Suchergebnisse

Icelandic politics are analysed from the perspectives of three normative models of democracy: the liberal, republican and deliberative democratic theories. While the Icelandic constitution is rooted in classical liberal ideas, Icelandic politics can be harshly criticized from a liberal perspective, primarily because of the unclear separation of powers of government and for the extensive involvement of politics in other social sectors. Despite strong nationalist discourse which reflects republican characteristics, rooted in the struggle for independence from Denmark, republicanism has been marginal in Icelandic politics. In the years before the financial collapse, Icelandic society underwent a process of liberalization in which power shifted to the financial sector without disentangling the close ties that had prevailed between business and politics. The special commission set up by the Icelandic Parliament to investigate the causes of the financial collapse criticized Icelandic politics and governance for its flawed working practices and lack of professionalism. The appropriate lessons to draw from this criticism are to strengthen democratic practices and institutions. In the spirit of republicanism, however, the dominant discourse about Icelandic democracy after the financial collapse has been on increasing direct, vote-centric participation in opposition to the system of formal politics. While this development is understandable in light of the loss of trust in political institutions in the wake of the financial collapse, it has not contributed to trustworthy practices. In order to improve Icelandic politics, the analysis in this paper shows, it is important to work more in the spirit of deliberative democratic theory ; Peer Reviewed

Kosningaréttur er grundvallarréttur þegna í lýðræðisríkjum og þátttaka í kosningum álitin ein af mikilvægustu athöfnum borgaranna. Þó að þessi réttindi skuli tryggð öllum þegnum sýna alþjóðlegar rannsóknir að fatlað fólk er víða útilokað frá þátttöku í kosningum. Fatlað fólk er síður líklegt til að kjósa en ófatlað fólk og mætir iðulega ýmsum hindrunum ef það reynir að taka þátt í kosningum. Þessi grein fjallar um kosningaþátttöku fatlaðs fólks með hliðsjón af niðurstöðum alþjóðlegra rannsókna. Í upphafi eru raktar helstu hindranir í vegi kosningaþátttöku fatlaðs fólks og leitast við að svara hvaða áhrif þessar hindranir hafi, ekki aðeins fyrir fatlaða borgara, heldur jafnframt hvað það þýði fyrir heilbrigði lýðræðis og lýðræðislegra stofnana þegar hluti þegnanna mætir alvarlegum hindrunum varðandi borgaraleg grundvallarréttindi. Íslenskar rannsóknir á þessu sviði eru ekki fyrir hendi og engin skipuleg tölfræðileg gögn eru til varðandi þátttöku fatlaðs fólks í kosningum eða stjórnmálum hér á landi. Byggt á gögnum sem aflað var hjá tveimur fjölmennustu heildarsamtökum fatlaðs fólks hér á landi er rýnt í reynslu, aðstæður og möguleika fatlaðs fólks til þátttöku í kosningum á Íslandi, lagasetningar þar að lútandi og skyldur ríkisins til að stuðla að og tryggja þátttöku fatlaðs fólks í stjórnmálum og opinberu lífi, ekki síst í ljósi þess að Samningur Sameinuðu þjóðanna (SÞ) um réttindi fatlaðs fólks (SRFF) hefur verið fullgiltur hér á landi ; The right to vote is a fundamental right of citizenship in democratic nations, and participation in elections in one of the most important acts undertaken by citizens. Although these rights are guaranteed to all citizens, international research shows that disabled people are widely excluded from participation in elections. Disabled people are less likely to vote than non-disabled people and often encounter various obstacles when they try to participate in elections. This article discusses the voting participation of disabled people in consideration of the international research. The main barriers that disabled people encounter in the voting process will first be outlined. This will be followed by questions concerning the effects these obstacles produce, not only for disabled citizens, but what this means overall for the health of democracy and democratic institutions when a portion of the citizenry encounter serious obstacles concerning their basic civil rights. Icelandic research in this field is extremely limited and no systematic statistical data exists on the participation of disabled people in elections, or politics in general, in this country. Based on data drawn from sources from two of the largest disabled people's organization in the country, the focus here is on the experiences, circumstances and opportunities for disabled people to participate in elections in the country. The findings draw attention to the obligations of the state to promote and ensure the participation of disabled people in politics and public life in light of the recent ratification in Iceland of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) ; Peer Reviewed

