John Parkinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291113
- eISBN:
- 9780191604133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019929111X.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter presents a brief conclusion which summarizes the main argument: that fully legitimate, deliberative, and democratic decision making can only be of the macro kind, not the micro. It poses ...
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This chapter presents a brief conclusion which summarizes the main argument: that fully legitimate, deliberative, and democratic decision making can only be of the macro kind, not the micro. It poses questions for future research and answers a hypothetical question from the Leicester case, giving a group of protestors six reasons to think that the outcome of the citizens’ jury was legitimate, and one reason — its restricted, local scope — to think that it was not.Less
This chapter presents a brief conclusion which summarizes the main argument: that fully legitimate, deliberative, and democratic decision making can only be of the macro kind, not the micro. It poses questions for future research and answers a hypothetical question from the Leicester case, giving a group of protestors six reasons to think that the outcome of the citizens’ jury was legitimate, and one reason — its restricted, local scope — to think that it was not.
Sarah Percy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199214334
- eISBN:
- 9780191706608
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214334.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of private force by states has been restricted by a norm against mercenary use. It traces the evolution of this norm, from mercenaries in medieval ...
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The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of private force by states has been restricted by a norm against mercenary use. It traces the evolution of this norm, from mercenaries in medieval Europe through to private security companies in modern day Iraq, telling a story about how the mercenaries of yesterday have evolved into those of today in the process. The norm against mercenaries has two components. First, mercenaries are considered to be immoral because they use force outside legitimate, authoritative control. Second, mercenaries are considered to be morally problematic because they fight wars for selfish, financial reasons as opposed to fighting for some kind of larger conception of the common good. The book examines four puzzles about mercenary use, and argues that they can only be explained by understanding the norm against mercenaries. First, the book argues that moral disapproval of mercenaries led to the disappearance of independent mercenaries from medieval Europe. Second, the transition from armies composed of mercenaries to citizen armies in the 19th century can only be understood with attention to the norm against mercenaries. Third, it is impossible to understand why international law regarding mercenaries, created in the 1970s and 1980s, is so ineffective without understanding the norm. Finally, the disappearance of companies like Executive Outcomes and Sandline and the development of today's private security industry cannot be understood without the norm.Less
The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of private force by states has been restricted by a norm against mercenary use. It traces the evolution of this norm, from mercenaries in medieval Europe through to private security companies in modern day Iraq, telling a story about how the mercenaries of yesterday have evolved into those of today in the process. The norm against mercenaries has two components. First, mercenaries are considered to be immoral because they use force outside legitimate, authoritative control. Second, mercenaries are considered to be morally problematic because they fight wars for selfish, financial reasons as opposed to fighting for some kind of larger conception of the common good. The book examines four puzzles about mercenary use, and argues that they can only be explained by understanding the norm against mercenaries. First, the book argues that moral disapproval of mercenaries led to the disappearance of independent mercenaries from medieval Europe. Second, the transition from armies composed of mercenaries to citizen armies in the 19th century can only be understood with attention to the norm against mercenaries. Third, it is impossible to understand why international law regarding mercenaries, created in the 1970s and 1980s, is so ineffective without understanding the norm. Finally, the disappearance of companies like Executive Outcomes and Sandline and the development of today's private security industry cannot be understood without the norm.
Jeffrey Edward Green
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195372649
- eISBN:
- 9780199871711
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372649.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
For centuries it has been assumed that democracy must refer to the empowerment of the People's voice. This pioneering book makes the case for considering the People as an ocular entity rather than a ...
