Introduction to Max Weber’s article ‘The “Threatening” of the Reich Constitution’

In May 1904 Max Weber published a short article in the Frankfurter Zeitung. It has gone unnoticed in the extensive Weber literature and it appears here in English translation for the first time. It is an important statement of Weber’s political views after his withdrawal from his active political engagement in the 1890s. He defends the Reich Constitution from attack and a possible coup d’état. He demands that the German Parliament (Reichstag) stand up to autocratic plans, closely linked to Emperor William II, to suppress democracy and voting rights. A constitutional conflict would require not a great statesman but an ‘unscrupulous idiot or a political adventurer’ who would undermine ‘all our institutions and the security of law for many generations’. The article marks the start (earlier than previously assumed in the literature) of Weber’s consistent championing of Parliament and democratic institutions.

Discourse and Disinformation on COVID-19 Vaccination in Spain and Brazil

This chapter addresses the creation of political conflict on Twitter in a comparative study between Brazil and Spain. Based on an analysis of the political debate on dealing with two countries' health crises, it analyses the most retweeted messages published during the first week of vaccination in Europe and the Americas. Firstly, it analysed the general characteristics of the online debate on the immunisation of COVID-19. Secondly, it carried out an analysis of information disorder in each country. Although governmental positions in both countries are opposed, the results allow establishing common patterns of polarized profiles in both countries that question the management of the pandemic. It can be seen how political polarization is shaped as a characteristic of disinformation in both countries. That reveals that, after the health crisis, there is a crisis of democratic institutions that impact public health actions, but specifically to combat COVID-19.

EXTERNAL AND DOMESTIC CHALLENGES FOR CZECH REPUBLIC

The article attempts to outline the main challenges faced by the Czech Republic in domestic and foreign policy. The author notes that the main threat within the country lies in the propensity of some part of the establishment to abuse of office. However, there are effective tools to counter these trends in the form of a developed system of democratic institutions and civil society. In foreign policy, a value-based approach has recently become widespread, which often damages the interests of the state and distorts the real picture of dangers. The author notes that the local political community is in a state of «Czech-Czech war», implying a confrontation between two groups of elites: pragmatists-technocrats and human rights defenders-liberals. These trends have become especially widespread since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, which has accelerated the development of international processes.

Practicing Resistance and the Struggle over Power as Democratic Citizenship

Teaching democratic citizenship has never been more vital, particularly given the dismissive attitude and direct attempts to undermine democratic institutions exemplified by the Trump administration. In addition, traditional approaches to teaching citizenship foreground the underlying values of self-governance, knowledge of the different branches of government, and the skills for behaving within this system (i.e., voting) but lack a broader intellectual framework to guide those actions (Parker, Teaching democracy: Unity and diversity in public life, 2003). Parker, a critical multicultural educator, argued that this approach has rendered participatory citizenship superfluous and ignores more central concerns, namely, how people can live together justly while honoring their multiple individual and group identities (i.e., gender, race, class, religion, etc.). This essay focuses on the task of living together justly and offers one example of how this might be promoted through the communication studies curriculum.

Summit for Democracy raises more policy questions

Significance The online meeting, which included civil society groups and representatives from the business sector, was ostensibly a forum for considering strategies to bolster democratic institutions. However, it also offered implicit criticisms of China and Russia while playing to Biden’s domestic agenda, in particular efforts to strengthen voting rights and bolster social spending. Impacts The second summit is expected soon after the November 2022 US midterm elections, when further claims of electoral fraud are likely. Criticism of Washington’s choice of participants will spark calls for a multinational committee to set the invitation list. Controversy over Taiwan’s inclusion in the Summit for Democracy will increase during 2022.

From Confrontation to Collaboration: Peasant Negotiations in the Arena of Decentralization

Decentralization and local democracy are two inseparable elements of post-New Order Indonesia development politics. Furthermore, the quality of decentralization to a certain extent is influenced by the depth and quality of local democratic practices. This study reveals that decentralization is not only an arena of competition between local elites in possession of capital through local democratic institutions, but also an arena in which grassroots groups (peasants) could fight for their land rights. This study observes that local democratic procedures and institutions that are practiced in unison with decentralization are not utilized by the lower classes in the struggle for their rights. This shows the failure of local democratic institutions from taking root in the marginal groups. The success of peasant movements in the struggle for their rights and the practice of local elite domination of the decentralization arena does not come out of the blue, but is related to the history of the formation of the agrarian structure and social class. This study concludes that on one side, local elites trust democratic institutions and procedures to achieve their goals, while on the other side the grassroots have their own logic on how local democracy should have been practiced, namely by not separating practice of local democracy from the missions of justice and social welfare for the common good.

Standing up for Democracy? Explaining Citizens’ Support for Democratic Checks and Balances

Winners and losers of elections have different stakes in protecting democratic institutions. We provide new evidence for the effects of partisanship and economic performance on support for checks and balances and acceptance of their infringement. Using survey data from 26 European countries, we show that voters who feel close to a political party that lost the elections support checks and balances significantly more than other citizens. We also find that higher satisfaction with the economy is associated with lower support for checks and balances. Our experiment in Ukraine shows that supporters and opponents of the governing party have divergent evaluations of a reform potentially infringing on the independence of the judiciary. Those in opposition find such reforms less acceptable and justified. Again, we find that improved economic performance leads to higher acceptance of judicial reform. Our results confirm that citizens’ support for checks and balances is contingent and volatile.

Pandémia és különleges jogrend Magyarországon

Összefoglalás. A tanulmány a Covid–19 pandémiára adott jogalkotói lehetőségeket és válaszokat elemzi, külön figyelmet fordítva a vonatkozó hazai jogfejlődésre. A szerzők elméleti síkon haladva, de gyakorlati példákkal szemléltetve értelmezik a hazai megoldásokat, amelyeket a pandémiás válság kezelésére alkalmaztak az államok. Az alkalmazott megoldásoknak kettős feltételnek kell megfelelniük: a jogállamisági és hatékonysági szempontoknak egyidejűleg kell érvényesülniük. A demokratikus intézményeknek mindebben aktív szerepük van, ugyanakkor lényeges a meghozott intézkedések politikai elfogadottsága is. Summary. The essay displays the possibilities and answers of the legislature and the Government of Hungary regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, with a special focus on the Hungarian constitutional traditions and development. The essay reaches out from the theoretical for practical reassurance primarily through solutions used in Hungary and secondarily in other European countries. Displaying the struggles of solution seeking in Hungary and other European countries provides a platform for a much-needed comparative approach. These practices must comply with two conditions: maintaining the rule of law and effectiveness, both of which have to prevail simultaneously. Like in the case of the delicate and ever balancing antiterrorist solutions of western democracies, two very different questions of ‘How can we survive?’ and ‘How can our way of life prevail in the end?’ must be answered with the same answer. The democratic institutions have a crucial role, and with that role these institutions have to be continuously active. In times of grave danger, with a real threat to human life, an emergency with the possibility of such a devastation that paralyses or eliminates state and society, the original role of democratic institutions to serve the people is enhanced. The political acceptance (legitimacy) of the emergency measures taken during the pandemic can make a great difference, but the question of legitimacy itself, favorable as it should be, need not be the most crucial question regarding emergency laws. Introducing emergency legislation is based on some level of real or anticipated threat. The focus and only real goal of emergency legislation, by definition, must always be ensuring the safe return to normal or peacetime legislation. So we can say with confidence that functioning democratic institutions provide a much better chance of a safe and timely return to normalcy and leaving pandemic restrictions behind.