Í þeirri lýðræðisvakningu sem varð á Íslandi eftir hrun mátti sjá hvernig ólíkir hópar byggðu lýðræðiskröfur og ákall um meira eða dýpra lýðræði á ólíkum hugmyndum um lýðræði. Kjarni þessara krafna var þó hinn sami: meira lýðræði þýddi aukin áhrif almennings á ákvarðanir og stefnumótun. Þannig undirstrikaði hin almenna umræða um lýðræði þann skilning að virkt samráð við almenning sé nauðsynlegur hluti lýðræðislegra stjórnarhátta. Í þessari grein er gerð tilraun til að varpa ljósi á ólíkt inntak lýðræðiskröfunnar eftir málefnum hverju sinni og athyglinni einkkum beint að þekkingarmiðuðu lýðræði. Því er haldið fram að þótt enn sé ekki hægt að segja að þekkingarmiðað lýðræði byggi á veigamiklum empíriskum rökum, þá bjóði það upp á áhugaverðustu leið samtímans til að hugsa um lýðræðisnýjungar. ; During the democratic awakening in Iceland during and after the financial crisis of 2008 it was evident that different groups based their demands for more or deeper democracy on different conceptions of democracy. Yet their demands had a common core: more democracy meant greater public influence on policy- and decision-making. Thus public discussion insisted on a conception of democracy according to which public consultation is a necessary part of democratic governance. This paper discusses different kinds of consultation depending on the particular demands in each case with particular emphasis on epistemic democracy. I argue that even though it can hardly be said that epistemic democracy is based on much empirical evidence yet, its approach is the most promising way to think about future democratic. ; Peer Reviewed ; Ritrýnt tímarit

Eitt af meginmarkmiðum núgildandi aðalnámskrár (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið, 2011/2013) er að búa nemendur undir þátttöku í lýðræðislegu samfélagi. Samkvæmt þessu á grunnskólinn að vera sá staður sem veitir nemendum svigrúm til að öðlast reynslu af lýðræðislegu starfi og vera þátttakendur í því. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar var að kanna mögulegar breytingar á viðhorfum nemenda í þessum efnum yfir fimm ára tímabil, 2010 til 2015. Tveir hópar nemenda í 6.–10. bekk (Nalls = 627) voru spurðir um afstöðu sína til lýðræðis og lýðræðisþátttöku með fimm ára millibili. Rannsóknin var gerð í samvinnu við tíu skóla sem söfnuðu gögnum við reglubundið sjálfsmat. Niðurstöður sýna að viðhorf nemenda til lýðræðis í grunnskólum á Íslandi og lýðræðisþátttaka virðist hafa tekið mjög litlum breytingum á framangreindu tímabili. Engar breytingar var að finna á því sem kallað hefur verið frjálslynd lýðræðissjónarmið, svo sem tjáningarfrelsi og samkeppni í skólastofunni. Aftur á móti mátti greina smávægilega jákvæða breytingu á viðhorfum til þess sem kallað hefur verið samstarfslýðræði, þ.e. til þátttöku og samvinnu. Mikilvægi lýðræðisþátttöku að mati nemendanna virtist dala lítillega yfir þetta fimm ára tímabil. Niðurstöðurnar voru bornar saman við danska rannsókn frá árinu 2001 sem þessi rannsókn tók mið af. Enginn afgerandi munur fannst á viðhorfum dönsku og íslensku ungmennanna. Þó virtust frjálslynd lýðræðissjónarmið vera traustari hjá dönsku ungmennunum. ; The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory schools published in 2011 specially emphasized the importance of preparing students for active participation in a democratic society: "It is expected that children and youth learn democracy by learning about democracy in a democracy" (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið, p. 19). Democracy was furthermore emphasized as one of six fundamental pillars of the Icelandic education system together with literacy, sustainability, health and welfare, human rights, equality, and creativity. Accordingly, knowledge about changes in attitudes towards democracy and democratic participation since the introduction of this new conception in 2011 is of importance. The increased emphasis on issues related to democracy introduced in the Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory schools were to be fully implemented in 2013. Studies on how Icelandic students are prepared for an active participation in the constantly changing democratic society are few and far between. Therefore, the results of this study can be considered of importance for education stakeholders such as teachers, parents, students, and scholars. The theoretical model used in the study is based on the works of Danish researchers (Jacobsen, Jensen, Madsen, Sylvestersen, & Vincent, 2004), where democratic perspectives in a Western tradition are conceived as liberal democracy (e.g., emphasizing the rights of the individual) and republican democracy (e.g., emphasizing solidarity). According to the model, both perspectives need to be in place for a democracy to function, and it is in the tension between these two perspectives a democratic process becomes active. The goal of this study is to contribute to an increased theoretical and empirical knowledge about democratic processes and democratic participation in public schools. The research was intended to detect possible changes in the responses of children to questions related to liberal and republican democracy after the full implementation of the Icelandic national curriculum guide from 2011. The goals of the study were approached by asking two groups of children in Grades 6 through 10 (Ntotal = 627) about their attitudes towards democracy and democratic participation in the classroom. The first data collection was conducted in 2010 and the second data collection was conducted in 2015. The study was conducted in collaboration with 10 schools that carried out the data collection as a part of their own internal evaluation. The results show that attitudes towards democracy and democratic participation over the above depicted period had changed remotely during the five-year period. No changes were found in attitudes related to a liberal democracy. A slight positive change was detected regarding opportunities for participation and collaboration in a republican democracy. However, the importance of democratic participation showed a slight decline during this five-year period. According to the model of Jacobsen et. al. (2004) one of the prerequisites for liberal democracy is individuality. A comparison with Danish result from 2001 showed that about 61% of the Danish adolescents indicated that it was very important to "be the way they are" but only 47% of the Icelandic adolescents responded the same way in 2015. These results were in accordance with other manifestations of liberal democracy in the survey, which seemed stronger among the Danish adolescents. The limited change in the attitudes of adolescents towards democracy and democratic participation raises questions about whether compulsory schools had the resources to implement the changes in policy recommended by the 2011 national curriculum guide. More research is needed to explore what was done in schools to increase democracy in the classroom during the 2011-2013 implementation period. Furthermore, it is important to conduct further research to identify efficient ways for teachers and school administrators to meet the policy recommendation for an increased emphasis of democracy in Icelandic classrooms. Finally, comparison with results from other countries give reason to conduct more research on manifestations of liberal democracy (e.g., opportunities for an open and democratic discussion; respect for individuality) among Icelandic adolescents. ; Peer Reviewed

