Liberal democracy and human rights in Indonesia

2020 ◽  
pp. 32-62
Author(s):  
Daniel Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Liberal Democracy

Trust in a Polarized Age

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Vallier
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
Downward Spiral

Americans today don’t trust each other and their institutions as much as they used to. The collapse of social and political trust arguably has fueled our increasingly ferocious ideological conflicts and hardened partisanship. But is the decline in trust inevitable? Are we caught in a downward spiral that must end in war-like politics, institutional decay, and possibly even civil war? This book argues that American political and economic institutions are capable of creating and maintaining trust, even through polarized times. Combining philosophical arguments and empirical data, the author shows that liberal democracy, markets, and social welfare programs all play a vital role in producing social and political trust. Even more, these institutions can promote trust justly, by recognizing and respecting our basic human rights.

scholarly journals Polish Catholic Bishops, Nationalism and Liberal Democracy

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Madalena Meyer Resende ◽  
Anja Hennig
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Church Leadership ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
National Catholicism ◽  
Law And Justice ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Church

The alliance of the Polish Catholic Church with the Law and Justice (PiS) government has been widely reported and resulted in significant benefits for the Church. However, beginning in mid-2016, the top church leadership, including the Episcopal Conference, has distanced itself from the government and condemned its use of National Catholicism as legitimation rhetoric for the government’s malpractices in the fields of human rights and democracy. How to account for this behavior? The article proposes two explanations. The first is that the alliance of the PiS with the nationalist wing of the Church, while legitimating its illiberal refugee policy and attacks on democratic institutions of the government, further radicalized the National Catholic faction of the Polish Church and motivated a reaction of the liberal and mainstream conservative prelates. The leaders of the Episcopate, facing an empowered and radical National Catholic faction, pushed back with a doctrinal clarification of Catholic orthodoxy. The second explanatory path considers the transnational influence of Catholicism, in particular of Pope Francis’ intervention in favor of refugee rights as prompting the mainstream bishops to reestablish the Catholic orthodoxy. The article starts by tracing the opposition of the Bishops Conference and liberal prelates to the government’s refugee and autocratizing policies. Second, it describes the dynamics of the Church’s internal polarization during the PiS government. Third, it traces and contextualizes the intervention of Pope Francis during the asylum political crisis (2015–2016). Fourth, it portrays their respective impact: while the Pope’s intervention triggered the bishops’ response, the deepening rifts between liberal and nationalist factions of Polish Catholicism are the ground cause for the reaction.

scholarly journals Religion & Transitional Justice

Daedalus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 149 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-200
Author(s):  
Colleen Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Philosophical Theory ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Religious Actors ◽  
Religion And Democracy ◽  
Constitutive Element

Transitional justice refers to the process of dealing with human rights abuses committed during the course of ongoing conflict or repression, where such processes are established as a society aims to move toward a better state, and where a constitutive element of that better state includes democracy. A philosophical theory of transitional justice articulates what the moral criteria or standards are that processes of transitional justice must satisfy to qualify as just responses to past wrongdoing. This essay focuses on the roles of religion in transitional justice. I first consider the multiple and conflicting roles of religion during periods of conflict and repression. I then argue against conceptualizing transitional justice in a theologically grounded manner that emphasizes the importance of forgiveness. Finally, I discuss the prominent role that religious actors often play in processes of transitional justice. I close with the theoretical questions about authority and standing in transitional contexts that warrant further examination, questions that the roles of religious actors highlight. Thinking through the relationship between religion and democracy from the perspective of transitional justice is theoretically fruitful because it sheds more light on additional dimensions to the issue of authority than those scholars of liberal democracy have traditionally taken up.

scholarly journals Aharon Barak’s Legal Ideology in the Context of European Constitutionalism

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-204
Author(s):  
Jolanta Bieliauskaitė ◽  
Vytautas Šlapkauskas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Thought ◽  
Social Consensus ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Legal Ideology ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The EU lacks the legal ideology as a social instrument that could satisfy the spirit of liberal democracy and would help to consolidate different societies to a solid European demos. Although the existence of an ideological system alone does not guarantee social consensus, it helps to manage dissension within the limits of particular values and norms. It is because a legal ideology provides the structure for social thought that individuals and social groups are able to interpret the nature of emerging conflicts and the interests they support. The article demonstrates that the neoliberal way of thinking that prevails in contemporary Europe does not meet the spirit of the constitutionalism of the EU Member States; the article introduces some aspects of Aharon Barak’s legal ideology that could be relevant for the formation and development of European demos and constitutionalism. In order to achieve this aim, the research is focused on issues that emerge in the area of three main pillars of constitutionalism: (1) adherence to the rule of law, (2) limited and accountable government, and (3) protection of fundamental human rights.

scholarly journals MONISTIC THEORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND PARALYSIS OF SECURITY SYSTEMS – THE CASE OF ILLEGAL MIGRATION

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
ROK SVETLIČ
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
The State ◽  
Philosophy Of Law ◽  
Illegal Migration ◽  
Security Systems ◽  
Complex Theory

