[PDF] The Democratization Disconnect eBook

Author : Brian K. Grodsky
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 289 pages
File Size : 31,2 MB
Release : 2016-08-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1442269359

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The most recent wave of democratic revolutions has convinced many in the West of the triumph of political rights. But in this provocative book, Brian Grodsky argues forcefully that nothing could be further from the truth. Today’s revolutionaries—both democratic and non-democratic—are much like those who preceded them throughout history. They’ve all come into power promising enhanced political, but especially economic, rights: higher wages, better living standards, more security. The difference between today’s pro-democracy leaders and yesterday’s non-democratic ones, the author demonstrates, rests on the perceived international legitimacy of the democratic template. Now, when even the most abusive regimes feel the need to label themselves democracies, opponents delegitimize rulers by calling them undemocratic. This sets the stage for what Grodsky calls the “democratization disconnect.” Leaders and followers fight for political change not as an end, but as the most acceptable means to attain economic rights. But by selling democracy as a panacea for the ills of the preceding regime, new elites simultaneously cheapen the notion of democracy and, by creating unrealistic popular expectations, set it up for failure. Putting a fresh new spin on hotly debated current events, this clear-eyed and informed book will be essential reading for all politically engaged readers.

Author : Emmanouil Mavrozacharakis
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 26,74 MB
Release : 2018
Category :
ISBN :

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The results of a recent study on the popularity of Western democracy are rather scary. Most respondents have little or no confidence in politics; they distrust the media, justice, and institutions altogether. The most reasonable interpretation of the above results is that there exists a large number of young Europeans who apparently have lost their faith in the political system that surrounds them, in the sense that they no longer hope that it will give them the right and the opportunity to freely unfold their personality. In particular, the new generation wakes up every day with the feeling that democracy has nothing to offer but unsubstantiated hopes. At the same time, there is a growing distrust towards state structures in the sense that a majority of young Europeans feel betrayed by other generations as well as by the system. The findings of surveys depict a weakening of democracy, which is also defined as a democratic disconnect. This means that people are inclining towards authoritarian alternatives. The long-term stability of Western democracies requires more legitimacy at national level not only to provide space for internal policy, but also to ensure respect for social and economic commitments over time.

Author : Carolyn M. Hendriks
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 42,86 MB
Release : 2020-10-20
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 019258099X

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The fabric of democracy is threadbare in many contemporary societies. Connections that are vital to the functioning and integrity of our democratic systems are wearing thin. Citizens are increasingly disconnected — from their elected representatives, from one another in the public sphere, and from complex processes of public policy. In such disconnected times, how can we strengthen and renew our democracies? This book develops the idea of democratic mending as a way of advancing a more connective approach to democratic reform. It is informed by three rich empirical cases of connectivity in practice, as well as cutting-edge debates in deliberative democracy. The empirical cases uncover empowering and transformative modes of political engagement that are vital for democratic renewal. The diverse actors in this book are not withdrawing, resisting or seeking autonomy from conventional institutions of representative democracy but actively experimenting with ways to improve and engage with them. Through their everyday practices of democratic mending they undertake crucial systemic repair work and strengthen the integrity of our democratic fabric in ways that are yet to be fully acknowledged by scholars and practitioners of democratic reform.

Author : Robert W. McChesney
Publisher : New Press, The
Page : 319 pages
File Size : 42,68 MB
Release : 2013-03-05
Category : Computers
ISBN : 1595588914

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Celebrants and skeptics alike have produced valuable analyses of the Internet's effect on us and our world, oscillating between utopian bliss and dystopian hell. But according to Robert W. McChesney, arguments on both sides fail to address the relationship between economic power and the digital world. McChesney's award-winning Rich Media, Poor Democracy skewered the assumption that a society drenched in commercial information is a democratic one. In Digital Disconnect McChesney returns to this provocative thesis in light of the advances of the digital age, incorporating capitalism into the heart of his analysis. He argues that the sharp decline in the enforcement of antitrust violations, the increase in patents on digital technology and proprietary systems, and other policies and massive indirect subsidies have made the Internet a place of numbing commercialism. A small handful of monopolies now dominate the political economy, from Google, which garners an astonishing 97 percent share of the mobile search market, to Microsoft, whose operating system is used by over 90 percent of the world's computers. This capitalistic colonization of the Internet has spurred the collapse of credible journalism, and made the Internet an unparalleled apparatus for government and corporate surveillance, and a disturbingly anti-democratic force. In Digital Disconnect Robert McChesney offers a groundbreaking analysis and critique of the Internet, urging us to reclaim the democratizing potential of the digital revolution while we still can.

