Suchergebnisse

La tesi è stata intitolata "Change the System From Within". La participatory democracy e le riforme istituzionali negli Stati Uniti degli anni Sessanta e si compone di cinque capitoli. Nel primo capitolo si riprende l'idea di participatory democracy emersa in seno alla New Left e ai movimenti sociali dei lunghi anni Sessanta. In questo contesto il concetto di participatory democracy assunse due principali accezioni: da una parte rappresentava la rivendicazione politica di un maggior coinvolgimento attivo della cittadinanza nelle politiche - locali, statali e federali - frutto della crisi di legittimità che la democrazia americana stava attraversando in quegli anni; dall'altra, il concetto venne adottato come principio organizzativo all'interno dei gruppi stessi di attivisti, con la funzione di prefigurare quelle riforme politico-istituzionali cui gli stessi militanti aspiravano. Dalla stessa temperie di contestazione sorse del resto anche la critica che alcuni studiosi mossero alla teoria liberale pluralista e alla sua esemplificazione nella coeva democrazia americana. Nel primo capitolo si mostra proprio come da quelle rielaborazioni critiche degli anni Sessanta emerse anche il primo modello di participatory democracy in seno alla teoria politica, sviluppato pienamente negli anni Settanta e Ottanta da Carole Pateman, Crawford B. Macpherson e Benjamin Barber. Questa parte del lavoro di tesi si propone quindi di accostare alle pratiche partecipative introdotte dai movimenti anche la ricostruzione dello sviluppo graduale di una teoria politica della participatory democracy. Tale riflessione è completata da un'analisi storica di ampio raggio, necessaria a meglio contestualizzare il fenomeno e ad includere le nuove richieste democratiche nell'ambito di una tradizione democratico-rappresentativa già dotata di istituti partecipativi di democrazia diretta. Chiarito il quadro storico-politico degli anni Sessanta, il secondo capitolo analizza la ricezione dell'idea di participatory democracy nelle politiche federali. A questo proposito si illustra come il principio di citizen participation fosse stato recepito già con la War on Poverty promossa da Lindon B. Johnson alla metà degli anni Sessanta e fu mantenuto, con esiti istituzionali differenti, almeno fino alla fine della presidenza Carter. Si dimostra inoltre che, malgrado il dettato legislativo federale fosse spesso approssimativo sulle modalità operative, quel principio ebbe in realtà un notevole impatto sulle relazioni intergovernative. Tale principio favorì ad esempio l'intraprendenza di molti amministratori locali nel promuovere il decentramento amministrativo e politico su base di quartiere. Nel terzo capitolo l'analisi affronta le principali trasformazioni in senso partecipativo avvenute nei sistemi di governo statali e locali negli anni Settanta, mettendole in relazione anche alle dinamiche intergovernative di più lungo periodo. Il capitolo è strutturato in modo tale da evidenziare il tendenziale recupero e rafforzamento di istituti già esistenti, come l'initiative, i public hearing e gli school district come strumenti di rivendicazione del community control in alcune città di grandi dimensioni. Mentre il secondo e terzo capitolo tendono a osservare le riforme istituzionali degli anni Settanta in senso partecipativo in seno al governo federale, statale e locale, i due successivi capitoli mirano ad osservare l'impatto della participatory democracy nel confronto tra attivismo militante e pratiche amministrative tradizionali degli anni Settanta. Il quarto capitolo è infatti dedicato all'ingresso della nuova generazione di politici progressisti nelle amministrazioni locali e statali fra la fine degli anni Sessanta e la prima metà degli anni Settanta. Per analizzarlo si è deciso di analizzare come principale caso di studio la Conference on Alternative State and Local Policy (CASLP), una organizzazione e forum nazionale che mirava proprio ad unire alle istanze dei progressisti una expertise di governo. Nell'ambito della CASLP, la cosiddetta Coalizione progressista di Berkeley, CA, fornì un caso esemplare di strategia di confronto con le istituzioni locali e per questo il capitolo le dedica una attenta disanima. La pluriennale esperienza di azione collettiva dei progressisti di Berkeley nell'arena istituzionale è infatti rilevante sia per l'innovazione nella strategia istituzionale, sia per attestare una evoluzione dell'idea di participatory democracy nel tempo. Il quinto capitolo ricostruisce ed analizza la carriera politica di Tom Hayden negli anni in cui passò dall'attivismo alla politica istituzionale, con la campagna elettorale per diventare Senatore della