Political parties and representative democracy

2010 ◽  
pp. 129-140
Author(s):  
Gianluigi Galeotti
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Representative Democracy

scholarly journals European Constitutions as sources of Party Law and the Fundamental Law of Hungary = Las Constituciones europeas como fuentes de la Ley de Partidos y la Ley Fundamental de Hungría

2017 ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Peter Smuk
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
System A ◽  
Constitutional State ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Election System ◽  
Fundamental Law ◽  
Sociedad Civil ◽  
The Relationship

<p>La regulación de los partidos políticos parece un tema ligeramente descuidado en la literatura constitucional húngara. Así, a pesar de que hay un gran número de cuestiones que deben analizarse y entenderse en los ámbitos de la democracia representativa, en el sistema electoral y en la financiación de los partidos, derivadas de las particularidades del cambio del régimen político, y que hace necesaria la interpretación de nuestro sistema político actual. Un análisis sustantivo de estas cuestiones en términos de derecho constitucional (y desde las ciencias políticas) podría contribuir a una mejor comprensión de la democracia representativa húngara, el estado constitucional, así como la relación entre la sociedad civil y el Estado. En este documento voy a ofrecer una visión general de las normas constitucionales relativas a los partidos políticos europeos y comparar la redacción de la Ley Fundamental de Hungría con las normas constitucionales creadas en 1989.</p><p>The regulation of political parties seems a slightly neglected topic in the Hungarian constitutional literature. It is so despite the fact that there are a large number of questions to be analysed and understood in the fields of representative democracy, election system and party financing arising from the particularities of the change of the political regime, the recent constitution-making or the necessary interpretation of our current political system. A substantive analysis of these questions in terms of constitutional law (and political science) could contribute to a better understanding of the Hungarian representative democracy, constitutional state as well as the relationship between civil society and the state. In this paper I will provide a rough overview of constitutional rules relating to European political parties and compare the wording of the Fundamental Law of Hungary with the constitutional rules created in 1989.</p><div> </div>

scholarly journals Political Parties and Participative Approaches to Democracy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiano Gianolla
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
Five Star Movement ◽  
Representative Model ◽  
The Relationship

Representative democracy is currenty facing strong social criticism for its incapacity to envolve people in a way that makes them part of the decision-making process. An existing gap between the representatives and the represented is hereby emphasized. In this space, the role of political parties is central in order to bridge society with institutions. How much are parties concerned about this issue? How and in which context do they interact more with their electorate and the wider society? Participatory democracy is emerging throughout the world in different forms and with different results, but the dominant pattern of democracy remains the liberal western democratic paradigm in which people can contribute barely through electing candidates. In order to achieve what Boaventura de Sousa Santos calls ‘democratisation of democracy’ the role of political parties is therefore fundamental in particular to achieve a more participative democracy within the representative model. This article approaches this theme through a bibliographic review comparing social movements and political parties with a focus on the innovation of the Five Star Movement in Italy. Finally, it provides a reading of the relationship between political parties andparticipation, including good practice and perspectives.KEYWORDS: Participation, political parties, social movements, political movements, representative democracy, participatory democracy.

Lasting Political Structures

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isser Woloch
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Military Conscription ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
Post War ◽  
Administrative Structures ◽  
Looking Back

This chapter uses the 1940s—the Resistance, the Liberation, the post-war moment—as a vantage point for looking back at the French Revolution’s projects of representative democracy, decentralization, and recentralization. Among other things it considers the initial re-division of the national territory, changing administrative structures, the uses of elections, the strictures against political parties, and the permutations on these matters across successive post-revolutionary regimes. A final section offers a more conventional chronological account, from 1789 onward, of one of the Revolution’s most consequential innovations: systematic military conscription.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Fabio Wolkenstein
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The State ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Academic Interest ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Western Democracies

