Suchergebnisse

The aim of this essay is to provide an overview of current research on international democratization. I start by discussing the choice of empirical indicators. Given a set of indicators -- Freedom House & Polity, which stand out as the most useful ones -- I make a graphic representation of democratic tendencies in different regions in the world. In this survey one region, North Africa & the Middle East, comes out as exceptional; here no general improvements have been made since the early 1970s. I then make an account of explanatory conditions which have proved in large-n empirical studies to play a role for democratic progress (such as modernization, access to oil, popular demonstrations & the type of authoritarian regime). I end up in a puzzle, which regards the Muslim countries. We can establish, on the one hand, that these countries clearly under-perform democratically. But on the other hand, comparative research has not managed so far to point out why that is the case. We can see a pattern, but we cannot point out an empirically solid explanatory mechanism. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

Jag får ofta frågan hur jag står ut med att bo i Ryssland, både av ryssar och västerlänningar. Varför bo och arbeta i ett land där vardagen är så fylld av besvär? Där byråkratin är så snårig och myndigheterna så opålitliga. Du skulle ju kunna ha ett mycket enklare liv i Europa. Det är sant. Men också ett mycket mindre intressant liv." Det är farligt att vara oppositionell i Ryssland. Om man deltar i demonstrationer och gör motstånd riskerar man sitt liv och sin frihet. Ändå gör ryssar det trotsar regimen för att stå upp för det de tror på. Samtidigt är det många ryssar som väljer att tiga, att ignorera landets blodiga historia och komplicerade förhållande till demokratin så länge makthavarna lämnar dem själva och deras familjer i fred. Hur kommer det sig? Med sin djupa kunskap om Ryssland och sin stora kärlek till dess folk har Anna-Lena Laurén blivit en av våra mest lästa och uppskattade journalister. I Sammetsdiktaturen får vi en inblick i det politiska spelet i Kreml och följer med hem till köken hos vanliga ryssar. Levande och personligt ger Laurén värdefulla inblickar i vardagen i ett av världens mest motsägelsefulla och fascinerande samhällen

A reading of David Hume with the intent to highlight components of a reformistic approach to social change. The well-known formulation about "reason as the slave of passions" poses the first problem. In spite of this, it is maintained that reason plays a decisive role in Hume's theory of knowledge as in his practice as a political philosopher. Connected with this problem is Hume's skepticism, which is based on the discovery of the logical impossibility of inductive inference. However, this theoretical skepticism does not lead to defeatism regarding the possibility of improving knowledge & society; it just leads to modesty &, paradoxically, to an even more important role for reason. A parallel to Hume's criticism of induction is his demonstration of the impossibility of deducing values from facts. Again, it is necessary to notice the difference between his theoretical position & his recommendations for politics. The task of the historian is to give a causal explanation of social institutions &, on the basis of this, point out values inherent in the institutions. This gives the instrument for a rational discussion of maintaining or reforming the institutions. Obviously, Hume is a relativist, but not in the usual & careless meaning of individual or collective subjectivism. Values are produced by men in a historical process, but as they stand before the historian & the politician, they are as objective as facts. Finally, it is worth mentioning that Hume with his view of the importance of an informed & critical discussion of social problems comes close to critical-rationalism. 28 References. Adapted from the source document.