California in Congresso (1975-1976) e la successiva Campaign for Economic Democracy (1976-1982), confermando la spiccata propensione del leader all'innovazione istituzionale in senso partecipativo. In particolare, nella campagna elettorale per il Senato del Congresso del 1976 Hayden riuscì a implementare forme di decision-making partecipato in seno allo staff. Nella gestione del personale cercò inoltre di favorire l'empowerment di volontari e cittadini senza perdere di vista i requisiti essenziali per la sopravvivenza della campagna: fundraising e propaganda. In linea con la sua battaglia contro le distorsioni economiche del big business, scelse di non accettare fondi da corporation e banche e riuscì nell'intento di essere sostenuto per gran parte da small donors. Hayden dunque introdusse pratiche di participatory democracy in seno alla campagna elettorale e continuò a rivendicare la sua fiducia nella forza dei movimenti grass-roots. L'analisi storica, ad ogni modo, evidenzia anche le criticità che derivavano dall'uso di pratiche partecipative nella governance della campagna elettorale. Atttraverso l'analisi teorica e politico-istituzionale della democrazia partecipativa americana fra gli anni Sessanta e Settanta su vari livelli istituzionali (federale, statale e locale), questo progetto di ricerca tenta quindi di colmare un vuoto storiografico e, al tempo stesso intende contribuire alla definizione storico-istituzionale della participatory democracy in seno alla democrazia rappresentativa degli Stati Uniti. Infine, la presente ricerca mira a inserirsi nel dibattito pubblico contemporaneo sulla participatory democracy, offrendo una visione storico-istituzionale importante per meglio comprendere il fenomeno e che, finora, non ha ricevuto l'attenzione che meriterebbe. ; Chapter 1 retrieves the idea of participatory democracy stemmed from the Long 1960s New Left and the following social movements. Indeed, the concept of participatory democracy mainly acquired two slightly different shapes in that historical framework. From one hand, it meant the broad political call for common citizens' greater involvement in the policy-making - at the local, state and federal level. That request was in fact a reply to the ongoing crisis of the American democracy, in terms of political legitimacy and social representation of minorities and poor people. In the other hand, participatory democracy represented the organizing principle adopted by most of the grass-roots groups of that period, with a clear prefigurative function. Indeed, making the activist groups' inner decision-making participatory was a way for the collectives to anticipate the institutional changes they aspired to. In the meantime, because of the same disaffection against the raising social and political inequalities, some political science scholars elaborated a critique to the pluralist version of the liberal democracy - then the most praised one, as well as credited as it was embodied in the American democracy. Those 1960s critiques were eventually used to conceive the first political theory of participatory democracy in the 1970s and 1980s, as Chapter 1 shows. The participatory democracy's canon was in fact mostly developed by Carole Pateman, Crawford B. Macpherson and Benjamin Barber. Beside the intellectual history of participatory democracy from 1960s to 1980s, Chapter 1 allows to contextualize ideas and practices of common citizens' participation into the wider history of the American Political Development. According to that, chapter 1 also provides a detailed analysis of the participatory political institutions that were traditionally part of the United States representative democracy. Chapter 2 verifies whether the 1960s idea of participatory democracy actually affected the federal public policies of the late 1960s and 1970s. Indeed the principle of "citizen participation" was introduced in some of the War on Poverty legislations, promoted by Lyndon B. Johnson since the mid-1960s. Although the heterogeneous institutional effects, that principle was maintained in some grant-in-aid projects until the end of the Carter administration, through the Nixon and Ford administrations. Therefore, the political meanings assumed by the idea of "citizen participation" and its institutional consequences from 1964 to 1980 are carefully analyzed in chapter 2. Moreover, chapter 2 shows that the principle of citizen participation had such a strong impact on the intergovernmental relations. It thus brought forward, for instance, the local public officers' entrepreneurship towards the local devolution, shifting the administrative and political power base from the center to the neighborhood. Chapter 