In addition to summarizing the book’s main themes as described, this Introduction places special emphasis on connecting the problem animating the book—the apparent incapacity of contemporary parties to mediate between citizens and the state—to current political developments in established Western democracies, showing that the issues the book addresses are not only of academic interest but also directly relevant to ongoing public debates about the state and health of representative democracy. Chief amongst the themes foregrounded here is the rise of so-called ‘populist’ parties on the left and right of the political spectrum, as well as the re-branding of established political actors as ‘movements’ (think, e.g. of Emmanuel Macron’s La République en Marche). These phenomena are interpreted as part of a larger ‘revolt against intermediary bodies’—meaning first and foremost a rebellion against political parties. The Introduction suggests that this ‘revolt’ brings with it only a temporary shift in how representative politics looks, without actually reversing the disconnect between parties and voters or compelling established political parties to give up their privileges and de-colonize the institutions of the state. This argument sets the stage for the book’s core contention that more thought has to be put into finding ways to reconnect political parties with society.

scholarly journals Demokrati og politisk deltagelse

Politik ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Palle Svensson
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
The Self ◽  
World War ◽  
Self Perception ◽  
Social Distribution

Democracy and political participation are closely related, but both the understanding of them and their relationship is disputed. Two conceptions of democracy – in this article labeled ‘democratic revisionism’ and ‘participatory democracy’ – compete for attention. In the article it is shown how the rst conception of de- mocracy as elite competition developed after World War II. It is further explained how participatory democ- racy developed as a critique of the rst conception. It is also shown how the desirability and the functions of political participation are perceived di erently according to the two conceptions of democracy. Various forms of political participation are discussed, and it is shown how the concept of participation in political science and sociology has been developed to include an increasing number of activities. On this basis, the extent and social distribution of various forms of political participation in Denmark is examined. Finally, it is discussed whether the idea of participatory democracy forms the basis of Danish democracy today. It is concluded that the leaders of the main political parties are reluctant to give up power and that the self-perception of Danish democracy is mainly based on the idea of representative democracy that focuses on elite competition. 

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-54
Author(s):  
Karen Celis
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Group Representation ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Feminist Criticism ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Gender And Politics ◽  
Account Giving

Chapter 1 makes a defense of representative democracy even as it acknowledges long-standing and contemporary feminist criticism and surveys the appeal of more fashionable non-representative alternatives. As part of this, the authors consider the failure of political parties to “do good by women.” Adopting a problem-based approach, they remake the case for women’s group representation, reviewing the 1990s politics-of-presence literature in light of criticism based on women’s ideological and intersectional differences. Instead of regarding this as undermining the possibility of women’s group representation, the authors hold that these differences should become central to its successful realization. A second observation is the tendency of gender and politics scholars to disaggregate the concept of representation. Eschewing this approach, they instead hold that political representation is better understood as indivisible: a mélange of its many, overlapping, and connected dimensions. The final section of Chapter 1 introduces the structure and component parts of the book’s argument, introducing the reader to the “affected representatives of women,” and the authors’ twin augmentations, group advocacy and account giving.

scholarly journals La crisis de la democracia representativa. Nuevas relaciones políticas entre democracia, populismo virtual, poderes privados y tecnocracia en la era de la propaganda electoral cognitiva virtual, el microtargeting y el Big Data // The crisis of representation: the new political relations between democracy, populism, private powers and technocracy in the era of the information society

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (103) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
Luis Miguel González de la Garza
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
New Media ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Communication Techniques ◽  
Crisis Of Representation ◽  
Nuevas Tecnologías ◽  
Representative System

