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In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of political activism through an irruption of citizen movements – 5M or Occupy–, the birth of new political platforms –5 Stelle, Zyrisa, Podemos– and the rise of new direct action groups, such as Anonymous, Stop-Evictions Movements, cooperatives, to name just a few. In some countries this activism has not just placed substantial pressure on traditional actors of representative democracy and governments, but has also opened up opportunities for structural changes in the policymaking context and procedures (García Marzá, 2012).

It has become common knowledge by now that the European Union does not have it particularly easy when it comes to democracy. A commensurately difficult task for political science is to analyse the EU in conventional democratic-theoretical categories or to produce generally valid conclusions on the condition and necessity of democracy at the European level. This situation stems from four interlinking factors: (1) the functional and structural ambivalence of this sui generis political body, (2) the subsequent uncertainty with regard to the criteria to be used for evaluating the democratic quality of European governance, (3) the resultant differences in opinion as to which model is the most appropriate for democratising the EU, and (4) the continuing dissent on whether the EU – because of its peculiar nature – can or should be democratised at all. It is precisely this unprecedented character in turn that renders the analysis and assessment of democratic legitimacy in the European Union a difficult, if not hopeless endeavour. On the one hand, the EU represents substantially more than a conventional international organisation given the scope of the competences and areas of responsibility transferred to it; on the other hand, it encompasses only a fraction of those features that normally characterise a democraticconstitutional state. Nonetheless, it would seem evident that politics take place in the European Communities, that the European Union can be considered a political system and thus a suitable case for study in comparative political science. Despite this unique political system's frequent classification as sui generis , there is good reason to defy the taboo against subjecting it to comparative analysis. Granted, the EU may be a "one-of-a-kind kind of polity", but then again, all political systems – not unlike people – are in sum unique. Furthermore, even if the EU is not itself a state, it can still be compared with other political systems constituted as states, if for no other reason than the common or unique ...

From 1933 onward, Nazi Germany undertook massive and unprecedented industrial integration, submitting an entire economic sector to direct state oversight. This innovative study explores how German professionals navigated this complex landscape through the divergent careers of business managers in two of the era's most important trade organizations. While Jakob Reichert of the iron and steel industry unexpectedly resisted state control and was eventually driven to suicide, Karl Lange of the machine builders' association achieved security for himself and his industry by submitting to the Nazi regime. Both men's stories illuminate the options available to industrialists under the Third Reich, as well as the real priorities set by the industries they served

Conventional views of African politics imply that Africans' political opinions are based either on enduring cultural values or their positions in the social structure. In contrast, we argue that Africans form attitudes to democracy based upon what they learn about what it is and does. This learning hypothesis is tested against competing cultural, institutional, and structural theories to explain citizens' demand for democracy (legitimation) and their perceived supply of democracy (institutionalization) with data from 12 Afrobarometer attitude surveys conducted between 1999 and 2001. A multilevel model that specifies and estimates the impacts of both individual‐ and national‐level factors provides evidence of learning from three different sources. First, people learn about the content of democracy through cognitive awareness of public affairs. Second, people learn about the consequences of democracy through direct experience of the performance of governments and (to a lesser extent) the economy. Finally, people draw lessons about democracy from national political legacies.

Conventional views of African politics imply that Africans arrive at political opinions largely on the basis of their positions in the social structure or enduring cultural values. In contrast, we argue that Africans form attitudes to democracy based upon what they learn about what it is and what it does. We test this argument with a unique data set known as Afrobarometer Round 1, which is based on surveys of nationally representative samples of citizens in 12 African countries that have recently undergone political reform. Specifically, we test our learning hypothesis against competing sociological and cultural theories to explain citizens' demand for democracy (legitimation) and the perceived supply of democracy (institutionalization). We provide evidence of learning from three different sources. First, people learn about the content of democracy through cognitive awareness of public affairs. Second, people learn about the consequences of democracy through direct experience of the performance of governments and (to a lesser extent) the economy. Finally, people also draw lessons about democracy from their country's national political legacies.

