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Democratic erosion in the EU's Central and Eastern European (CEE) member states has confounded EU policy-makers. In this paper, we investigate the assumptions behind the climate of optimism about CEE democratization that prevailed in EU decision-making before and after the 5th and 6th enlargements, and the extent to which political science participated in this intellectual climate. Based on a qualitative analysis of EU decision-making in the early twenty-first century and a quantitative analysis of 500 randomly sampled papers published between 2000 and 2015, we find that both policy makers and the most influential research in political science shared a bias towards optimism structured by common assumptions: A procedural understanding of democracy, a rational institutionalist belief in the EU's capacity to bring these procedures about with the use of incentives and the related assumption that sociocultural dimensions of democracy would eventually follow institutions. We argue that these common assumptions help to explain both the EU's failure to pre-empt and respond proportionately to democratic erosion, and the failure of our discipline to check that optimism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do democratization processes affect voter turnout in new democracies? Existing work points to an expected boost in electoral turnout after democratization as newly democratic citizens are euphoric to exert newly democratic freedoms or because they developed new political attitudes and behaviours by mobilizing for democracy. While intuitive and normatively appealing, these explanations have not been theoretically nor empirically scrutinized within the literature. This paper develops and tests novel theoretical expectations on the processes and legacies of democratization that impact voter turnout in new democracies. Using electoral turnout data from 1086 national elections between 1946 and 2015, and turnout survey data of over 1 million respondents between 1982 and 2015, we find that the boost in voter turnout (1) exists only for the first election after transition, (2) its effect depends on the life cycle during which individuals experienced the transition and (3) it is less dependent on transition type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper explores the evolution of voting systems, assessing vulnerabilities in traditional methods and investigating blockchain technology as a solution. Traditional voting systems encounter challenges concerning security, transparency, and accessibility, prompting a transition towards blockchain-based online voting. Blockchain, originating from cryptocurrencies, decentralizes control, thereby enhancing transparency, integrity, and security in elections. Real-world case studies from Estonia and West Virginia offer insights into implementation and successes. Ethical considerations, including privacy and consent, alongside societal impacts like inclusivity and democratization, are scrutinized. The proposed blockchain-based voting system prioritizes decentralization, tamper resistance, and interoperability. Security measures incorporate cryptographic techniques and multi-factor authentication. Transparency is assured through a publicly accessible blockchain ledger, facilitating an auditable voting process. The paper addresses challenges like voter accessibility and election anonymity, proposing mitigation strategies. Future directions entail integrating blockchain with AI and machine learning for interoperability and standardization. Collaboration among policymakers, technologists, and researchers is pivotal for advocating secure, transparent, and accessible blockchain-based voting systems, with the goal of fostering globally participatory elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to make a conceptual contribution to the role of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) in regard to global education within state global heritage (multicultural) schools – using England as a representative example – in an age characterised by epistemological, historical and cultural securitisation. This paper recruits ideas and concepts taken from Lefebvre and Bourdieu in a discussion focussed on the IBO's potential role in resistance to the dominant neoliberal imaginary and cultural securitisation. However, in order to be a force for democratisation, the IBO must itself democratise through a reconceptualisation of the school spaces it operates in/produces. It will also involve a process of reassessing its notion/positioning of what constitutes symbolic (and therefore valuable) cultural capital. This will mean untethering global education from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. This paper highlights the possibility of a new space for global education, operationalised by moving beyond the 'IB school' to the potential of the more informal IB supported school. It is argued here that the IBO has the potential to galvanise a new wave of inclusive global education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States of America (US) committed nearly $1.4 billion in foreign assistance to Tunisia in support of its democratic transition and transitional justice process between 2011 and 2020. This paper seeks to identify and assess the ideational frameworks guiding the distribution of US assistance, and influencing US foreign policy behavior, throughout the democratization and transitional justice period in Tunisia. It provides considerable evidence showcasing the existence of two prevalent schools of thought in US policymaking circles: The first school believes that the US invested in the notion of Pacted Transitions, which advocates for rapid transitions through political compromise and power-sharing mechanisms without necessarily promoting grassroots democratic reform. This can indirectly explain the US emphasis on security sector assistance and the relative marginalization of transitional justice objectives mainly in terms of institutional vetting, lustration, and reform. The second school puts forward a Democracy Reduction Critique, arguing instead that US policymakers fell for the electoral democracy fallacy and fetishized the role of civil society. This paper critically accounts for both schools and argues that they represent two sides of the same coin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Albanian school, in its direction, inherits an authoritarian and centralized culture. The history of the school during the monarchy and the period of socialism strongly influenced its typology. Indoctrination, powerful control and fierce class struggle gave absolute authority to monist leaders and dicasteries. In the last two decades, the Albanian school has been involved in continuous reforms of its decentralization and democratization according to contemporary models and European integration standards. In this framework, the reform of school leadership, and the professional and institutional development of the role of the school director are included. This paper presents qualitative research on the model and style of the school principal today. The paper analyzes the factors that affect the achievement of school management standards and the reasons for