3 deals with the 1970s main institutional reforms aimed at introducing the common citizens' participation in the government decision-making at the state and local levels. Those reforms are deeply related to some long-lasting intergovernmental dynamics and this relationship is also argued. The same chapter's lay-out is vowed to underline the 1970s general trend of retrieval and enhancing of traditional institutions, such as the initiative (direct democracy), the public hearings and the school districts. The school board was indeed reevaluated and reshaped as a means of community control in the biggest cities. As chapters 2 and 3 aim at exploring the implementation of participatory reforms in the federal, state and local level of government, chapters 4 and 5 aim at inquiring the participatory democracy's impact on the 1970s boundary of polity - the space where activism meets political institutions. Chapter 4 inquires the new generations of progressive politicians entering the local and state administrations from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. To frame that national phenomenon, the historical analysis use the Conference of Alternative States and Local Policies (CASLP) as a case study. CASLP was indeed a national organization born in 1975 to give voice to the progressive public officers around the country and allowed them sharing their government experiences for a more effective institutional impact. Inside CASLP, the progressive coalition of Berkeley, CA (called Berkeley Citizens' Action, BCA) was especially spotted for its exemplary strategy to confront local political institutions. The 1970s BCA's political actions are thus specifically analyzed. In fact, the institutional approach of the Berkeley progressive coalition resulted to be innovative in terms of strategy as well as successful in introducing new forms of participatory democracy into the local government, assessing the 1970s evolution of the participatory democracy political theory and practices. Chapter 5 retraces the political career of the former New Left leader Tom Hayden during the years of turning from activism to institutional politics. Especially, the analysis focuses on the 1975-1976 U.S. Senate Campaign and the following Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED), a coalition project and organization led by Hayden with the goal of mobilizing activists and public officers around the issues of economic justice, environmental and economic public policies (1976-1982). That period - just before Hayden was elected representative at the California Legislature in 1982 - is thus analyzed as a testing ground to verify his long-lasting commitment towards participatory democracy. The historical and political analysis, based on original archival findings, confirms Hayden's inclination for institutional innovation in the participatory realm. In particular, during the 1975-1976 electoral campaign for the U.S. Senate in California Hayden introduced participatory forms of decision-making involving staff people, volunteers and supporting grass-roots groups. Moreover, that campaign's staff and people management was conceived in order to directly empower citizens and volunteers, without losing track of the campaigning basic requirements (e. g. fundraising and propaganda). As he stood against big business and economic inequalities, he chose to reject fundings from corporations and banks. Therefore his electoral campaign was mostly sustained by small donors. Hayden successfully made the campaigning more open, accountable and participatory and kept on sponsoring his trust in community organizing and grass-roots social movements even in his following political endeavour, CED. Eventually, the investigation casts lights on the strengths, as well as the critical issues, produced by the Hayden's participatory governance of campaigning. By the means of analysing the intellectual history and the institutional implementation of participatory democracy during late 1960s-1970s United States, this research project firstly aims at making up the lack of historiography about the topic. In the second stance, grounding the institutional and political history of participatory democracy in the United States representative democracy - where the concept was born - this research project intends to provide a first genealogy of the participatory democracy's institutional implementation. In this sense, the research projects wants also to contribute to the contemporary debate on the participatory democracy. It is indeed a compelling and popular issue in many worldwide political arenas, but it is still rarely defined by its historical and institutional terms.

