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In his Christian and Metaphysical Meditations (1683) Malebranche develops a reflection in which the self discovers in its interiority that the interlocutor able to answer some of its questions is the divine Word. Through references to the Holy Scriptures and to Augustine, Malebranche constructs a meditative itinerary that differs from the one proposed by Descartes, as it moves from the lumière naturelle in the Cartesian sense to the lumière of the Word. In the light of these historical-theoretical data, we propose a reconstruction of the role played by interiority and meditation in certain texts by Malebranche, highlighting the moments in which he appropriated the Cartesian heritage and those in which he distanced himself from Descartes' philosophical paradigm.

Are political parties an essential element of democracy? Or can a no-party system constitute a viable democratic alternative? Giovanni Carbone examines the politics of Museveni's Uganda to illustrate the achievements, contradictions, and limitations of participatory politics in the absence of partisan organizations. At a time when multiparty reforms were sweeping the globe, Uganda opted for a controversial, no-party democratic model. The country's politics over the past two decades thus provide the perfect opportunity for addressing the many questions—theoretical, empirical, and comparative—that the notion of a no-party system of elected government raises. Carbone's analysis of how a no-party electoral regime actually works (or doesn't) in Uganda fills a gap in both democracy studies and the study of African politics