In the article is analyzed the impact of electronic democracy on the political participation of civil society, determined the effectiveness of the implementation of ICT in democracy development. Among the priorities of Ukrainian way to European community - information society construction. An important stage of information society development is the implementation of international practices of e-democracy. It will promote transparency and openness, modernization of public administration. As a result, civil society will be able to participate in decision-making at all levels. In this article, the author also examines the possibilities of information communication technology and e-government to enhance democracy. The author summarizes the known problems of representative democracy and direct democracy and inquire whether e-government potentially can offer solutions to these problems. The author concludes that many problems in both representative and direct democracies remain unsolved and that e-government even can create new problems. For more than two decades now, modernization of the public sector with the aim of increasing service quality and productivity has been on the political agenda. The modernization ideology broke through in the early 1980s and was advocated and spread out in particular by the big consultancy firms and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In many government modernization programs, for instance the United Kingdom Action Plan, information communication technology (ICT) plays a central role, a role that it had begun to play since the 1990s. The effect of ICT on modernization processes within public administrations is partly passive and partly active. Alternatively, as the French government put it: Organizational and managerial changes within enterprises have been very numerous during the last twenty years. Not all of these were caused by the introduction of new technologies. However, a good part of them had not been possible if information management systems and infrastructures for communication were not gradually introduced throughout the period. The development of e-government is usually thought to consist of a sequence of distinct steps. A number of models exist next to each other, but all agree that the first two steps consist of presence of government or governmental institutions on the web followed by the possibility of transactions with government by citizens and businesses, whereas the third (and further) step(s) involve(s) interactive government. ; В статье анализируется влияние электронной демократии на политическое участие гражданского общества, определена эффективность внедрения информационно-коммуникационных технологий в развитии демократии на современном этапе. Среди приоритетных задач Украины на пути к европейскому сообществу определено развитие информационного общества. Важным этапом его развития является внедрение мировых практик электронной демократии. Это будет способствовать ее прозрачности и открытости, модернизирует государственное управление. Как следствие, гражданское общество сможет приобщиться к принятию управленческих решений на разных уровнях. Определены проблемы развития представительной и прямой демократии. Приводится тезис о том, что существует много проблем в развитии как представительной, так и прямой демократии, однако внедрение е-демократии предлагает новый путь в направлении углубления демократических процессов, широкого привлечения граждан в общественно-политическую жизнь. Констатируется, что в течение последних двух десятилетий во многих программах правительств стран мира важным вопросом является модернизация государственного сектора. Однако внедрение электронной демократии также может вызвать и ряд проблем. ; У статті аналізується вплив електронної демократії на політичну участь громадянського суспільства, визначено ефективність запровадження інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій у розвитку демократії на сучасному етапі. Серед пріоритетних завдань України на шляху до європейського співтовариства визначено розбудову інформаційного суспільства. Важливим етапом його розвитку є запровадження світових практик е-демократії. Це сприятиме її прозорості та відкритості, модернізує державне управління. Як наслідок, громадянське суспільство матиме змогу долучитися до прийняття управлінських рішень на різних рівнях. Визначено проблеми розвитку представницької та прямої демократії. Доводиться теза про те, що існує багато проблем у розвитку як представницької, так і прямої демократії, проте запровадження е-демократії пропонує новий шлях в напрямі поглиблення демократичних процесів, широкого залучення громадян у суспільно-політичне життя. Констатується, що протягом останніх двох десятиліть у багатьох програмах урядів країн світу важливим питанням є модернізація державного сектора. Однак запровадження е-демократії також може викликати і низку проблем.

The topic of this paper is the debate between political moralists and
political realists. I will try to show that it is possible to find the middle
ground that simultaneously satisfies the main demands of both camps while
resisting objections directed against each. In the first part, I start with
the view shared by both moralists and realists: that the main challenge lying
before a political theory is solving the problem of legitimacy. I first
sketch Rawls? moralist approach. I then move to outline the realist
criticisms of such moralism. I will mainly follow one of the most detailed
recent theories - Sleat?s realist theory, although I will also draw from
other well-known realists. In the second part, I outline objections against
realism. They somewhat similar to the same criticisms they themselves direct
against moralists. The main issue is, in short, the problem of
underdetermination - that is, the insufficient determination of political
action by facts. Since realists hold that a political theory has to be
applicable, their view is thus considerably weakened by such criticism. In
the third part of the paper, I point to deliberative theory as a view that
can answer both realist criticism - because its main aspect is dealing with
the way things work in actual politics of concrete societies - but it can
also answer criticisms directed against realists themselves, because
empirical research of deliberation suggests an actual and viable way to solve
the problem of legitimacy - by raising the quality of deliberation. Moreover,
a deliberative theory retains autonomy of the ethical, although it doesn?t do
that, unlike moralism, by encroaching on the autonomy of politics. Thus, at
the end of the paper, I claim that such a deliberative approach can be
accepted by both realists and moralists.

