Looks at how Reaganism - the political philosophy of Ronald Reagan - has severely damaged representative democracy as created by the nation's founders. This title also takes the media to task, criticizing the dismal record of failing to investigate the political and corporate chicanery that has brought us to this pass.
Democracy and the European Union comprehensively reviews one of the most salient, ongoing debates at the heart of the European Union (EU) today: democratic reform. It provides a thorough evaluation of how democracy might best be defined in the transnational context of the EU and explores the key strategies that have been deployed to enhance the Union's democracy from the Single European Act to the present day. In considering why the strategies have been unsuccessful, Alex Warleigh contends that the EU can only democratize itself by abandoning federalism, and working towards a more participatory democracy based on flexibility and active European citizenship. The book therefore advances important new ways in which the EU's 'democratic deficit' problems might be addressed more effectively than in the past. Marking a significant contribution to this key on-going debate, Democracy in the European Union: Theory, Practice and Reform will be essential reading for all students, scholars and professionals seeking a deeper understanding of the nature of the EU and the reform challenges it faces into the twenty-first century.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union near the end of the Twentieth Century, the former satellite nations in East Europe have moved toward the democratic process of free and fair elections. Now two prominent election experts have set out in one book all the basic information - text and tabular - that scholars and students of elections would want to know about free elections in post-Communist Europe since 1990. In Elections & Parties in New European Democracies, Professors Richard Rose and Neil Munro provide an overview and systematic comparison of electoral systems, parties, and voting in eleven countries including comparisons with established democracies such as the United States and Britain. In addition to chapters explaining and analyzing recent elections, the authors provide a country-by-country set of tables with a full list of all party names and acronyms in English and the national language; vote and seat totals; and details of the electoral system; and, where appropriate, a brief reference to elections in the pre-Communist era. Their examination includes basic socio-demographic data, such as population and standard of living, as well as examinations about the degree of freedom and fairness in each political system. The eleven countries in the book are: Russia plus the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Romania, the ten countries now seeking admission to the European Union. Contests include national parliamentary elections and presidential ballots where the president is directly elected. For their data the authors draw on election results from official and definitive sources in eleven different languages, and nationwide sample surveys of voters in all eleven countries.
Identifying four essential evaluative criteria for a democracy that genuinely works, this work asks us to examine the degree to which our system promotes political stability, what the problems are with voter turnout and how to improve it, and asks for a meaningful scrutiny of governmental policy.
Understanding Democratic Politics is aimed and designed for first-time students of politics. It provides an ideal introduction and survey to the key themes and issues central to the study and understanding of democratic politics today. Understanding Democratic Politics is structured around three major parts: 'concepts', 'institutions and political behaviour'; and 'ideologies and movements'. Each part contains a series of concise and accessible chapters that introduce the key concepts, institutional forms and political ideas or conflicts that have underpinned the development of modern democracies. Designed and written for an undergraduate readership, each chapter contains 'bullet-point' summaries, a guide to further reading, and set of questions for tutorial discussion. It will form an essential guide and companion to all students of politics both on introductory courses and throughout their undergraduate degree.
Increasing attention is being paid to the political uses of the new communication technologies. Digital Democracy offers an invaluable in-depth explanation of what issues of theory and application are most important to the emergence and development of computer-mediated communication systems for political purposes. The book provides a ......
Despite all the arguing from politicians, special interests, and political parties, Americans basically agree on the most important political issues. If only our legislators would stop fighting over obtuse policy details and really listen to what ordinary Americans want, representatives on Capitol Hill and in the statehouses would actually get something done, right? Wrong. Americans perceive consensus when in reality there is none. The fact of the matter is Americans not only disagree on the most significant challenges facing the country, but also conflict on what to do about them. On issue after issue-crime, Social Security, homosexual rights, military intervention, abortion-the American public is deeply divided over the proper course of action. Yet our system is not flawed by this division; democracy is necessarily complex and contentious. In truth, without these messy and chaotic features of governance, our system would not be working as the Founders envisioned. In lucid and lively prose, the authors lay out criteria with which to assess our representative system. By showing students what democracy entails in practice-the in's and out's of legislators actually doing their jobs-they will come to see that uncertainty, competing interests, confusion, bargaining, compromise, and conflict are central to the proper functioning of our democracy.
Democracy is the most widely used way of organizing politics in the contemporary world. Comparative Democratic Politics brings together a team of renowned international scholars to provide a comprehensive review of theory and research in this essential area of comparative study. A key aim to the book is to introduce and understand representative ......
Democracy in the 20th century is intimately linked to the communications media. Understanding the functioning and health of contemporary political systems requires an appreciation of the role of the media in general and in particular, television. The theoretical concepts of civil society and the public sphere are clarified alongside a critical analysis of the practice of television as journalism, as information and as entertainment. The author demonstrates the limits and possibilites of the television medium and the formats of popular journalism. These questions are linked to the potential of the audience to interpret or resist messages, and to construct its own meanings. What does a realistic understanding of the working and capabilites of television imply for citizenship and democracy in a mediated age? Relatiing the social and cultural theory of mediated societies to the actual realities of televised communication, this text should be useful reading for students of media and communication studies, sociology and politics of the media.