Resumen:El trabajo que presentamos trata de contemplar como la erosión del sistema representativo de partidos políticos ha deteriorado gravemente la confianza de los ciudadanos en su efectividad y responsabilidad, hasta el extremo de que nuevos movimientos sociales y políticos propugnen retornar a modelos de democracia directa. Defendemos aquí que ello no es posible, ni deseable precisamente en un momento en el que los nuevos medios técnicos hacen más posible que nunca la aparición de populismos articulados sobre bases tecnológicas que son de una extraordinario peligro para las democracias del siglo XXI. Para ello estudiamos algunas de las ideas centrales de la democracia representativa y de la democracia directa, poniéndolas en conexión con elpoder que las nuevas tecnologías como el Big Data, la propaganda cognitiva electoral y otras técnicas de comunicación electrónica virtual están desplegando sobre nuestras modernas democracias de opinión. Tratamosde poner en evidencia algunos de sus riesgos más relevantes sugiriendo, también, algunos instrumentos para mejorar la siempre perfectible tanto como necesaria democracia representativa, basada en partidos políticos más responsables donde el mandato imperativo de partido sea atemperado por instituciones como el Recall de cada vez mayor uso en el marco del Derecho Constitucional comparado. Aspectos como el rediseño de la privacidad forman parte, brevemente, de la investigación ya que en una ecología de nuevos medios técnicos de procesamiento de la información sólo una intensificación normativa del respeto de la privacidad puede ser la única estrategia de contención de un futuro que sin ella afectaría gravemente a la dignidad humana.Summary:1. A democracy of excessively discontinuous exercise 2. The new media as mirrors where formal democracy reflects. 2.1 Direct democracy and representative democracy, the insufficiency of an unveiled fiction. 2.2. Citizens in advanced democracy wish to participate. 2.3. From a class society to a classified society, the role of big data, 2.3.1. The psychometric profiles, 2.3.2. Electoral cognitive advertising and microtargeting. 2.4 Powers private public powers. 3. The new forms of communication include new ways of participation and control as the recall. 4. Political parties have deteriorated the confidence of citizens in democracy.Abstract:The work that we present tries to contemplate how the erosion of the representative system of political parties has seriously deteriorated the confidence of the citizens in their effectiveness and responsibility, to the extent that new social and political movements propose to return to models of direct democracy. We argue here that this is neither possible nor desirable at a time when the new technical means make more possible than ever the emergence of populisms articulated on technological bases that are an extraordinary danger for the democracies of the 21st century. To this end, we study some of the central ideas of representative democracy and direct democracy, linking them to the power that new technologies such as Big Data, electoral cognitive propaganda and other virtual electronic communication  techniques are deploying on our modern democracies of opinion. We try to highlight some of its most relevant risks, suggesting also some instruments to improve the always perfectible as much as necessary representative democracy based on more responsible political parties where the imperative party mandate is tempered by institutions like the Recall at a time greater use within the framework of comparative Constitutional Law. Aspects such as the redesign of privacy are briefly part of the research since in an ecology of new technical means of information processing, only a normative intensification of respect for privacy may be the only strategy to contain a future that without It would seriously affect human dignity.

scholarly journals Suffrage Expansion and Legislative Behavior in Nineteenth-Century Britain

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Cox ◽  
James W. Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Legislative Behavior ◽  
Party Development

The importance of suffrage expansion to the formation of “modern” political parties—and with them mass representative democracy as we know it today—is widely recognized. Nonetheless, most of what we know about the link between suffrage expansion and democratic politics concerns only the electoral arena. The major comparative studies of party development (Weber 1946; Duverger 1955; LaPalombara and Weiner 1966), for example, have stressed how larger electorates led to more elaborate and centralized extra-parliamentary organization, to “populist” campaigning styles, and to the promotion of socialist parties. This study concerns the legislative effects of extending the suffrage. Although we focus on nineteenth-century Britain, parts of our argument pertain to other cases.

scholarly journals POPULISME, KRISIS DEMOKRASI, DAN ANTAGONISME | POPULISM, THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY, AND ANTAGONISM

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Otto Gusti Madung
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
New Order ◽  
Political Protest ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
The People ◽  
Democratic Discourse

