratic progress and even more concepts of the crisis of democracy. This plethora of ideas is both good news and bad news. The boom in theorizing means that specializations have allowed political scientists to fine-tune their in-depth analysis in order to capture smaller and more specific movements of democratic progress and regress. But the multiplicity of models of the crisis and transformation of democracy also spells some bad news, which is far less often acknowledged and far less understood. This article seeks to shed light on the dangers of not comparing and integrating various models of democracy and to extrapolate the benefits of using the comparative method to do so.

Nationalizing Islam, Islamizing the Nation

Islam in Malaysia ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190925192.003.0009 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 185-214

Author(s):

Khairudin Aljunied

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

Culture Wars ◽

The State ◽

Alternative Form ◽

Islamic Movements ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Islamic Resurgence ◽

Malaysian Politics ◽

This concluding chapter turns the reader’s attention to global Islamic resurgence as an alternative form of triumphalist Islamization. The state attempted, on many occasions, to tame this resurgent and equally Malay-triumphalist Islam through coercive and co-optation strategies. The effectiveness of these policies reached its zenith in 1998 on the eve of the Reformasi Movement. Islamic movements and Islamic opposition parties closed ranks and battled against the state’s hegemony. They derived their strength and inspiration from a globalized Islam. Amidst this struggle between the state and civil society actors, the notion of a total Islamization of society, of “halalization” and the implementation of the shari’a to cover all aspects of Muslim life bound the opposing groups together, causing much anxiety for non-Muslims and inspiring the development of counter-Islamization and liberal civil society groups. This book closes with brief reflections on recent developments in Malaysia. After a millennium’s journey analyzed through the lenses of entwined history, it is clear to me that Islamization in Malaysia is now in a state of flux. Debates over halal (permissible) food, the hudud, the prohibition of the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims, sectarianism among Sufis and Salafis, culture wars between liberals and conservatives, and regime change that saw the end of UMNO’s dominance in Malaysian politics, among many others, indicate that Islam in Malaysia is, without a doubt, a riveting case study that can shed light on the ways in which Islam in other parts of the world has developed over time. This book is an invitation to a deeper attentiveness to that past and to recognizing that the histories and destinies of Muslims, wherever they may be, have always been entwined.

An Alternative Form of Women's Political Representation: Netto, a Proactive Women's Party in Japan

Politics & Gender ◽

10.1017/s1743923x19000606 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 78-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ki-Young Shin

Keyword(s):

Political Parties ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Term Limits ◽

Child Rearing ◽

Alternative Form ◽

Women's Labor ◽

Electoral Success ◽

New Type ◽

Safe Food

AbstractThis article examines a Japanese local party, Netto, as a new type of women's party. The Netto is defined as a “proactive women's party” to illustrate how it is different not only from conventional political parties but also from parties organized to promote feminist platforms. The Japanese Netto is a women-dominated party in which women constitute the majority of members and candidates, as well as party leadership. The party platform prioritizes practical women's interests such as safe food and child-rearing over women's labor or feminist issues. The gendered characteristics of Netto appeal to middle-class housewives and mothers, facilitating the electoral success of the party in urban areas. The party's notable features, such as rotation of deputies, term limits, donation of deputy salary, and volunteerism, distinguish Netto from conventional political parties. As such, the party provides an alternative model of political representation. The Netto party illustrates that not all women's parties use a feminist platform, but they still play an important role in changing male-dominated electoral politics.

The Ecclesiastical Roots of Representation and Consent

Perspectives on Politics ◽

10.1017/s1537592718002141 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 1075-1084 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jørgen Møller

Keyword(s):

Catholic Church ◽

Eleventh Century ◽

Church And State ◽

Religious Institutions ◽

Modern Democracy ◽

Latin West ◽

And Diffusion ◽

The Church ◽

Recent attempts to explain the development of medieval representative institutions have neglected a long-standing insight of medieval and legal historians: Political representation and rule by consent were first developed within the Catholic Church following the eleventh-century Gregorian Reforms and the subsequent “crisis of church and state”. These practices then migrated to secular polities in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This was facilitated by the towering position of the Church in medieval society in general and the ubiquitous “areas of interaction” between religious and lay spheres in particular. I document these processes by analyzing the initial adoption of proctorial representation and consent at political assemblies, first, within the Church, then in lay polities. These findings corroborate recent insights about the importance of religious institutions and diffusion in processes of regime change, and they shed light on the puzzling fact that representation and consent—the core principles of modern democracy—only arose and spread in the Latin west.