presenting the school principal's preferred style. The paper is based on the meta-analysis of similar studies and the perceptions of 26 interviewed directors. The paper concludes that the most applicable style in school is the mixed style. This model is influenced by the community, the teachers, the culture of the school and the very nature and training of the school principal. According to results of this paper, it appears that; school principals do not have much faith in democratic models and leadership, even though they positively evaluate them. They are careful not to compromise their authoritarianism, as rules, discipline and avoiding problems are their priority. The paper gives some recommendations for school leaders, education specialists and school coaches of principals for strengthening the leadership capacities of schools in change processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The democratization of artificial intelligence (AI) involves extending access to AI technologies beyond specialized technical experts to a broader spectrum of users and organizations. This paper provides an overview of AI's historical context and evolution, emphasizing the concept of AI democratization. Current trends shaping AI democratization are analyzed, highlighting key challenges and opportunities. The roles of pivotal stakeholders, including technology firms, educational entities, and governmental bodies, are examined in facilitating widespread AI adoption. A comprehensive framework elucidates the components, drivers, challenges, and strategies crucial to AI democratization. This framework is subsequently applied in the context of scenario analyses, offering insights into potential outcomes and implications. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research directions and strategic actions to foster responsible and inclusive AI development globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper undertakes a comprehensive historical review of the Nigerian Political Bureau of1986, a pivotal institution established by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida to facilitate a transition to democratic governance. The Bureau, comprising17 members, was mandated to examine the country's political landscape, identify the causes of its democratic deficits, and recommend a framework for a more inclusive and participatory political system. The study leveraged the qualitative method of historical research, which involved the use, mainly, of secondary sources of data. Through a critical analysis of primary and secondary sources, including archival documents, newspaper reports, and scholarly literature, this study examines the Bureau's composition, mandate, and recommendations. The paper argues that the Bureau's report, which advocated for a mixed presidential-parliamentary system, a decentralized federal structure, and a robust system of checks and balances, represented a significant departure from Nigeria's post-colonial political trajectory. We argue that the recommendations of the Bureau are congruent with the country's multiethnic and multicultural nature. There is, therefore, the need for the current and subsequent political leadership of the country to revisit the work of the Bureau and consider implementing most, if not all, of its recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The local government is close to the people who thus, heavily rely on it for basic needs, a legislative imperative enshrined in the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa, the Constitution of 1996. Its purpose is to supply goods and services and encourage the participation of citizens in the realisation of policy objectives. This paper is one-third of a three-series composition sought through a conceptual and theoretical perspective to interrogate the ethical dimensions in which the public service exists within the interface of professionalism and compliance with municipal procurement processes and procedures. While the local sphere of government is crucial in the democratization and intensification of mass participation, there has been a rise in incidents of corruption and fraud, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and the misuse and misdirection of funds, which gradually erode public trust. This paper employed an interpretivism paradigm and a qualitative approach, and it relied on secondary data The paper found that the erosion of public trust leads to citizens violently protesting, demanding better service delivery and that service delivery is likely to decline when funds are misappropriated since municipalities rely on the procurement of goods and services to initiate public service delivery. Furthermore, the paper found while South Africa has sound, comprehensive and clear legislative policy frameworks that regulate public procurement; implementation remains a challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reality of the democratization of various African states in the 1990s has often failed to match the promise of democracy. Disputes over electoral outcomes have been commonplace, often resulting violence and social unrest. Such disputes point to possible limitations of the capacity of formal institutions such as the electoral commissions (and its associated electoral laws) and the judiciary to ensuring their peaceful resolution even where there may be no actual large-scale electoral violence. This paper examines the 2012 presidential election in Ghana. It argues that in addition to these institutional mechanisms there is an important role played by the traditional authorities exercise of informal conflict resolution strategies and the positive values in the (political) culture. Drawing on reports of journalists, the views of politicians and judicial records the paper shows how the preventive mediation of traditional authorities helped to defuse tensions and prevented a potentially violent situation during the electoral process and its disputed outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Party system institutionalization (PSI) is regarded as a critical underpinning of democracies, but its role in non‐democratic systems has been understudied. In this paper, we evaluate whether the concept has meaningful and perhaps unique implications for the durability of competitive authoritarian regimes. We argue that a modified version of electoral volatility – the most common measure of PSI in democracies – conveys useful information about PSI in competitive authoritarian contexts by signalling the ability of the ruling party to manage the opposition. To this end, we construct an original data set that disaggregates electoral volatility into ruling party seat change and opposition party seat volatility and further divides opposition party volatility into Type‐A and Type‐B volatility. We find robust results that democratization becomes more likely when decreases in the ruling party's seat share coincide with an increase in opposition party Type‐B volatility. This paper demonstrates that the concept of PSI has utility for understanding regime dynamics in competitive authoritarian contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancient accounts of Kleisthenes's democratizing reforms to the Athenian constitution in 508/507 