Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> Political Ideologies - Democracy

This book provides a comparative analysis of how two radical left parties achieved government participation and their subsequent political experiences. In the face of the most severe and most prolonged crisis in the history of capitalism, it would be expected for radical left parties to seize the opportunity to promote their political agenda. Although reality has often confounded prognosis, two particular radical left parties the Greek SYRIZA and the Cypriot AKEL were elected to the highest government office. The author uses these two examples to engage with the broader question of what to...

This volume analyses how the use of referendums affects the central functions and characteristics of representative democracy. It provides a balanced account of the interaction between referendums and representative institutions and actors, seeking to evaluate whether referendums supplement or undermine representative democracy. Considering both normative and empirical questions, the volume also examines the particular circumstances under which referendums strengthen or weaken representative democracy.

Providing a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches used in the...

The world is watching with uncertainity as the "Arab Spring" unfolds. Optimistically named by international media sources, the term "Arab Spring" associates the unrest with ideas of renewal, revival, and democratic thought and deed. Many hoped the overthrow of authoritarian leaders signaled a promising new beginning for the Arab world. Raphael Israeli argues that instead of paving a path toward liberal democracy, the Arab Spring in fact launched a power struggle.

Judging from the experiences of countries where the dust is settling--including Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and perhaps also...

Comparing Political Regimes provides a comprehensive assessment of the world's political systems by outlining and contrasting the aspects of four different regime types: liberal democracies, electoral democracies, semi-liberal autocracies, and closed autocracies.

The third edition is thoroughly revised and updated. It now incorporates the two new countries that have appeared since the last edition--Kosovo and South Sudan--and covers the regime changes that have occurred in many countries, including the liberalization (but not yet actual democratization) of the Arab Spring....

Politics as Radical Creation examines the meaning of democratic practice through the critical social theory of the Frankfurt School. It provides an understanding of democratic politics as a potentially performative good-in-itself, undertaken not just to the extent that it seeks to achieve a certain extrinsic goal, but also in that it functions as a medium for the expression of creative human impulses. Christopher Holman develops this potential model through a critical examination of the political philosophies of Herbert Marcuse and Hannah Arendt.

Holman argues that, while...