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The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has encouraged political scientists to re-examine the comparative literature on democratisation. A vast literature has now been produced comparing transitions from authoritarianism and democratisation in different parts of the world. However, there are two major omissions in the transition literature. First, the focus of research has primarily been on national level politics, and second, the relationship between federalism and democracy has largely been overlooked. This study seeks to redress this imbalance by moving the focus of research from the national level to the vitally important processes of institution building and democratisation at the local level and to the study of federalism and democratisation in Russia. Federal states are much more difficult to set up than unitary ones, and forging a new federal system at the same time as privatising the economy and trying to radically overhaul the political system has clearly made Russia's transition triply difficult. This book builds on Cameron Ross' earlier work, 'Regional Politics in Russia', by combining theoretical perspectives with empirical work to provide a comparative analysis of the electoral systems, party systems and governmental systems in the ethnic republics and regions and to assess the impact of theses different institutional arrangements on democratisation and federalism. Overall, this study argues that Russia's weak and asymmetrical form of federalism has played a major role in thwarting the consolidation of democracy. Federalism and democratisation in Russia exist in contradiction rather than harmony. In a vicious circle authoritarianism at the centre has been nourished by authoritarianism in the regions and vice versa. 'Elective dictatorships' and 'delegative democracies' are now well entrenched in many republics and authoritarian regimes are firmly established in a majority of the regions. This book will be vital reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of Russian politics and democratisation.

Democratization is a major political phenomenon of the current age. Democratization through the looking glass argues that our perspectives on democratization reflect the intellectual origins of the inquiry. How we see and understand it are influenced by what we 'bring to the table'. By considering democratization across a range of disciplines from anthropology and economics, to sociology, law and area studies, this volume offers a rich combination of analytical frameworks, distinctive insights and leading points of concern. On one level the book provides anyone interested in democratization with a wide-ranging distillation of the main themes, issues, and topics, concisely written by leading experts in their field. On a second level the book advances the case for a broadly-based comparative study which includes Europe and North America alongside developing regions, while maintaining the belief that a multi-disciplinary approach enhances our understanding of democratization far more than that of a narrow political science view. The book is aimed at students of politics willing to explore the boundaries of their subject and all social scientists who need an introduction to this important contemporary phenomenon.

Even still, I take up and read with some keenness, but sometimes surreptitiously, any new book glancing my field of specialization, however diverging in theoretical frame or methodological approach, simply for its inherent promise to offer a fresh glimpse of some sort, some intellectual adventure. Kelley's recent anthology Reelpolitik definitely caught my attention, perked my expectations, and left my curiosity whetted but deeply unsated; and I shall tell you why. ; Zielinski, G. (2001). Reelpolitick: Political ideologies in '30s and '40s films [Review of Reelpolitick: political ideologies in '30s and '40s films]. Canadian Journal of Communication, 26(1), 177-178. ; Reelpolitick: political ideologies in '30s and '40s films by Beverly Merrill Kelley with John J. Pitney, Jr. Craig R. Smith, and Hebert E. Gooch III. Westport, CT. and London: Praeger 1998, 194 pp. ISBN 0275960196 (pbk), ISSN 10625623

Even still, I take up and read with some keenness, but sometimes surreptitiously, any new book glancing my field of specialization, however diverging in theoretical frame or methodological approach, simply for its inherent promise to offer a fresh glimpse of some sort, some intellectual adventure. Kelley's recent anthology Reelpolitik definitely caught my attention, perked my expectations, and left my curiosity whetted but deeply unsated; and I shall tell you why.

This paper assesses the relationship between the nature of political parties and varieties of democracy. It is argued that the changing role of parties can be attributed to an ideational transformation by which parties have gradually come to be seen as necessary and desirable institutions for democracy, and that this has contributed to a changing conception of parties from voluntary private associations towards the political party as a 'public utility', i.e. the party as an essential public good for democracy. Recent cases of democratization, where parties were attributed a markedly privileged position within the democratic institutional framework, provide the most unequivocal testimony of such a conception of the relationship between parties and democracy. At the same time, however, fundamental disagreements persist about the meaning of democracy and the actual role of political parties within it. Regrettably, however, the literatures on parties and democratic theory have developed to a large degree in mutual isolation. This paper provides a preliminary attempt to move beyond the consensus which exists on the surface that modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties by considering varieties of party and different conceptions of democracy.

It is shown in this paper that the Median Voter Theorem lacks robustness in the sense that if voters have (even the slightest) preferences for the competing candidates, beside preferences for their current policy proposals, then no policy in the neighbourhood of the median voter's preferred policy constitutes an equilibrium (in pure strategies). This suggests that this classical theorem does not apply to representative democracy. Indeed, if voters do have candidate preferences, and these are strong enough, the policy-motivated candidates will, in general, adopt differing policy positions in equilibrium, and, under certain qualifications, the equilibrium outcome will be (close ti) a particular utilitarian optimum. More specifically, in a discretized model the policy outcome will lie between the preferred policy of the most popular candidate and this utilitarian optimum.