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For centuries it has been assumed that democracy must refer to the empowerment of the People's voice. This pioneering book makes the case for considering the People as an ocular entity rather than a vocal one, arguing that it is both possible and desirable to understand democracy in terms of what the People gets to see, instead of the traditional focus on what it gets to say. The Eyes of the People examines democracy from the perspective of everyday citizens in their everyday lives. While it is customary to understand the citizen as a decision maker, most citizens in fact rarely engage in decision making and do not even have clear views on most political issues. The ordinary citizen is not a decision maker but a spectator who watches and listens to the select few empowered to decide. Grounded on this everyday phenomenon of spectatorship, The Eyes of the People constructs a democratic theory applicable to the way democracy is actually experienced by most people most of the time. In approaching democracy from the perspective of the People's eyes, the book rediscovers and rehabilitates a forgotten “plebiscitarian” alternative within the history of democratic thought. Building off the contributions of a wide range of thinkers — including Aristotle, Shakespeare, Benjamin Constant, Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter, and many others — it outlines a novel democratic paradigm, centered on empowering the People's gaze through forcing politicians to appear in public under conditions they do not fully control.Less
For centuries it has been assumed that democracy must refer to the empowerment of the People's voice. This pioneering book makes the case for considering the People as an ocular entity rather than a vocal one, arguing that it is both possible and desirable to understand democracy in terms of what the People gets to see, instead of the traditional focus on what it gets to say. The Eyes of the People examines democracy from the perspective of everyday citizens in their everyday lives. While it is customary to understand the citizen as a decision maker, most citizens in fact rarely engage in decision making and do not even have clear views on most political issues. The ordinary citizen is not a decision maker but a spectator who watches and listens to the select few empowered to decide. Grounded on this everyday phenomenon of spectatorship, The Eyes of the People constructs a democratic theory applicable to the way democracy is actually experienced by most people most of the time. In approaching democracy from the perspective of the People's eyes, the book rediscovers and rehabilitates a forgotten “plebiscitarian” alternative within the history of democratic thought. Building off the contributions of a wide range of thinkers — including Aristotle, Shakespeare, Benjamin Constant, Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter, and many others — it outlines a novel democratic paradigm, centered on empowering the People's gaze through forcing politicians to appear in public under conditions they do not fully control.
John Parkinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291113
- eISBN:
- 9780191604133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019929111X.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter explores the ideas of representation, the first broad solution to the legitimacy problems in deliberative democracy. It considers the nature, strengths, and weaknesses of three different ...
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This chapter explores the ideas of representation, the first broad solution to the legitimacy problems in deliberative democracy. It considers the nature, strengths, and weaknesses of three different types of representation claims made by participants in the cases, namely random selection, self-selection, and elected representation. It argues that elected representatives have the strongest claims simply because they can be removed from decision-making posts, but this strength depends on there being strong communicative relationships between representatives and the represented. It concludes that while representation claims are important, no one kind of representative has perfectly legitimate authority.Less
This chapter explores the ideas of representation, the first broad solution to the legitimacy problems in deliberative democracy. It considers the nature, strengths, and weaknesses of three different types of representation claims made by participants in the cases, namely random selection, self-selection, and elected representation. It argues that elected representatives have the strongest claims simply because they can be removed from decision-making posts, but this strength depends on there being strong communicative relationships between representatives and the represented. It concludes that while representation claims are important, no one kind of representative has perfectly legitimate authority.
John Parkinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291113
- eISBN:
- 9780191604133
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019929111X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This book attempts to solve two problems in deliberative democratic theory and practice: How can agreements reached inside deliberative forums be legitimate for those who did not take part? And why ...
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This book attempts to solve two problems in deliberative democratic theory and practice: How can agreements reached inside deliberative forums be legitimate for those who did not take part? And why should people with strongly-held views participate in the first place? The solution involves rethinking deliberative theory, but also draws on lessons from practical experience with deliberative forums in Britain’s National Health Service. The book discusses the competing representation claims that different participants make, the pros and cons of different approaches to democratic accountability, and different conceptions of rationality and public reasoning. It concludes by rejecting the idea that we can have authentic, legitimate deliberation in any one forum. Instead, authentic, legitimate deliberation can only result from linkages between different kinds of institutions, drawing on different kinds of participants, at different points of a decision-making cycle. That is, it promotes a macro, society-wide view of deliberative democracy quite different from the micro, deliberative-forum view which dominates thinking on the subject in the UK. The book sketches the outline of such a deliberative system, suggesting how various institutions in civil society and elected government might link together to create public decisions, which are both more rational and more democratic.Less
This book attempts to solve two problems in deliberative democratic theory and practice: How can agreements reached inside deliberative forums be legitimate for those who did not take part? And why should people with strongly-held views participate in the first place? The solution involves rethinking deliberative theory, but also draws on lessons from practical experience with deliberative forums in Britain’s National Health Service. The book discusses the competing representation claims that different participants make, the pros and cons of different approaches to democratic accountability, and different conceptions of rationality and public reasoning. It concludes by rejecting the idea that we can have authentic, legitimate deliberation in any one forum. Instead, authentic, legitimate deliberation can only result from linkages between different kinds of institutions, drawing on different kinds of participants, at different points of a decision-making cycle. That is, it promotes a macro, society-wide view of deliberative democracy quite different from the micro, deliberative-forum view which dominates thinking on the subject in the UK. The book sketches the outline of such a deliberative system, suggesting how various institutions in civil society and elected government might link together to create public decisions, which are both more rational and more democratic.
John Parkinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291113
- eISBN:
- 9780191604133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019929111X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter outlines the theory of deliberative democracy and deliberative institutions, highlighting the legitimacy problems — to do with the scale of the deliberations and the motivation to ...
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This chapter outlines the theory of deliberative democracy and deliberative institutions, highlighting the legitimacy problems — to do with the scale of the deliberations and the motivation to participate — as experienced by the organizers of a citizens’ jury in Leicester, England, in 2000. It explains the approach and methods, outlines the argument, and summarizes five cases of deliberation in the UK’s National Health Service.Less
This chapter outlines the theory of deliberative democracy and deliberative institutions, highlighting the legitimacy problems — to do with the scale of the deliberations and the motivation to participate — as experienced by the organizers of a citizens’ jury in Leicester, England, in 2000. It explains the approach and methods, outlines the argument, and summarizes five cases of deliberation in the UK’s National Health Service.
John Parkinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291113
- eISBN:
- 9780191604133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019929111X.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter discusses the second broad solution to the legitimacy problems: sharing arguments through the media. It sets out the structural features of the news media and shows how they filter out ...
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This chapter discusses the second broad solution to the legitimacy problems: sharing arguments through the media. It sets out the structural features of the news media and shows how they filter out certain kinds of arguments and issues, using the example of a deliberative poll. It argues that successful argument sharing (or publicity) depends on the salience of the issue, but in such cases, small-scale deliberative processes can provide a useful focal point for coverage of all the arguments. ‘Manufacturing’ salience can lead to distortion of the issue and arguments.Less
This chapter discusses the second broad solution to the legitimacy problems: sharing arguments through the media. It sets out the structural features of the news media and shows how they filter out certain kinds of arguments and issues, using the example of a deliberative poll. It argues that successful argument sharing (or publicity) depends on the salience of the issue, but in such cases, small-scale deliberative processes can provide a useful focal point for coverage of all the arguments. ‘Manufacturing’ salience can lead to distortion of the issue and arguments.
John Parkinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291113
- eISBN:
- 9780191604133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019929111X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter summarizes the criteria for a legitimate deliberative democracy and assesses the different deliberative democratic models against those criteria. It points out that no single process can ...
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This chapter summarizes the criteria for a legitimate deliberative democracy and assesses the different deliberative democratic models against those criteria. It points out that no single process can meet them all, thus criticizing the ‘minipublic’ approach. It suggests that a deliberative system approach is necessary, using different processes at different points of the decision making process. The outlines of such a scheme are described, linking activists in civil society and parliamentary processes with a variety of agenda-setting and decision-making tools.Less
This chapter summarizes the criteria for a legitimate deliberative democracy and assesses the different deliberative democratic models against those criteria. It points out that no single process can meet them all, thus criticizing the ‘minipublic’ approach. It suggests that a deliberative system approach is necessary, using different processes at different points of the decision making process. The outlines of such a scheme are described, linking activists in civil society and parliamentary processes with a variety of agenda-setting and decision-making tools.
Albert W. Dzur
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199874095
- eISBN:
- 9780199980024
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199874095.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Focusing contemporary democratic theory on the neglected topic of punishment, this book argues for increased civic engagement in criminal justice as an antidote to the American penal state. It ...