Il presente articolo propone una disamina sulla dimensione liberale del voto obbligatorio. Lo scritto prenderà le mosse dal problema dell'astensione, fattore determinante per la scelta di adottare il voto obbligatorio. Si metteranno così in luce alcune possibili ragioni di dissenso nei confronti dell'obbligatorietà del suffragio. Il contrasto all'astensione sembrerebbe infatti sottrarre ai cittadini la possibilità di fare proprie determinate posizioni morali e politiche, restringendo la loro libertà di scelta e di espressione. Scopo dell'articolo è mostrare la piena capacità del voto obbligatorio di esprimere le idee degli elettori e di valorizzare al contempo l'ambizione liberale di una libertà dalle istituzioni e nelle istituzioni.

A review essay on books by (1) R. Dalton & M. Wattenberg (Eds), Parties without Partisans. Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies (Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2000); (2) R. Gunther, J. Linz, & J. R. Montero (Eds), Political Parties. Old Concepts, New Challenges (Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2002); (3) L. Diamond & R. Gunther, Parties and Democracy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U Press, 2001); (4) P. Mair, W. Muller, & F. Plasser (Eds), Political Parties and Electoral Change (Oxford: Oxford U Presss, 2004); & (5) R. Dalton, Democratic Challenges. Democratic Choices (Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2004).

Taking into account a recent book, the paper considers some analytical categories developed in reference to populist phenomena, declining them in relation to the evolution of the Italian legal system. Moving from this second point of view, the paper looks at both the national perspective of the majoritarian electoral system and the evolution and performance of the form of government of the Italian Regions. ; Prendendo spunto da un recente volume, lo scritto considera alcune categorie analitiche elaborate in riferimento ai fenomeni populistici, declinandole in rapporto alle evoluzioni dell'ordinamento italiano. In questa seconda prospettiva, si guarda sia alla prospettiva, nazionale, della cd. transizione maggioritaria, sia all'evoluzione e al rendimento della forma di governo delle regioni italiane.

The article discusses recent challenges and opportunities for democracy. Stressing that the scientific discourse on this topic has to critically consider the various meanings of the concept of democracy, some main narratives on the status of democracy are reviewed, looking at the elements of crisis of representative democracies, but also at the growing importance of democratic qualities promoted in participatory and deliberative conceptions of democracy. Original empirical research on conceptions and practices of democracy in social movements as pre-figurative arenas provides illustrations of the tensions and potentials within the, variously understood, conceptions of democracy. Moreover, some explanations of the different conceptions of democracy are discussed. The author concludes that, if the historical evolution of democracy privileged some specific qualities (related in particular to electoral accountability), the recent difficulties of representative institutions require a reflection on different qualities that, as participation and deliberation, are acquiring new relevance. Adapted from the source document.

Southern Caucasus (Transcaucasia) is a dichotomous region. The states forming this area are characterized by deep dissimilarities, but at the same time they share part of their past and many of their future expectations. A common historical legacy, together with a particular people's Weltanschauung and a geographic contiguity render Georgja, Armenia and Azerbaijan a group of countries that are united in their several differences. The aim of this PhD Thesís is the study of the political and economic transition of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. On the basis of the potitical science, social studies, economic development and the transition scientific literature, some structural indicators have been chosen in order to elaborate a macro-analysis on their present level of democratic and economic development. As for the economic section, comparative analyses of the economic and financial performances have been adopted. The results of this studies and the analysis of the indicators have been submitted to the scrutiny of a group of scholars coming from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russian Federation and Europe, composing a so-called DELPHI Group. The main goal was to have an impartial and scientific opinion about the quality of the analysis. The results indicating the different level of the structural development (also summarised in a numerical coefficient) allowed giving the three countries a "democracy score", commonly used by the scientific community. The analysis alIowed to classify Georgia and Armenia as hybrid regimes, in which the potential for sustainable, liberal democracy is unclear, corruption is widespread and presents a major impediment to political and economic development. As for Azerbaijan it was defined as a semi-consolidated authoritarian regme, in which it failed to meet even the minimum standards of electoral democracy, State presence in the economic sector and widespread corruption represent an obstacle for development. Political and economic transition of Transcaucasian countries seems to have a checkered trend, because there are still too many systemic internal fractures characterizing in these countries and too many international components can act and/or dominate their individual choices.