The low level of representative power and political parties in Lithuanian public opinion inspired this analysisof political parties, as organizations using basic knowledge of management science. Understanding that voters areconsumers of political party's activities result, programs for election campaigns are considered as a main product ofpolitical parties' activity basing on the most popular contemporary understanding of political party. Basing on thefundamentals of management science a strategy of state development and persons prepared to implement thatstrategy in representative and governmental institutions are considered as a more valuable product of party activitiesin the article. Acquiring the power to govern a state for long enough period, when more than half of citizensparticipating in elections are oriented towards short term goals is considered as a paradox of democracy. Creationand popularizing a philosophy of political party, forming a field of main values in the state's life, serving as a basisfor strategy and short time election programs is considered as a mission of political parties in contemporaryLithuania enabling to overcome the paradox of democracy.

Report written by Byrnes and delivered at the 1989 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association.

Discursive ethics or communicative ethics were born in the seventies fathered by K.O. Apel and J. Habermas, and today they are widely known; it is a current of such life and vigour that its very creators have engaged in lively polemics. This paper, starting from K.O. Apel' s texts, attempts to explore in what measure this discursive ethics provides philosophical foundations for political democracy and to determine the basic elements necessary for the construction of a universal ethics. ; La ética discursiva o ética comunicativa nace en los años setenta de nuestro siglo de la mano de K.O. Apel y J. Habermas y hoy en día se encuentra ampliamente difundida; hasta tal punto se trata de una corriente llena de vida, que entre sus mismos creadores se producen vivas polémicas. En el artículo se intenta, a partir de los trabajos de K. O. Apel, mostrar en qué medida esta ética discursiva fundamenta filosóficamente una democracia política y puede precisar los elementos básicos necesarios para la construcción de una ética universal.

Kept up to date by the office's L.C. classification--additions and changes, and by two publications issued by Gale Research Company entitled: Library of Congress classification schedules--a cumulation of additions and changes, and Library of Congress classification schedules combined with additions and changes. ; Mode of access: Internet.

Includes index. ; Rev. ed. of: Classification. Class J. Political science / Office for Subject Cataloging Policy, Collections Services, Library of Congress. 2nd ed., 1991 revision. 1991. ; Mode of access: Internet.

In social sciences, a law can be defined as a finding of certain regularities in the interrelationships between social facts. These regularities observed, and then validated by the experiment cited, make it possible to propose laws, even if they are not necessarily universal and permanent in nature, as in some cases in physical science. In line with this approach and applying the principles of Claude Bernard's experimental method, we propose two of the demography laws of politics, the number law and the differential law. By means of the experiment referred to, their veracity can be established. The geography of the population can therefore provide useful lessons for political science. ; International audience In social sciences, laws result from interrelationships between social facts that can be frequently observed. These laws are not universal as they can be in physical sciences. However, once observed and experimented, regular events can lead to the recognition of laws. This is what we propose to do, following the principles of Claude Bernard's experimental method, in order to deal with two demogeographic laws of politics : the law of number and the law of differential. Hence we will see how useful for political science population geography can be. ; In social sciences, a law can be defined as a finding of certain regularities in the interrelationships between social facts. These regularities observed, and then validated by the experiment cited, make it possible to propose laws, even if they are not necessarily universal and permanent in nature, as in some cases in physical science. In line with this approach and applying the principles of Claude Bernard's experimental method, we propose two of the demography laws of politics, the number law and the differential law. By means of the experiment referred to, their veracity can be established. The geography of the population can therefore provide useful lessons for political science. ; Dans les sciences sociales, une loi peut se définir comme le constat de ...

The majority of political scientists studying democratization in the Third World avoid Muslim countries due to the difficulty posed by Islam religion which is intricately linked to politics. Indeed, analysis of the relationship between Islam and democracy is only speculative when separated from historical experience. As a religion, Islam does not take sides for or against democracy. The importance for this discussion is the human interpretation of religion in relation to political conflicts. I will deal with the issue of Islam and democracy throughout the Algerian experience from this perspective.

The majority of political scientists studying democratization in the Third World avoid Muslim countries due to the difficulty posed by Islam religion which is intricately linked to politics. Indeed, analysis of the relationship between Islam and democracy is only speculative when separated from historical experience. As a religion, Islam does not take sides for or against democracy. The importance for this discussion is the human interpretation of religion in relation to political conflicts. I will deal with the issue of Islam and democracy throughout the Algerian experience from this perspective.

The majority of political scientists studying democratization in the Third World avoid Muslim countries due to the difficulty posed by Islam religion which is intricately linked to politics. Indeed, analysis of the relationship between Islam and democracy is only speculative when separated from historical experience. As a religion, Islam does not take sides for or against democracy. The importance for this discussion is the human interpretation of religion in relation to political conflicts. I will deal with the issue of Islam and democracy throughout the Algerian experience from this perspective.