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

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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.

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

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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.

Connecting Democracy
Connecting Democracy

Author: Stephen Coleman

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2011-12-16

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 0262297922

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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.

Democracy and Social Policy
Democracy and Social Policy

Author: Yusuf Bangura

Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan

Published: 2007-10-17

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13:

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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.

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

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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.

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

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

Territory, Democracy and Justice
Territory, Democracy and Justice

Author: S. Greer

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2005-12-16

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 0230510388

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Territory, Democracy and Justice brings together experts from six countries to ask what territorial decentralization does and what it means for democracy, policymaking and the welfare state. Integrated and international in a fragmented field, the chapters identify the importance and consequences of territorial decentralization. The authors analyze the successes, the generalizable ideas, and the international lessons in the study of comparative territorial politics as well as new directions for research.

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

Author: W.A. Bogart

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2007-10

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0774851384

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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.

Unbundled Government
Unbundled Government

Author: Christopher Pollitt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2004-07-31

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 113437979X

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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.