Downs is unusual in having been active in economic & political research during the 1950s & 1960s, & then turning to real estate & urban planning for the rest of his career. Focus here is on his first book, An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), which presents not one, but many theories of democracy even if they are all generally couched in economic terms. This paper expounds the argument of the Economic Theory systematically & sequentially covering (a) the general non-spatial model of party competition; (b) the effects of information shortage; (c) party reliability & responsibility; (d) the two-party spatial model; (e) the multiparty spatial model; (f) further consequences of information shortage; & (g) problems of voting turnout. Evidence from quantified election programs is used to show that the models leading to limited party policy movement & non-convergence are the more realistic ones. Despite its defects, the book laid down the agenda for mathematical political theory & empirical research over the last 50 years & has a fair claim to being the most influential single book written on politics in that period. 1 Table, 6 Figures, 1 Appendix, 38 References. Adapted from the source document.

According to Russell Hardin, the rational choice approach to politics offers "devastating theoretical claims for any conception of democracy that implies a minimum degree of coherence of collective choice, information & participation." This essay argues that such conclusion is misplaced. The author discusses two classes of results, derived respectively from social choice theory & game theory, both of them pointing to a gap between individual & collective rationality. These theoretical results are better understood as benchmarks against which comparing alternative explanations of political outcomes. For instance, disequilibrium results from social choice theory imply that political outcomes cannot be explained only on the basis of individual preferences, but also on the basis of the rules aggregating them. The downsian paradoxes -- complete convergence of candidates/parties, voters' rational abstention & rational ignorance -- are a starting point for more complete explanations of electoral competition & electoral participation. Finally, the game theoretical analysis of collective action problems can provide useful insights in order to understand classic problems in democratic theory, such as transition to democracy & democratic stability. In short, while many results of the rational approach to politics are better interpreted as limitative theorems, ignoring them would make analysis of democracy much poorer. References. Adapted from the source document.

Issues related to "post-national democracy" are most clearly delineated in the context of a politically & economically integrating Europe. Post-national democracy in Europe should be conceptualized as an ongoing evolutionary process of democratization, with institutional arrangements being the contested focal point of that process. The absence of a demos will not stop the demands for greater citizen involvement in the governance of the European Union, an involvement which would increase the EU's legitimacy. The EU's lack of a common political community, however, will prevent it from developing a traditional government. The EU therefore will be characterized by governance without the kind of government found in national democracies. Nonetheless, an original executive institution will be constructed. The executive of the future will carry out many (but not all) of the key functions of an executive without, however, benefiting from the kind of legitimacy that national government executives enjoy. In institutional terms, the character of the executive will render European post-national democracy distinctive, & the electoral link between the citizenry & that executive will be the most contested issue as democratization proceeds. Institutional originality & innovation are likely, therefore, to continue to characterize the process of European integration. 106 References. Adapted from the source document.

In this article, first of all, will be illustrated the recent electoral process of 6 June, focusing on some decisions of the National Electoral Institute (INE) and the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Power (TEDPJF). Furthermore, it will explain the reasons that led the last election to take place in a highly polarized and conflictual climate, focusing in particular on the role of the President and his mañaneras. The recent election provide an opportunity to reflect on the centrality of electoral legislation in the Mexican democratisation process and the extent to which its future lies in this area. In the following, some of the main reforms made to Mexican electoral legislation will be analysed, highlighting how they have determined the democratic development of the country and to what extent they have constituted a rollback. The aim of this examination is, on the one hand, to highlight points of continuity and rupture that are useful for the analysis of the country's current situation and to illustrate the reasons that have led Mexico to have a complex electoral system and autonomous bodies in charge of organising and "supervising" elections. And, on the other, to highlight how the future of Mexican democracy is still, and almost completely, played out on the electoral field, both from the point of view of the results of elections and with regard to the centrality of electoral legislation.