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Focusing contemporary democratic theory on the neglected topic of punishment, this book argues for increased civic engagement in criminal justice as an antidote to the American penal state. It considers how the jury may serve as a participatory institution that gathers and utilizes citizen’s juridical capabilities rather than merely expressing unreflective public opinion. In doing so, the book resists trends in criminal justice scholarship holding citizen participation to blame for greater penal severity, and it rejects the longstanding skepticism of lay abilities in political theory. It distinguishes a mass politics mobilized superficially around single issues from more constructive citizen involvement that takes responsibility for public problems. This more positive view of citizen action was once a major justification for the jury trial and is now also manifest in the restorative justice movement, which has incorporated laypeople into community boards and sentencing circles. Jury trials and restorative justice programs are examples of rational disorganization, in which lay citizen action renders a process less efficient yet also contributes valuable qualities such as attunement, reflectiveness, and full-bodied communication. While restorative justice programs and participatory policy forums such as citizens’ juries have become attractive to reformers, traditional juries have suffered a deep decline. This book advocates a broader role for jurors in the criminal courts and more widespread use of jury trials. Though no panacea for a political culture grown too comfortable with criminalization and incarceration, participatory institutional designs that rationally disorganize punishment practices and slow down criminal justice can increase civic responsibility and public awareness about the need to conceive alternative paths forward.Less
Focusing contemporary democratic theory on the neglected topic of punishment, this book argues for increased civic engagement in criminal justice as an antidote to the American penal state. It considers how the jury may serve as a participatory institution that gathers and utilizes citizen’s juridical capabilities rather than merely expressing unreflective public opinion. In doing so, the book resists trends in criminal justice scholarship holding citizen participation to blame for greater penal severity, and it rejects the longstanding skepticism of lay abilities in political theory. It distinguishes a mass politics mobilized superficially around single issues from more constructive citizen involvement that takes responsibility for public problems. This more positive view of citizen action was once a major justification for the jury trial and is now also manifest in the restorative justice movement, which has incorporated laypeople into community boards and sentencing circles. Jury trials and restorative justice programs are examples of rational disorganization, in which lay citizen action renders a process less efficient yet also contributes valuable qualities such as attunement, reflectiveness, and full-bodied communication. While restorative justice programs and participatory policy forums such as citizens’ juries have become attractive to reformers, traditional juries have suffered a deep decline. This book advocates a broader role for jurors in the criminal courts and more widespread use of jury trials. Though no panacea for a political culture grown too comfortable with criminalization and incarceration, participatory institutional designs that rationally disorganize punishment practices and slow down criminal justice can increase civic responsibility and public awareness about the need to conceive alternative paths forward.
Jacques Werner
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199578184
- eISBN:
- 9780191722561
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199578184.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
This chapter explains why investor-state arbitration is often wrongfully likened to international commercial arbitration among private parties. Investor-state arbitrations involve not only private ...
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This chapter explains why investor-state arbitration is often wrongfully likened to international commercial arbitration among private parties. Investor-state arbitrations involve not only private business interests but also public policies of the host state and citizen rights. Arbitral awards on investor-state disputes risk lacking credibility and democratic acceptability if they overrule, in non-transparent proceedings, democratically legitimate government decisions on grounds of investor-state contracts. Similar to the introduction of appellate review in the GATT/WTO dispute settlement system, the transparency, legitimacy, and legal coherence of investor-state arbitration could be enhanced by introduction of an appellate instance.Less
This chapter explains why investor-state arbitration is often wrongfully likened to international commercial arbitration among private parties. Investor-state arbitrations involve not only private business interests but also public policies of the host state and citizen rights. Arbitral awards on investor-state disputes risk lacking credibility and democratic acceptability if they overrule, in non-transparent proceedings, democratically legitimate government decisions on grounds of investor-state contracts. Similar to the introduction of appellate review in the GATT/WTO dispute settlement system, the transparency, legitimacy, and legal coherence of investor-state arbitration could be enhanced by introduction of an appellate instance.
Mark S. Aber, Kenneth I. Maton, and Edward Seidman (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195380576
- eISBN:
- 9780199864508
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380576.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This book combines a focus on understanding social settings as loci for empowering intervention with a focus on understanding and giving voice to citizens. The book illuminates advances in theory and ...
