scholarly journals Demokrati og politisk deltagelse

Politik ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Palle Svensson

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. 

Author(s):  
Cristiano Gianolla

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.


Author(s):  
Isabelle-Christine Panreck

The rise of populist parties throughout Europe is fostering the debate on normativism in science. Klaus von Beyme – one of Germany’s leading political scientists of the Second Generation after World War II – is an early sceptic of normative thinking in the field of political science. He campaigns for a neoinstitutionalist perspective which combines historical insights and empirical findings to describe and explain political phenomenons. Not only in the times of bloc confrontation before 1990 but also in the current debate on populism, Beyme’s hesitation against normative thinking is sharply criticised as a lack of normative comittment to the fundamental values of liberal democracy. Following the concept of Intellectual History, this paper analyses Beymes scientific writings against the backdrop of biographical and historical contextes. Further, the paper shows how methodological and epistemological assumptions can shape the production of knowledge in scientific discourses.


Prima Donna ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 89-118
Author(s):  
Paul Wink

This chapter, “An Athenian Interlude,” analyzes a major turning point in Callas’s life associated with her move, at age thirteen, from New York City to Athens. In Athens, she experienced poverty, personal humiliation, and, during the World War II years, threats to her life. But her singing benefited from the strong mentorship she received from Elvira de Hidalgo, which helped launch her operatic career. Callas’s success as a singer with the Greek National Opera fueled resentment among her older and more established colleagues who envied her talent and resented being dethroned by a mere teenager who spoke Greek with an American accent. Poverty and conflicted relations at home with her mother and sister failed to compensate Callas for hostility at work. A significant gain in weight further undermined her self-confidence. Her experiences during the seven years spent in Athens exacerbated the split between Callas, the self-assured artist, and Maria, the vulnerable young woman.


Author(s):  
Simone Cinotto

This epilogue examines how the distinctiveness of Italian food has been shaped by continuous transformations and adaptations to a changing Italian America and American culture since World War II. From domestic kitchens to luxurious restaurants, Italian immigrants framed a food culture that created a nation and shaped their self-representation as a group. However, Italian American food culture underwent various changes. The meanings of Italian American food were reworked in the neoliberal landscape of deindustrialization, globalization, and a postmodern culture in which “the self” was created through consumption and where cultural difference became just another commodity. A new group of middle-class Italian immigrants to New York City started to reshape Italian food in America by detaching it from its immigrant origins and relocating it within the “authentic” traditions of Italian regional cuisine. Despite all these changes, and even as the ground for Italian American identity has shifted, Italian American food continues to convey a lifestyle, a taste, and a history.


1965 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond F. Hopkins

SINCE World War II and particularly in the last decade game theory has acquired broad interest, attention, and application by behavioral scientists. Basically, game theory is an attempt to simulate mathematically a situation of decision-making so as to discover the most rational decision. Situations involving two or more “persons” (that is, sets of individuals, groups or environments with isomorphic interests and/or capabilities) can be simulated. Currently game theory is employed in both university and corporate research for studying problems in the areas of economics, sociology, political science, international relations, and militarydefense strategy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepa Nair

The aftermath of World War II saw the emergence of many new nation-states on the Asian geopolitical map and a simultaneous attempt by these states to claim the agency of nationhood and to create an aura of a homogenous national identity. Textbooks have been the most potent tools used by nations to inject an idea of a national memory - in many instances with utter disregard for fundamental contradictions within the socio-political milieu. In South Asia, political sensitivity towards transmission of the past is reflected in the attempts of these states to revise or rewrite versions which are most consonant with the ideology of dominant players (political parties, religious organizations, ministries of education, publishing houses, NGOs, etc.) concerning the nature of the state and the identity of its citizens. This paper highlights the fundamental fault lines in the project of nation-building in states in South Asia by locating instances of the revision or rewriting of dominant interpretations of the past. By providing an overview of various revisionist exercises in South Asia, an attempt will be made to highlight important issues that are fundamental to the construction of identities in this diverse continent.


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 805-806
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Isaac

Joseph Schumpeter's “elitist” theory of democracy has been the subject of much discussion in political theory. It is commonly considered to have been seminal for the “empirical” approaches to democracy that emerged in American political science after World War II. In this excellent book, John Medearis presents an impressive, careful, and relatively comprehensive account of Schumpeter's writings on the topic of democracy. He argues that Schumpeter has been widely misunderstood, and the richness of his thinking has been wrongly reduced to the chapters of Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (1942) in which the “elitist” theory is developed.


1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Gonzalez

The stability of Latin America rests essentially on the solution of two interrelated problems—population growth and economic development. A further corollary, and an extremely significant one, will be the social distribution of the benefits accruing from economic betterment. Latin America is both the fastest growing world region in population and also the most advanced (in terms of the death rate, literacy, and per capita income) of the underdeveloped regions of the world. It is also the only region of the underdeveloped world that had evolved from political colonial status prior to World War II. This region, therefore, has had the longest history of endeavoring to solve directly many of the problems that plague the 70 per cent of mankind that lives in the underdeveloped countries.


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