In the organization of the recent presidential elections in Somaliland, the implementation of specific political techniques (namely the registration of voters by means of digital fingerprint and facial recordings) took on very distinctive meanings, guaranteeing the international community involved in the process and local political actors of the "free and fair" character of the electoral competition and assuring a complete transition from a political system based on the "government of the community" to one based on western style democratic institutions (a multi-party presidential system). The reality however proved to be not that simple: the registration of voters actually caused conflicts or ignited those already existing, contributing to extend the long and hazardous period of preparation to the polls. In the process, the relationships between "technique" and "politics" appeared far more complex than expected: political techniques determine a space of interaction which eventually produces the assimilation of local political practices to the dominant forms of political organization, specific cultures of voting and a specific electoral body. Technique here operates as a form of self-legitimization which promises neutrality in order to have conformity. The article situates itself in contemporary debates on political development in post-conflict societies but it also reminds how artificial is the opposition between clan or tribal politics and western style democratic politics, generally seen as one of the most specific features of politics in Africa, in particular in Somali history. In reality, a continuous negotiation between corporate and collective forms of participation and activism on the one side and individual expression of vote on the other represents a typical feature shared by the two systems. Adapted from the source document.

The debate on citizen images of political parties is long standing, but recently it has taken on added importance as the evidence of party dealignment has spread across Western democracies. This article assembles an unprecedented cross-national array of public opinion data that describe current images of political parties. Sentiments are broadly negative, & this pessimism has deepened over the past generation. Then, we demonstrate how distrust of parties decreases voting turnout, contributes to the fragmentation of contemporary party systems & the electoral base of new protest parties, & stimulates broader cynicism of government. Although political parties are the foundation of the system of representative democracy, fewer citizens today trust political parties, & this is reshaping the nature of democratic politics. 7 Tables, 2 Figures, 48 References. Adapted from the source document.

Winnicott's "Some Thoughts on the Meaning of the Word Democracy" is a problematic, layered work, which analyzes the importance of unconscious emotional factors in the election and removal of leaders. According to Winnicott, a true democracy exists only if a certain number of individuals, thanks to the secrecy of the vote, are capable of producing a psychic field in which the public sphere is brought back to interiority, so as to produce a specific individual responsibility. Voting is considered an intermediate zone of experience, to which both internal and external life contribute. The author shows the relationship that this interpretation of the democratic electoral system has with the concept of transitional area

Lipset is one of the most productive & innovative social scientists in the 20th century. Some of his many books & articles have become classic texts, in particular, his seminal book, Political Man (1960). Despite the broad scope of his work, Lipset's writings have one single focus -- the study of democracy. He has studied the social & political factors conducive to democratization & the stability of democracy, taking into account social structural conditions, the role of intermediary organizations, political culture, electoral behavior, & political leadership. His work is theoretical as well as empirical, & his perspective has always been a comparative one, referring to practically all major world regions. Lipset was the first to put forward the idea that socioeconomic development is an important precondition for democratic development & that economic success may in turn contribute to legitimize newly democratized regimes. He has also emphasized the central importance of a competitive party system for sustaining (intra-organizational) democracy. As an American, Lipset has finally always been intrigued by the exceptional character of American democracy, which he traces back to a historically unique combination of favorable circumstances at the time of its foundation, ie, social structural conditions (high levels of social mobility), a specific value system (individualism, equality of opportunities, religiosity), & the availability of political leaders intent on creating a republic based on popular sovereignty that was without precedent at the time. 2 Tables, 31 References. Adapted from the source document.

Il problema politico ha rivestito un ruolo di primo piano nella biografia e nella riflessione filosofica di Platone. Le <, mostrandone la concordanza di fondo con la filosofia platonica. Per fare ciò saranno analizzate le modalità elettorali delle principali magistrature, come indicato nel VI libro, mostrando come le strutture politiche, in buona parte mutuate dalla realtà ateniese, siano orientate da un principio di competenza con il fine di guidare la città verso una vita virtuosa. Saranno infine analizzati concetti chiave come educazione, competenza e democrazia, traendo le opportune conclusioni. Plato has always been involved in politics. The <, with elements borrowed from Athenian democracy mixed to a criterion of expertise in order to lead the city to a virtuous life. After a brief introduction, we will examine the electoral procedures as presented by the author in Book VI, then we will focus on key concepts such as education, law and democracy in order to draw the appropriate conclusions.