Reproducing Sectarianism
Reproducing Sectarianism

Author: Paul W. T. Kingston

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2013-06-20

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 1438447132

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere has highlighted the growing importance of the politics of civil society in the contemporary Middle East. In Reproducing Sectarianism, Paul W. T. Kingston examines rights-oriented advocacy networks within Lebanon's postwar civil society, focusing on movements and political campaigns based on gender relations, the environment, and disability. Set within Lebanon's postwar sectarian democracy, whose factionalizing dynamics have long penetrated the country's civil society, Kingston's fascinating study provides an in-depth analysis of the successes and challenges that ensued in promoting rights-oriented social policies. Drawing on extensive field research, including interviews and a wealth of primary documents, Kingston has produced a groundbreaking work that will be of interest to Middle East experts and nonexperts alike.

Connecting Democracy
Connecting Democracy

Author: Stephen Coleman

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2011-12-16

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 0262297922

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An investigation of the effect of government online forums on democratic practices in the United States and Europe. The global explosion of online activity is steadily transforming the relationship between government and the public. The first wave of change, “e-government,” enlisted the Internet to improve management and the delivery of services. More recently, “e-democracy” has aimed to enhance democracy itself using digital information and communication technology. One notable example of e-democratic practice is the government-sponsored (or government-authorized) online forum for public input on policymaking. This book investigates these “online consultations” and their effect on democratic practice in the United States and Europe, examining the potential of Internet-enabled policy forums to enrich democratic citizenship. The book first situates the online consultation phenomenon in a conceptual framework that takes into account the contemporary media environment and the flow of political communication; then offers a multifaceted look at the experience of online consultation participants in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France; and finally explores the legal architecture of U.S. and E. U. online consultation. As the contributors make clear, online consultations are not simply dialogues between citizens and government but constitute networked communications involving citizens, government, technicians, civil society organizations, and the media. The topics examined are especially relevant today, in light of the Obama administration's innovations in online citizen involvement.

The Politics of Religion, Nationalism, and Identity in Asia
The Politics of Religion, Nationalism, and Identity in Asia

Author: Jeff Kingston

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-07-30

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 1442276886

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This comprehensive book provides a comparative analysis of religious nationalism in contemporary, globalized Asia. Exploring the nexus of religion, identity, and nationalism, Jeff Kingston assesses similarities and differences across the region, focusing on how religious sentiments influence how people embrace nationalism and with what consequences. Kingston shows that in the age of the internet this has become an especially volatile mix that breeds violence and poses a significant risk to secularism, diversity, civil liberties, democracy, and political stability. This extremist tide has swept across Asia with tragic results, as witnessed by 730,000 Rohingya Muslims driven out of Myanmar, 70,000 Kashmiris slaughtered in India, and Islamic State affiliates terrorizing Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Who could have imagined Buddhist monks inciting violence and intolerance or setting themselves on fire? Or pious vigilantes beheading atheist bloggers? Or clerics defeating and jailing powerful politicians on blasphemy allegations? And, what explains why one million Uighur Muslims are locked up in China? Examining the causes and consequences of these varied phenomena and what they portend, Kingston casts a sobering light on the prospects of the Asian Century.

Democracy and Social Policy
Democracy and Social Policy

Author: Yusuf Bangura

Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan

Published: 2007-10-17

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book examines the complex relations between democracy and social policy. Economic development is a necessary but not sufficient condition for welfare development. In industrial democracies, differences in the reach and organization of unions, presence of Left parties in government, and social pacts, account for much of the variation in welfare provision among countries. Social security is limited in democracies with low levels of industrialization, even though some countries with a social democratic orientation seem to have done well. Traditions of political rights, improvements in electoral competitiveness, and a pro-active judiciary may empower social movements to pressure governments in low-income democracies to introduce progressive social reforms.

Unbundled Government
Unbundled Government

Author: Christopher Pollitt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2004-07-31

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 113437979X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This comprehensive study discusses the series of changes in governmental systems and structures. It considers the varying approaches of different countries and their governmental structures.

Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean
Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author: Tina Hilgers

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-09-14

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 1107193176

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume examines violence across Latin America and the Caribbean to demonstrate the importance of subnational analysis over national aggregates.

Good Government? Good Citizens?
Good Government? Good Citizens?

Author: W.A. Bogart

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2007-10

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0774851384

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Examining the altered roles of courts, politics, and markets over the last two decades, this book explores the evolving concept of the citizen in Canada at the beginning of this century.

Constant Struggle
Constant Struggle

Author: Julien Mauduit

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2021-10-06

Total Pages: 439

ISBN-13: 0228009952

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Most Canadians assume they live under some form of democracy. Yet confusion about the meaning of the word and the limits of the people’s power obscures a deeper understanding. Constant Struggle looks for the democratic impulse in Canada’s past to deconstruct how the country became a democracy, if in fact it ever did. This volume asks what limits and contradictions have framed the nation’s democratization process, examining how democracy has been understood by those who have advocated for or resisted it and exploring key historical realities that have shaped it. Scholars from a range of disciplines tackle this elusive concept, suggesting that instead of looking for a simple narrative, we must be alert to the slower, untidier, and incomplete processes of democratization in Canada. Constant Struggle offers a renewed, sometimes unsettling depiction, stretching from studies of early Indigenous societies, through colonial North America and Confederation, into the twentieth century. Contributors reassess democracy in light of settler colonialism and white supremacy, investigate connections between capitalism and democracy, consider alternative conceptions of democracy from Canada’s past, and highlight the various ways in which the democratic ideal has been mobilized to advance particular visions of Canadian society. Demonstrating that Canada’s democratization process has not always been one that empowered the people, Constant Struggle questions traditional views of the relationship between democracy and liberalism in Canada and around the world.

Democracy in Decline
Democracy in Decline

Author: James Allan

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2014-04-01

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0773591931

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Part lament, part provocative call-to-action, Democracy in Decline charts how democracy is being diluted and restricted in five of the world's oldest democracies - the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. James Allan targets four main, interconnected causes of decline - judicial activism, the transformation and growth of international law, the development of supranational organizations, and the presence of undemocratic elites. He presents a convincing argument that the same trends are occurring whether the country has a constitutional bill of rights (United States and Canada), a statutory bill of rights (the United Kingdom and New Zealand), or no bill of rights at all (Australia). Identifying tactics used by lawyers, judges, and international bureaucrats to deny that any decline has occurred, Allan looks ahead to further deterioration caused by attacks on free speech, intolerant worldviews, internationalization through treaties and conventions, and illegal immigration. Social and political decisions, Allan argues, must be based on counting every adult in a nation state as equal. An essential book for anyone concerned with majority rule and fairness in numbers, Democracy in Decline presents a clear, well-stated account of trends that have been undermining democracy over three decades.

Democracy in the Caribbean
Democracy in the Caribbean

Author: Carlene J. Edie

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1994-02-28

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This collection examines the diverse political experiences of the Caribbean.