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This book combines a focus on understanding social settings as loci for empowering intervention with a focus on understanding and giving voice to citizens. The book illuminates advances in theory and method relevant to changing a broad spectrum of social settings (including programs, organizations, institutions, communities, and social policy) from a strengths-based perspective. Three cross-cutting concepts—a strengths-based approach to research and social action, empowerment, and narrative research methods—serve as integrating and foundational themes. Part I takes up issues of setting processes and outcomes of influence, research methods, and implications for setting and community change efforts and social policy. Part II examines how action scientists have sought to understand and amplify the voices of those individuals and communities who serve as the focus of their research and social change actions. Finally, the chapters in Part III seek to situate the rest of the volume's chapters in the context of decades of work on empowering settings, giving voice and social change.Less
This book combines a focus on understanding social settings as loci for empowering intervention with a focus on understanding and giving voice to citizens. The book illuminates advances in theory and method relevant to changing a broad spectrum of social settings (including programs, organizations, institutions, communities, and social policy) from a strengths-based perspective. Three cross-cutting concepts—a strengths-based approach to research and social action, empowerment, and narrative research methods—serve as integrating and foundational themes. Part I takes up issues of setting processes and outcomes of influence, research methods, and implications for setting and community change efforts and social policy. Part II examines how action scientists have sought to understand and amplify the voices of those individuals and communities who serve as the focus of their research and social change actions. Finally, the chapters in Part III seek to situate the rest of the volume's chapters in the context of decades of work on empowering settings, giving voice and social change.
Cliff Zukin, Scott Keeter, Molly Andolina, Krista Jenkins, and Michael X. Delli Carpini
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195183177
- eISBN:
- 9780199850822
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183177.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
In searching for answers as to why young people differ vastly from their parents and grandparents when it comes to turning out the vote, this book challenges the conventional wisdom that today's ...
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In searching for answers as to why young people differ vastly from their parents and grandparents when it comes to turning out the vote, this book challenges the conventional wisdom that today's youth is plagued by a severe case of political apathy. In order to understand the current nature of citizen engagement, it is critical to separate political from civic engagement. Using the results from an original set of surveys and primary research, the book concludes that while older citizens participate by voting, young people engage by volunteering and being active in their communities.Less
In searching for answers as to why young people differ vastly from their parents and grandparents when it comes to turning out the vote, this book challenges the conventional wisdom that today's youth is plagued by a severe case of political apathy. In order to understand the current nature of citizen engagement, it is critical to separate political from civic engagement. Using the results from an original set of surveys and primary research, the book concludes that while older citizens participate by voting, young people engage by volunteering and being active in their communities.
Christopher Ansell and Jane Gingrich
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199264995
- eISBN:
- 9780191603259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199264996.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter investigates reforms that arguably produce more direct forms of accountability and citizen participation in administrative agencies. A first type of reform is part of a larger trend to ...
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This chapter investigates reforms that arguably produce more direct forms of accountability and citizen participation in administrative agencies. A first type of reform is part of a larger trend to decentralize aspects of administrative accountability, which includes New Public Management reforms designed to make agencies more responsive to their “customers.” A second type of reform, increasingly widespread, involves the creation of legal frameworks for pursuing grievances and ensuring representation, such as ombudsman systems and administrative procedure laws. Finally, a third type involves direct attempts to increase deliberation, using informal strategies of collaborative governance between public agencies and stakeholders particularly. These are particularly common at the local level. A wide of variety of other new techniques designed to enhance participation and democratic deliberation — such as citizen juries and consensus conferences — are increasingly popular, though they remain largely experimental.Less
This chapter investigates reforms that arguably produce more direct forms of accountability and citizen participation in administrative agencies. A first type of reform is part of a larger trend to decentralize aspects of administrative accountability, which includes New Public Management reforms designed to make agencies more responsive to their “customers.” A second type of reform, increasingly widespread, involves the creation of legal frameworks for pursuing grievances and ensuring representation, such as ombudsman systems and administrative procedure laws. Finally, a third type involves direct attempts to increase deliberation, using informal strategies of collaborative governance between public agencies and stakeholders particularly. These are particularly common at the local level. A wide of variety of other new techniques designed to enhance participation and democratic deliberation — such as citizen juries and consensus conferences — are increasingly popular, though they remain largely experimental.
Juan J. Linz
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199246748
- eISBN:
- 9780191599385
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199246742.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Juan Linz examines the same theme of anti‐party sentiments among citizens in contemporary democracies as did the previous chapter, but from an entirely different perspective. He starts by looking at ...