Povzetek V prispevku analiziramo posebna tveganja, povezana s temeljnim delovanjem države, ki niso posledica neučinkovitosti oblasti, temveč njene ohromljenosti s pravnega vidika. Z razlago pravnih aktov v družbeno resničnost vstopi ideološki program, ki ni združljiv s temeljnimi postulati liberalne demokracije. Posledično so varnostni organi ohromljeni pri opravljanju svojih nalog, saj so obravnavani kot potencialni kršitelji človekovih pravic. Rešitve za to ni mogoče iskati na zakonodajni ravni, temveč na ravni kompleksne teorije, ki temelji na spoznanju, da je demokracija nezdružljiva s pasivnostjo in ohromljenostjo represivnih organov, pa tudi z njihovimi ekscesi. Ključne besede Filozofija prava, človekove pravice, varnostni organi, ilegalne migracije. Abstract This article analyzes the specific risks that concern the basic functioning of the state which are not the result of the inefficiency of the authorities but of their legal paralysis. Through the interpretation of legal acts, an ideological agenda which is incompatible with the fundamental postulates of liberal democracy enters social reality. Consequently, security authorities are paralyzed in performing their tasks, as they are treated as potential violators of human rights. The solution cannot be sought at a legislative level, but at the level of a complex theory, based on the realization that democracy is incompatible with the passivity and paralysis of repressive authorities, as well as with their excesses. Key words Philosophy of law, human rights, security authorities, illegal migration.

History, Ideology, and Human Rights

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-176
Author(s):  
Anthony DiFilippo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Rights Issues

This article will analyze the connection between history, countervailing ideologies, that is, the legacy of the Cold War, and the perceived identification of human rights violations as they pertain to countries with major security interests in Northeast Asia. This article will further show that the enduring nuclear-weapons problem in North Korea has been inextricably linked to human rights issues there, specifically because Washington wants to change the behavior of officials in Pyongyang so that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) becomes a state that at least remotely resembles a liberal democracy. Although supported by much of the international community, including the United States' South Korean and Japanese allies in Northeast Asia, Washington's North Korean policy has remained ineffective, as Pyongyang has continued to perform missile testing and still possesses nuclear weapons.

Human rights: Early days or coming to an end?

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-318
Author(s):  
Morten Kjaerum
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The Other ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
End Times

The speech addresses how human rights are being challenged and to what extent we are witnessing the end times of human rights. Neo-liberalism and populism coming from different corners converge and contribute to the erosion of human rights as well as rule of law institutions. Attempts to link human rights to one or the other economic theory contribute to lifting human rights away from their status of being universal. Human rights are not there to substitute ideological systems, instead it is a far more limited project. In the latter part of the speech new bottom-up trends pulling in the opposite direction are highlighted. As an outcome of the financial crisis and the growing inequality, a stronger awareness has emerged globally about the negative consequences of corruption and tax evasion on human rights and democratic institutions. Human rights are regaining a momentum and credibility in that space. This is closely linked to the new human rights city movement, where local communities take greater responsibility in realizing human rights for their citizens. Finally, in this part the mainstreaming of human rights in laws and political strategies is addressed together with the concept human rights by design. The speech ends on a forward-looking note recognizing the immense challenges that confronts the liberal democracy and human rights currently, however, also recognizing the depth of human rights in most communities.

Questioning Consensuses: Right-Wing Populism, Anti-Populism, and the Threat of ‘Gender Ideology’

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 528-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eszter Kováts
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Gender Ideology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Demand Side ◽  
Systemic Crisis ◽  
Right Wing Populism

Since 2012, several European countries (among others Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia or Slovakia) have seen the rise of conservative and, in part, fundamentalist social movements against the perceived threat of what they call (depending on the context) ‘gender ideology’, ‘gender theory’, or ‘genderism’. The movements mobilizing against ‘gender ideology’ are frequently understood as a conservative backlash against achieved levels of equality between women and men and/or LGBTQ rights. This perspective of ‘the patriarchy/heteronormativity fighting back’ seems as tempting as it is simplifying. I discuss the transnational movements against ‘gender ideology’ in the context of the rise of right-wing populism and on the basis of considerations seeking to explain their demand side. On one hand, I argue that the study of this phenomenon provides important clues for understanding the reasons behind the rise of populist forces in Europe and beyond. On the other hand, I propose that ‘gender’ is not the final target for these movements and that they should not be understood primarily as mobilizations against equality. Rather, I see the emergence of these movements as a symptom of a larger systemic crisis. ‘Gender ideology’ in this sense embodies numerous deficits of the so-called progressive actors, and the movements or parties that mobilize against the perceived threat of ‘gender ideology’ react to these deficits by re-politicizing certain issues in a polarized language. Based on Chantal Mouffe’s critique of the established hegemonic idea of consensus in liberal democracy, I discuss two consensuses that are characteristic of the so-called progressive actors (including the feminist and LGBTQ actors), namely, the neoliberal consensus and the human rights consensus, and their contribution to the rise of the movements against ‘gender ideology’.

scholarly journals The catholic church in liberal democracy

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-129
Author(s):  
Bogdan Szlachta
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
Law Of Nature ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Law Making

The concept of human rights, supposedly of universal importance, is usually derived from the tradition referred to as ‘Western’. Although the ‘classic approaches’ – Greek, Roman and Christian, refer to the norms of natural law, making them the basis or limits of the rights of individuals, in modern approaches the relation is reserved, in the manner that rights become primary to norms. Although liberals of the 17th and 18th centuries consider the law of nature as a tool for their protection, starting from the 19th century, the rights (already called human rights) have been increasingly perceived as positive abilities to articulate own, subjective preferences of individuals. This evolution needs to be accounted for in the studies carried out by representatives of various cultures, since the comprehension of an individual (and even a ‘human person’ as in contemporary Catholic social teaching) as an essentially culturally unconditioned one, is its ineradicable element.

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