In this chapter we discuss what we have conceptualized as "the paradox of democracy", pointing to the conflict between the idea of the sovereign people on one side, and the idea that democracies need representatives and political leaders, on the other. The chapter gives an overview of democratic arrangements that encourage direct participation, including arrangements that feed into and support and arrangements that challenge the representative system. Furthermore, the chapter provides examples of arrangements that actively and intentionally link together representation and direct participation. Lastly, we discuss how the tension between participatory practices and representative democracy can be solved. In a brief and subsequent chapter, a Norwegian Mayor reflects on the conflict between representation and direct participation.

This thesis studies three major reforms in the public sector of Norway. The sectors studied are the police, higher education, and primary schools. The main motive for studying these reforms are of a theoretical nature, the reason to study them is to produce general knowledge about reforms. The study aims to answer two main questions. One is about the possibilities and limitations contained in using reforms to change organizations. The second is about how organizations can promote the ideals of representative democracy. In its efforts to attain answers to these questions the thesis blends empirically-oriented research with aspects of organization theory and political theory. The thesis is divided into four different parts. First, there is a descriptive presentation of the three reforms. Secondly, there is a discussion of various theories of reforms and organizations. The primary aim of this analysis is to illuminate and explain the empirical data, but this discussion should also provide its own answers to the main questions asked in the thesis. Thirdly, these theories are applied to analyze data from the three reforms. And finally, the study concludes with a summary of what general insights about the reforms we are left with after studying the Quality Reform, The Police Reform 2000, and the Knowledge Reform. The study shows that reforms have both policy and content aspects, and that it is important to distinguish between the two in order to analyse and understand them. The policy aspect is that reforms are a strategy for change - they are tools for implementing change in organizations. The content aspect is that reforms have a specific content - they have certain objectives that they want to realize. The study concludes that in order to understand this complex and fascinating phenomenon, we need to understand reforms both as instrumental tools, institutional adaptations and symbols.

This study has developed a tool for explaining why employees fail to speak up with regard to work related criticism; there is a hidden policy of silence that teaches employees to remain silent. This hidden policy is here designated as the "Curriculum Silentium" and is described in detail on the basis of empirical and theoretical data. After identifying a gap between the intentionally and experienced policy for employees freedom of speech in organizations I suggest that there are on-going unofficial, partially hidden learning processes in the organizations. The overall research question is; How does the Curriculum Silentium; the hidden policy of silence among employees, look like? I make an analytic construction of the hidden policy as if it were planned policy, using the didactic categories applicable to organizations. These didactic categories are: goals, content, teaching strategies and the motivation of employees. The empirical data was collected in three different organizations: an elementary school, a home for the elderly and a factory in the process industry, using qualitative methods such as interviews and observation. The theoretical foundation of the study is taken from existing theory within the field of work life research and educational science. The study is not a comparative study of the three organizations, but does involve a comparison of whether and how the Curriculum Silentium is expressed in three such different organizations. The challenge of examining hidden relationships in organizations was met through the development of guidelines for an analytical approach called a critical didactic relations analysis. The study concludes that a hidden policy of silence resembling that presented here exists in organizations where employees fail to voice working life related criticism.