<b>Abstract:</b> Populism generally expresses the conflict between the majority of the people who are “out of power” versus the powerful small elites. The competition is the response to the perpetuating social divisiveness between the small elites and the marginalized majority. Hence, populism can be described as a social and political protest of the citizens against the failures of elitically and pro establishment oriented representative democracy. In this case, the democracy tends to leave the people behind who are the primary goal of the the democracy itself. This essay tries to pose some criticism against the practices of the liberal democracy tranformed into a consensus machine and in this way ignores the dissensual or conflictual aspect of the democracy. The dissensus democracy emphasizes the unlimited conflictual dimension of the democratic discourse. From the point of view of the dissensual democracy, populism can appear as social transformative forces that bring back the democracy to its original meaning as an expression of the people’s sovereignity. However, this can only be realized in a pluralistic millieu and populism can be transformed into an antagonistic democracy. Finally, the essay argues that the practices of populisme in Indonesia fail to be an alternative and antagonistic power to the practices of the Indonesian democracy coopted by the predatory oligarchy. The reason is that the populistic leaders in Indonesia including the Jokowi regime fail to transform the populistic ideas into the new democratic institutions independent from the domination of the oligarchic political parties inherited by the New Order regime. <b>Keywords:</b> Populism, Democracy, Antagonism, Dissensus, Indonesia <b>Abstrak:</b> Secara umum populisme mengungkapkan pertentangan antara rakyat kebanyakan (the people) yang tidak berkuasa versus segelintir kecil elite yang berkuasa. Pertarungan tersebut merupakan tanggapan atas persoalan kesenjangan sosial berkepanjangan antara elite penguasa versus mayoritas masyarakat yang berada di luar kekuasaan. Oleh karena itu, populisme dapat diartikan sebagai ekspresi protes warga masyarakat terhadap sejumlah kegagalan demokrasi representatif yang cenderung elitis dan pro establishment dan melupakan masyarakat umum yang menjadi tujuan awal dari demokrasi. Di dalam artikel ini dikemukakan sejumlah kritik terhadap praktik demokrasi liberal yang sudah bertransformasi menjadi mesin konsensus dan mengabaikan aspek disensus. Demokrasi disensus menekankan aspek pertentangan yang tak terselesaikan secara argumentatif dalam proses demokrasi. Dalam kaca mata demokrasi disensus, populisme dapat tampil sebagai kekuatan transformatif dan mengembalikan makna demokrasi kepada kedaulatan rakyat yang sesungguhnya. Namun, untuk maksud itu, populisme harus menanggalkan corak antipluralisme dan menjadi demokrasi antagonistis. Pada bagian akhir tulisan ini diuraikan juga bahwa di Indonesia politik populisme gagal menjadi kekuatan antagonistik dan emansipatoris terhadap demokrasi yang terkooptasi kekuatan oligarkis. Alasannya, para pemimpin populis termasuk rezim Jokowi gagal menginstitusionalisasikan ide-ide populis dalam institusi demokratis baru yang terlepas dan bebas dari cengkeraman partai-partai politik oligarkis warisan Orde Baru. <b>Kata-kata Kunci:</b> Populisme, Demokrasi, Antagonsme, Disensus, Indonesia

scholarly journals Voters’ preferences for party representation: Promise-keeping, responsiveness to public opinion or enacting the common good

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Werner
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Survey Tool ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
Promise Keeping

The functioning of representative democracy is crucially dependent on the representative behaviour of political parties. Large parts of the party representation literature assume that voters expect parties to fulfil the promises of their election programs. What voters actually want from parties, however, remains largely unclear. Within the Australian context, this article investigates the preferences of voters regarding three ideal party representative styles: ‘promise keeping’; ‘focus on public opinion’; and ‘seeking the common good’. Using a novel survey tool, this study finds that voters value promise keeping highly when it is evaluated individually. However, they rate seeking the common good as most important when the three styles are directly compared. A multinomial logistic regression analysis shows that, in particular, voters who have been involved in party grassroots activities prefer promise keeping. These findings have wider implications for our understanding of how representative democracy can and should work.

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