Author : Robert W. McChesney
Publisher : New Press, The
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 13,4 MB
Release : 2013-03-05
Category : Computers
ISBN : 1595588671

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Looks at the relationship between economic power and the digital world, encouraging readers to fight back against the monopolies that are making the Internet less democratic. 20,000 first printing.

Author : Micah L. Sifry
Publisher : Or Books
Page : 253 pages
File Size : 34,83 MB
Release : 2014-04-01
Category : Internet
ISBN : 9781939293503

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Micah L. Sifry, a longtime analyst of democracy and its role on the net, examines what he calls "The Big Disconnect." In his usual pithy, to-the-point style, he explores why data-driven politics and our digital overlords have failed or misled us, and how they can be made to serve us instead, in a real balance between citizens and state, independent of corporations.

Author : Rosalie Nadeau
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 32,98 MB
Release : 2018
Category :
ISBN :

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"In two widely discussed articles published in the Journal of Democracy over the last two years, Foa and Mounk (2016, 2017) argue that mass rates of support for democracy have been decreasing across Western democracies, pointing to a general but also a generational decline: this "democratic disconnect" is most visible among the youngest generations. This thesis investigates whether such a decline is really happening across consolidated democracies, using multilevel models to distinguish between age, period, and cohort effects. It also seeks to go beyond overt support for democracy by disaggregating that concept into different components: opposition to non-democratic rule, support for participatory democracy, and support for liberal democracy. We find no evidence of a cross-country generational or period decline in support for democracy, refuting Foa and Mounk's alarming claims; in some countries, however, there are signs of a period decline in support for democracy. Additionally, we find no clear evidence of period or generational change in different conceptions of democracy, which goes against more optimistic perspectives on the younger generations' political attitudes." --

Author : Morris P. Fiorina
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
Page : 339 pages
File Size : 32,48 MB
Release : 2012-03-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0806184809

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Red states, blue states . . . are we no longer the United States? Morris P. Fiorina here examines today’s party system to reassess arguments about party polarization while offering a cogent overview of the American electorate. Building on the arguments of Fiorina’s acclaimed Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America, this book explains how contemporary politics differs from that of previous eras and considers what might be done to overcome the unproductive politics of recent decades. Drawing on polling results and other data, Fiorina examines the disconnect between an unrepresentative “political class” and the citizenry it purports to represent, showing how politicians have become more polarized while voters remain moderate; how politicians’ rhetoric and activities reflect hot-button issues that are not public priorities; and how politicians’ dogmatic, divisive, and uncivil style of “debate” contrasts with the more civil discourse of ordinary Americans, who tend to be more polite and open to compromise than their leaders. Disconnect depicts politicians out of touch with the larger public, distorting issues and information to appeal to narrow interest groups. It can help readers better understand the political divide between leaders and the American public—and help steer a course for change.

Author : Fiona Anciano
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 13,56 MB
Release : 2018-10-03
Category : Science
ISBN : 0429794290

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Why is dissatisfaction with local democracy endemic, despite the spread of new participatory institutions? This book argues that a key reason is the limited power of elected local officials, especially to produce the City. City Hall lacks control over key aspects of city decision-making, especially under conditions of economic globalisation and rapid urbanisation in the urban South. Demonstrated through case studies of daily politics in Hout Bay, Democracy Disconnected shows how Cape Town residents engage local rule. In the absence of democratic control, urban rule in the Global South becomes a complex and contingent framework of multiple and multilevel forms of urban governance (FUG) that involve City Hall, but are not directed by it. Bureaucratic governance coexists alongside market, developmental and informal forms of governance. This disconnect of democracy from urban governance segregates people spatially, socially, but also politically. Thus, while the residents of Hout Bay may live next to each other, they do not live with each other. This book will be a valuable resource for students on programmes such as urban studies, political science, sociology, development studies, and political geography.