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Juan Linz examines the same theme of anti‐party sentiments among citizens in contemporary democracies as did the previous chapter, but from an entirely different perspective. He starts by looking at the fundamental differences between the roles played by parties in presidential and parliamentary democracies, and notes that each type of party system also generates different critiques of parties. Notwithstanding, these differences among party systems and between presidential and parliamentary democracies, Linz notes that parties everywhere have become the focus of a remarkably similar litany of complaints and criticisms, and asks to what extent these represent expressions of reasoned concerns over the shortcomings of the actual performance of parties, and conversely, to what extent they reflect ambiguous, confusing, or even self‐contradictory evaluations by citizens based upon unreasonable expectations or a lack of understanding of the complexities and cross‐pressures that parties are subjected to in performing their many roles in democratic politics. On the basis of survey data from Spain and Latin America, he suggests that the increase in negative attitudes towards political parties maybe less attributable to the behaviour of parties themselves than it is to inconsistencies or outright contradictions among relevant beliefs held by citizens, to unrealistic expectations concerning the extent to which parties can achieve a series of demanding objectives, or to the increasing number of the functions that parties must play in representative democracies. The main sections of the chapter are: Attitudes towards parties: paradoxes, contradictions, and ambiguities; Personalization of politics and professionalization of politics; Parties, money, and party democracy; and Distrust of parties and the legitimacy of democracy.Less
Juan Linz examines the same theme of anti‐party sentiments among citizens in contemporary democracies as did the previous chapter, but from an entirely different perspective. He starts by looking at the fundamental differences between the roles played by parties in presidential and parliamentary democracies, and notes that each type of party system also generates different critiques of parties. Notwithstanding, these differences among party systems and between presidential and parliamentary democracies, Linz notes that parties everywhere have become the focus of a remarkably similar litany of complaints and criticisms, and asks to what extent these represent expressions of reasoned concerns over the shortcomings of the actual performance of parties, and conversely, to what extent they reflect ambiguous, confusing, or even self‐contradictory evaluations by citizens based upon unreasonable expectations or a lack of understanding of the complexities and cross‐pressures that parties are subjected to in performing their many roles in democratic politics. On the basis of survey data from Spain and Latin America, he suggests that the increase in negative attitudes towards political parties maybe less attributable to the behaviour of parties themselves than it is to inconsistencies or outright contradictions among relevant beliefs held by citizens, to unrealistic expectations concerning the extent to which parties can achieve a series of demanding objectives, or to the increasing number of the functions that parties must play in representative democracies. The main sections of the chapter are: Attitudes towards parties: paradoxes, contradictions, and ambiguities; Personalization of politics and professionalization of politics; Parties, money, and party democracy; and Distrust of parties and the legitimacy of democracy.
Michael Freeman and Ross Harrison (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199237159
- eISBN:
- 9780191705427
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199237159.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
Current Legal Issues is based upon an annual colloquium held at University College London. Each year, leading scholars from around the world gather to discuss the relationship between law and another ...
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Current Legal Issues is based upon an annual colloquium held at University College London. Each year, leading scholars from around the world gather to discuss the relationship between law and another discipline of thought. Each colloqium examines how the external discipline is conceived in legal thought and argument, how the law is pictured in that discipline, and analyses points of controversy in the use, and abuse, of extra-legal arguments within legal theory and practice. Law and Philosophy, the tenth volume in the Current Legal Issues series, contains a broad range of essays by scholars interested in the interactions between law and philosophy. The collection displays ways in which philosophy can be applied to legal questions as well as the interactions between them. The two central themes are the lively and contentious contemporary debate about the nature of the law and the always relevant normative debate about what the state should do and the interactions between State, the citizen, and the law.Less
Current Legal Issues is based upon an annual colloquium held at University College London. Each year, leading scholars from around the world gather to discuss the relationship between law and another discipline of thought. Each colloqium examines how the external discipline is conceived in legal thought and argument, how the law is pictured in that discipline, and analyses points of controversy in the use, and abuse, of extra-legal arguments within legal theory and practice. Law and Philosophy, the tenth volume in the Current Legal Issues series, contains a broad range of essays by scholars interested in the interactions between law and philosophy. The collection displays ways in which philosophy can be applied to legal questions as well as the interactions between them. The two central themes are the lively and contentious contemporary debate about the nature of the law and the always relevant normative debate about what the state should do and the interactions between State, the citizen, and the law.