Esipuhe – 7 Foreword– 10 I KANT, FICHTE, SCHELLING, HEGEL, MARX Hartwig Frank, Zur Bedeutung von Kants Ethik für den gegenwärtigen Ethikdiskurs – 14 Jussi Backman, Äärellisyyden loppu: Kant, Heidegger, Meillassoux – 23 Jari Kaukua, Fichten alkuperäisestä oivalluksesta – 42 Susanna Lindberg, Elämän käsite saksalaisessa idealismissa – 56 Carl-Göran Heidegren, Dialectic of Categories, Dialectic of Experience in Hegel – 65 Arvi Särkelä, A Restless Spirit. Immanent Critique as Inquiry into Inquiry in Hegel and Dewey – 74 Arne Overrein, Forsoning, Fremmedgjøring og Filosofi . Bemerkninger om Hegel – 96 Heikki Ikäheimo, Persoonien tunnustaminen, inhimillinen elämänmuoto ja Marxin James Mill-muistiinpanot – 113 Kari Väyrynen, Kaupunki-maaseutu –antagonismi marxilaisessa ekologiassa ja historiallisessa materialismissa – 136 Vesa Oittinen, Diderot neuvostofi losofi en silmin – 151 II FILOSOFINEN ANTROPOLOGIA, PERSOONUUS, MIELI JA RUUMIS Michael Quante, Die Perspektiven der Anthropologie – 169 Johannes Lehtonen, Olemassaolon tunteesta ihmismielen pohjalla – 189 Mikko Yrjönsuuri, Minä ja minun ruumiini. Kolme 1200-luvun teoriaa kehollisuudesta – 207 Matias Slavov, Sensualismi mielenfi losofi assa: Hume ja Condillac Descartesin vastapelureina – 220 Onni Hirvonen, Funktionalistinen mieli ja persoonan rajat – 233 Vili Lähteenmäki, Ajattelu ja ajatteleva olio – 253 Juhana Toivanen, Ihmisenkaltainen eläin. Näkökulmia rationaalisuuteen, ihmisyyteen ja eläimyyteen – 264 Joona Henrik Taipale, Itsen ja toisen välisestä jatkuvuudesta ja epäjatkuvuudesta – 287 Mika Ojakangas, Jacques Lacan: yliminä, halu ja asia – 307 Pessi Lyyra, Mitä halu esittää? – 316 III YHTEISKUNTAFILOSOFIA, KRIITTINEN TEORIA, TUNNUSTUKSEN POLITIIKKA Markku Mäki, Montesquieu ja Englanti – 337 Gorm Harste, From Kant to Clausewitz – An investigation of war systems with Luhmann's systems theory – 375 Kia Lindroos, Valta, kritiikki ja Walter Benjamin – 411 Mikael Carleheden, On Theorizing: C.S. Peirce and Contemporary Social Science – 428 Eerik Lagerspetz, Hans Kelsen's Defence of Democracy – 460 Joonas Pennanen, Limittyvät kontekstit, käytännöllinen järkeily ja harkintatasapaino – 483 Sari Roman-Lagerspetz, Althusser: Between Marx and Lacan – 513 Petteri Niemi, Social Work and Recognition – 534 Jacob Dahl Rendtorff, The Ethics and Politics of Recognition: A Critique of Critical Theory – 560 Arto Laitinen, Michael Walzer on Recognition as a Dominated Good – 586 IV ESTETIIKKA, ETIIKKA JA ELÄMÄSSÄ SUUNNISTAUTUMINEN Bernadette Banaszkiewicz, Intensität, Deutlichkeit, enargeia. Antike Ekphrasis-Konzeptionen bei Theon, Quintilian und Longos – 623 Jussi Antti Saarinen, Taidemaalareiden ykseyden kokemuksista – 651 Henrik Enckell, Carlos Saura's Blood Wedding – 665 Werner Stegmaier, Die Bedeutung der Philosophie von Emmanuel Levinas für die Orientierung des Menschen – 678 Olli Pitkänen, Mitä tarkoittaa pahan selittäminen? Huomioita Jussi Kotkavirran kirjoituksesta Hyvän ja pahan lähteillä – 688 Rauno Huttunen & Leena Kakkori, Moraalin kehitys ja täysi-ikäisyys – Gilligan–Kohlberg –kiista – 709 Ludwig Siep, Ethische Kriterien für medizinische Forschung in Entwicklungsländern – 730 Miira Tuominen, Stoalainen fi losofi nen terapia: elämä sarjana valintoja – 756 Sami Pihlström, Viljely ja aika: Maa, puutarha ja elämän arvo(t) – 770 Juha Räikkä Itsepetos ja uskonto – 797 Olli-Pekka Moisio, Uskonto kritiikkinä ja kriittinen teoria täysin toisen kaipuuna – 805 Risto Eräsaari Viimeiset sanat – 817