В статье анализируется швейцарский опыт конституционно-правового регулирования институтов непосредственной демократии федерального ранга: референдума и народной инициативы. ; The author of the article analysis by historian-legal approach the Swiss experience of constitutional-legal regulation of institutes of direct democracy of federal rank: referendum and popular initiative.

Discusses the impact of use of the electronic voting machine on the rate at which voters take part in direct democracy by lowering ballot roll-off, that is, failure by voters at the polls to record a preference in referenda contests; based on voting data, 1992 and 1996; Kentucky.

Knowledge democracy is an emerging concept that addresses the relationships between knowledge production and dissemination, as well as the functions of the media and democratic institutions. Although democracy has been the most successful concept of governance for societies for the last two centuries, representative democracy, which became the hallmark of advanced nation-states, seems to be in decline. Media politics is an important factor in the downfall of the original meaning of representation, yet more direct forms of democracy have not yet found an institutional embedding. Further, the Internet has also drastically changed the rules of the game, and a better educated public has broad access to information, selects for itself which types to examine, and ignores media filters. Some citizens have even become "media" themselves. In a time where the political agendas are filled with combatting so-called evils, new designs for the relationships between science, politics and media are needed. This book outlines the challenges entailed in pursuing a vital knowledge democracy.

This article deals with the question of parliamentary democracy and female representation in the Arab world in both statistical and historical contexts. The role of women is considered in societies across history from the ancient period to the modern as well as the correlation between women's suffrage and actual political participation with relative development and underdevelopment of countries in the post-modern period. Historical as well as cultural factors – including those with direct bearing on the Arab world – are examined as is the disparity between the letter of the law and social and political practice.

Comparative reflections are offered on Western modernity & Iranian Islamic fundamentalism. It is argued that there is a constant back-&-forth movement between philosophical interrogation & the political project of democracy in Western modernity, while in Islamic societies, there exists a direct link between the absence of a public space for democratic deliberation & the absence of philosophical interrogation. A definition of philosophical interrogation is developed, & it is concluded that, in Iran, it is not a matter of choosing to, or not to, adopt Western institutions & values, but of creating the conditions that make this choice possible. W. Howard

With size, voting discipline, and technical resources superior to those of most Brazilian parties, in the last two decades, the support of the Agrarian Caucus has become crucial for the realization of presidents' legislative agenda. In a country where 87 percent of the population is urban, how have representatives of the agrarian elites become key players in bargaining on nonagrarian issues? This article argues that Brazilian agrarian elites have been so successful because they have devised an electoral strategy that maximizes their leverage in a fragmented party system with ideologically weak right-wing parties. Empirically, I show how agrarian elites in Brazil finance legislative campaigns, mobilize voters, and subsidize the legislative work of politicians from their ranks, independently of their partisan affiliation. Theoretically, I discuss the advantages of a candidate-centered electoral strategy: self-representation and multipartisanship. While self-representation has granted agrarian elites direct access to agenda-setting positions within Congress, having members in many parties has increased the number of agenda-setting positions they can control and guaranteed their presence in the legislative coalition of right- and left-wing presidents alike.

В статье автор анализирует становление историческое развитие понятия «непосредственная демократия». Рассуждает о том, что демократия, как форма осуществления власти народом посредством прямого народоправства, имеет право на существование, но в связи с усложнением государственной жизни лишена исторических перспектив. ; In article the author analyzes formation historical development of concept «direct democracy». Argues that democracy as the form of realisation of the power the people by means of a direct control of the people, has the right to existence, but in connection with complication of the state life is deprived historical prospects.