Paul Woodruff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195304541
- eISBN:
- 9780199850747
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304541.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Americans have an unwavering faith in democracy and are ever eager to import it to nations around the world. But how democratic is our own “democracy”? If you can vote, if the majority rules, if you ...
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Americans have an unwavering faith in democracy and are ever eager to import it to nations around the world. But how democratic is our own “democracy”? If you can vote, if the majority rules, if you have elected representatives—does this automatically mean that you have a democracy? In this eye-opening look at an ideal that we all take for granted, this book offers some surprising answers to these questions. Drawing on classical literature, philosophy, and history—with many intriguing passages from Sophocles, Aesop, and Plato, among others—the book enters the world of ancient Athens to uncover how the democratic impulse first came to life. The heart of the book isolates seven conditions that are the sine qua non of democracy: freedom from tyranny, harmony, the rule of law, natural equality, citizen wisdom, reasoning without knowledge, and general education. The book concludes that a true democracy must be willing to invite everyone to join in government. It must respect the rule of law so strongly that even the government is not above the law. True democracy must be mature enough to accept changes that come from the people. And it must be willing to pay the price of education for thoughtful citizenship. If we learn anything from the story of Athens, the book concludes, it should be this—never lose sight of the ideals of democracy.Less
Americans have an unwavering faith in democracy and are ever eager to import it to nations around the world. But how democratic is our own “democracy”? If you can vote, if the majority rules, if you have elected representatives—does this automatically mean that you have a democracy? In this eye-opening look at an ideal that we all take for granted, this book offers some surprising answers to these questions. Drawing on classical literature, philosophy, and history—with many intriguing passages from Sophocles, Aesop, and Plato, among others—the book enters the world of ancient Athens to uncover how the democratic impulse first came to life. The heart of the book isolates seven conditions that are the sine qua non of democracy: freedom from tyranny, harmony, the rule of law, natural equality, citizen wisdom, reasoning without knowledge, and general education. The book concludes that a true democracy must be willing to invite everyone to join in government. It must respect the rule of law so strongly that even the government is not above the law. True democracy must be mature enough to accept changes that come from the people. And it must be willing to pay the price of education for thoughtful citizenship. If we learn anything from the story of Athens, the book concludes, it should be this—never lose sight of the ideals of democracy.
Wojciech Sadurski
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199545179
- eISBN:
- 9780191719905
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545179.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
It is often claimed — correctly, in the opinion of the author of this book — that a legitimate government must treat all citizens not just with a measure of concern but with equal concern. This ...
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It is often claimed — correctly, in the opinion of the author of this book — that a legitimate government must treat all citizens not just with a measure of concern but with equal concern. This contention links two major legal and philosophical concepts — legitimacy and equality — by making the former dependent on the latter. The book examines this connection in detail. It aims to explain the relationship between the idea of legitimacy of law in a democratic system and equality, in three dimensions: political, legal, and social. Exploring the constituent elements of the concept of legitimacy and the specific requirements of political, legal, and social equality, the book seeks to demonstrate how a conception of democratic legitimacy is necessary for understanding and reconciling equality and legitimacy.Less
It is often claimed — correctly, in the opinion of the author of this book — that a legitimate government must treat all citizens not just with a measure of concern but with equal concern. This contention links two major legal and philosophical concepts — legitimacy and equality — by making the former dependent on the latter. The book examines this connection in detail. It aims to explain the relationship between the idea of legitimacy of law in a democratic system and equality, in three dimensions: political, legal, and social. Exploring the constituent elements of the concept of legitimacy and the specific requirements of political, legal, and social equality, the book seeks to demonstrate how a conception of democratic legitimacy is necessary for understanding and reconciling equality and legitimacy.
Paul H. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195365757
- eISBN:
- 9780199867684
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195365757.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
The rules governing who will be punished and how much determine a society's success in two of its most fundamental functions: doing justice and protecting citizens from crime. Drawing from the ...
