Parliamentarism and Democratic Theory: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

ISBN-13: 9783847401582 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 324 str.

Kari Palonen; Jose Maria Rosales

Opis

This collection deals with the place of parliamentary politics in democracy. Apparently a truism, parliamentarism is a missing research object in democratic theory and is a devalued institutional reference in democratic politics. Yet, the parliamentary culture of politics historically explains the rise and fall of modern democracies. In early 20th-century political thought, the relationships between democracy and parliamentarism were at the focus of the agenda. In the post-war era, the study of politics has taken the parliament for granted, meaning its analysis has been, on the whole, limited to concomitant factors, such as elections, party systems, or the government-opposition divide. Even rhetorical studies have largely dealt with historical and linguistic aspects of argumentative reasoning, and parliaments have been merely considered institutions producing speeches and texts to be studied. By exploring democracy from the vantage point of parliamentary politics, the book advances a novel research perspective. Aimed at revising current debates on parliamentary politics, democratization, and democratic theory, the book examines the role of the parliamentary culture of politics in democracy, highlighting the argumentative debating experience of politics to recast both some of democratic theory's normative assumptions and real democracies' reform potential. *** "Comprised of twelve erudite and informative contributions by political science experts...presented in two major sections: The Changing Uses of Parliamentarism and Being Democratic: Theory and Practice. ...a critically important work of exceptional scholarship and very highly recommended for academic library Political Science reference collections." -- Midwest Book Review, MBR Bookwatch: January 2016, Micah's Bookshelf Subject: Politics]

Recenzje

"Parliamentarism and Democratic Theory" is a critically important work of exceptional scholarship and very higly recommended for academic library Political Sicence reference collections in general, and Parliamentary Democracy supplemental studies reading lists in particular.
Midwest Book Review 1/2016

O autorze

Kari Palonen is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Editor of Redescriptions and Co-founder of the History of Political and Social Concepts Group.
José María Rosales is an Associate Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy at the University of Málaga, Spain, and board member of Concepta, International Research School in Conceptual History and Political Thought.