The democratic challenge : rethinking democracy and democratization / Jorge Nef and Bernd Reiter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nef, Jorge.

Contributor:

Reiter, Bernd, 1968-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy.

Democratization.

Physical Description:

viii, 186 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Summary:

Despite triumphalistic claims to the contrary, democracy has notably failed to become the world's political norm. In the early twenty-first century, democracy - and its associated values of freedom, equality and prosperity - is under challenge. It is barely, if at all, established in many regions of the world, while in established democracies there is a danger of a collective failure of nerve in the face of ecological crises, economic volatility, terrorism and counter-terrorism.

This important new text provides a critical but systematic overview of the state of democratic theory and practice in the contemporary world. The authors show that recent developments are more complex than is admitted by proponents of the idea of a 'democratic world,' with what they call de-democratization of various forms running in parallel with democratization. Democracy, they argue, will never be 'one size fits all' but needs to be a concrete process that allows people to define equity and freedom for themselves.

Contents:

1 Democracy as an Idea and as a Process 12

From polis to republic 13

Kings and barons 13

Sovereignty and the nation-state 14

"People," bourgeoisies and revolutions 15

Democracy, social imperialism and social contracts 19

Democracy as hegemonic concept 20

Hyphenated democracy 20

Social democracy 21

Democratization and re-democratization 23

Participation, order and transition 23

De-democratization 25

Politics as the management of contradictions 27

Modes of conflict management 28

The many faces and layers of democracy 31

2 Formal and Substantive Democracy 33

The meaning of democracy 33

Democracy and elections 36

Constitutions as political projects 37

The organic paradigm 38

Constitutions as inscribed discourses 39

The substantive paradigm 41

Constitutions: text, subtext and context 43

Generation and exercise of authority 44

Bureaucracy, security and democracy 47

3 Myths and Misconceptions about Democracy 49

Liberalism and democracy 49

The promises and problems of deliberation 52

Democracy: beyond institutions 57

Democracy challenged 64

Authoritarian preserves in the socioeconomic order 66

Alternative sources and practices 67

4 Popular Sovereignty, Citizenship and the Limits of Liberal Democracy 70

Popular sovereignty 70

Citizenship 76

Transition to what? 79

Justifying antidemocratic regimes 81

Transition in theory and practice 82

Democratic consolidation and stability 83

De-democratization in the developed world 84

5 Democracy and Insecurity 88

Threats to human security 89

The global political crisis and its manifestations 91

The spread of conflict 91

Terrorism and counter-terrorism 93

Crime and counter-crime 96

Neo-fascism 98

The present global context 100

The system's culture 101

The structure of the global system 102

Global processes of continuity and change 105

Insecurity under muted unipolarism 105

6 Poverty, Inequity and Democracy 107

The nature of poverty 108

The dimensions of poverty 110

Globalization, maldistribution and poverty 113

The drivers of poverty and unequal distribution 115

Poverty as an obstacle to democratic governance 117

Poverty: cycles of expansion and contraction 119

The incidence of international indebtedness 120

Poverty, unemployment and underemployment 123

Poverty as an ingredient of the global economic regime 124

7 Global Regimes, Governability and Democratization 127

What is globalization? 127

The impacts of globalism 130

The myth of the global society 131

Increased vulnerability 134

Between governance and governmentality 137

International constraints to democracy and democratization 144

Power and governance 146

The global political regime 147

8 Democracy, Authoritarianism and De-democratization 149

Media concentration and oligarchy 150

US and worldwide media concentration 152

The dangers of "securitization" 157

The crisis of brokerage and representation 159

The nature of brokers in a democracy 160

Democracy and the system of brokerage 161

Unipolar brokerage 161

Bipolar brokerage 162

Multipolarity, polarized pluralism and stalemate 164.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 172-183) and index.

ISBN:

9780230516892

0230516890

0230516904

9780230516908

OCLC:

244414786