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The rules governing who will be punished and how much determine a society's success in two of its most fundamental functions: doing justice and protecting citizens from crime. Drawing from the existing theoretical literature and adding to it recent insights from the social sciences, this book describes the nature of the practical challenge in setting rational punishment principles, how past efforts have failed, and the alternatives that have been tried. It ultimately proposes a principle for distributing criminal liability and punishment that will be most likely to do justice and control crime. This long-awaited volume, from one of the world's leading criminal law experts, is a brilliant synthesis of social science research and legal reasoning that brings together three decades of work on criminal liability and punishment issues in a compelling line of argument that addresses all of the important issues in assessing liability and punishment.Less
The rules governing who will be punished and how much determine a society's success in two of its most fundamental functions: doing justice and protecting citizens from crime. Drawing from the existing theoretical literature and adding to it recent insights from the social sciences, this book describes the nature of the practical challenge in setting rational punishment principles, how past efforts have failed, and the alternatives that have been tried. It ultimately proposes a principle for distributing criminal liability and punishment that will be most likely to do justice and control crime. This long-awaited volume, from one of the world's leading criminal law experts, is a brilliant synthesis of social science research and legal reasoning that brings together three decades of work on criminal liability and punishment issues in a compelling line of argument that addresses all of the important issues in assessing liability and punishment.
Peter Temin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691147680
- eISBN:
- 9781400845422
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691147680.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution. This book ...
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The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution. This book uses the tools of modern economics to show how trade, markets, and the Pax Romana were critical to ancient Rome's prosperity. The book argues that markets dominated the Roman economy. It traces how the Pax Romana encouraged trade around the Mediterranean, and how Roman law promoted commerce and banking. It further shows that a reasonably vibrant market for wheat extended throughout the empire, and suggests that the Antonine Plague may have been responsible for turning the stable prices of the early empire into the persistent inflation of the late. The book vividly describes how various markets operated in Roman times, from commodities and slaves to the buying and selling of land. Applying modern methods for evaluating economic growth to data culled from historical sources, the book argues that Roman Italy in the second century was as prosperous as the Dutch Republic in its golden age of the seventeenth century. The book reveals how economics can help us understand how the Roman Empire could have ruled seventy million people and endured for centuries.Less
The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution. This book uses the tools of modern economics to show how trade, markets, and the Pax Romana were critical to ancient Rome's prosperity. The book argues that markets dominated the Roman economy. It traces how the Pax Romana encouraged trade around the Mediterranean, and how Roman law promoted commerce and banking. It further shows that a reasonably vibrant market for wheat extended throughout the empire, and suggests that the Antonine Plague may have been responsible for turning the stable prices of the early empire into the persistent inflation of the late. The book vividly describes how various markets operated in Roman times, from commodities and slaves to the buying and selling of land. Applying modern methods for evaluating economic growth to data culled from historical sources, the book argues that Roman Italy in the second century was as prosperous as the Dutch Republic in its golden age of the seventeenth century. The book reveals how economics can help us understand how the Roman Empire could have ruled seventy million people and endured for centuries.
Daniel A. Bell and Nicola Piper
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199277629
- eISBN:
- 9780191603303
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199277621.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The trend in Western liberal democracies is to extend to long-term residents most, if not all, the legal rights of citizens and improving their access to citizenship for immigrants and their ...
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The trend in Western liberal democracies is to extend to long-term residents most, if not all, the legal rights of citizens and improving their access to citizenship for immigrants and their descendants. The situation is different in developed East Asian societies, where the most migrant workers work under short-term contracts without the possibility of becoming equal members of the political community. It is argued that the special circumstances in East Asian societies may justify arrangements for differential rights. The practice of hiring foreign domestic workers ‘fits’ better with the Confucian cultural heritage in East Asia; there are cultural particularities underpinning the system in East Asia which may not be shared elsewhere.Less
The trend in Western liberal democracies is to extend to long-term residents most, if not all, the legal rights of citizens and improving their access to citizenship for immigrants and their descendants. The situation is different in developed East Asian societies, where the most migrant workers work under short-term contracts without the possibility of becoming equal members of the political community. It is argued that the special circumstances in East Asian societies may justify arrangements for differential rights. The practice of hiring foreign domestic workers ‘fits’ better with the Confucian cultural heritage in East Asia; there are cultural particularities underpinning the system in East Asia which may not be shared elsewhere.