B.C.E. do not elaborate on the reasons why these reforms found widespread support and thus proved stable. While scholars are confident that Kleisthenes divided Athenian citizens into ten geographically representative tribes and assigned them to local units of government, they do not agree about why these reforms produced a thoroughgoing democracy. This paper argues that Kleisthenes instituted reforms to religious practices and structures that supplied ideational content to the political reforms. This paper also attempts to demonstrate that some of the religious elements that Kleisthenes repurposed to serve the democratic constitution had been politicized in the previous century. Religious observance was thus one of the sites where contestation about Athens' political direction furnished democratic conceptual vocabulary. Athenians who wished to see civic institutions become more inclusive could be and were appealed to through reforms to everyday religious practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 terminated the country's democratisation. The crisis was more an outcome of the two-decade-long flawed state-building and democratisation, and the escalation of the insurgency than an overnight change in the country's politico-military landscape. This paper examines Afghanistan's failed democratization from 2001 to 2021 by focusing on five variables including stateness, welfare, rule of law, political regime, and political community. The paper explains how flawed progress in the five areas gradually eroded the democratisation process resulting in state collapse and the restoration of the Taliban's Islamic Emirate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Marmara University Journal of Political Science / Marmara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Marmara University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper advances the thesis that democratic populism and the commons can and should complement each other in counter-hegemonic interventions promoting egalitarian and ecological democracy in our times. After elucidating its key terms, the article makes, first, a theoretical case for the combination of egalitarian, inclusionary populism and the commons by debunking arguments which highlight the conflicts between them and by explaining the political significance of their conjugation. Subsequently, discussion builds an empirical argument for the real possibility and the democratic promises of such a convergence by considering three ways in which populist politics and the commons merge and recompose each other in contemporary social movements, from the Spanish 15M and new municipalism to Occupy and other collective contestation in the Americas over the last two decades. These cases will illustrate how late social activism has effectively blended populist mobilization with the spirit of the commons, engendering a hybrid figure of 'common populism' that fosters grassroots processes of democratization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the designed transformation of South African political identity and its constitutional framework as a core aspect of the democratization of South Africa. It compares the racist and exclusive identity of the apartheid state with a redesigned identity of an inclusive and open 'Rainbow Nation', a concept coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and spearheaded by Nelson R. Mandela along with the African National Congress. The study considers changes in the legal framework of identity politics, from the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act of 1983 (and the previous apartheid republican Constitution of 1961) through the interim democratic Constitution of 1993 to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. It discusses the possible significance of the 18 amendments to the act regarding South Africans' social and political identities, and establishes a complex and detailed portrayal of the republic's legal framework of identity politics. The study combines legal, political, and cultural analysis of the role of law in formatting social and political identities, using survey results to test its impact on society. In conclusion, the paper considers the effects of post-apartheid identity transformation in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines three aspects of an undergraduate course, Criminologies of Atrocity. The course uses the extensive volume of testimony and other evidence held in online archives at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and culminates in assessed individual research projects. After a description of the intellectual and institutional context of the course and an account of course delivery, the paper examines three dimensions of the course. First, the course successfully encourages a multi-disciplinary orientation among students in line with the historical development of criminology, the demands of studying atrocity, and identified pedagogical benefits. Second, the course is situated in relation to the research-teaching nexus, with pedagogical benefits around inclusion, democratization, and learning. Finally, literature on research ethics is applied to the teaching of the course. The paper supports the integration of publicly available archives into teaching which combines substantive and methodological dimensions of criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kingdom of Lesotho is beset by multiple challenges that hinder a full process of democratic consolidation. Like many other African countries, Lesotho is trapped in a myriad of challenges, including the politicization of independent institutions, such as the judiciary and security institutions, that contribute to perennial political instabilities and rampant corruption. Qualitative research was used to examine the challenges of democratic consolidation in Lesotho from the year 1993 to 2022. This paper, historically, using secondary data, uncovers the factors that continue to impede democratic consolidation in Lesotho from the period of fragile democracy in 1993 to the present unstable coalition governments. The central contention in the paper is that ever since Lesotho was declared a democratic state in 1993, the democratization process has been slow as there have been perpetual instabilities, lack of service delivery such as infrastructure, unemployment, and high rates of nepotism in the public sector that undermine sustainable democracy. Recommendations are that the political rights of citizens should be increased, civil society should be empowered, and the military should be put under civil control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text discusses the changes in scientific publishing, particularly the rise of open access (OA) publishing. While OA has made science more accessible, it has its drawbacks, such as publication fees that can disadvantage researchers with limited funding. There is also a concern about predatory journals that prioritize self-interest over scholarship. Avocetta is an OA journal listed in the DOAJ and adheres to the "Think. Check. Submit." checklist. It is a diamond OA journal, meaning publishing and reading are free. The journal aims to maintain scientific integrity and overcome the challenges of the changing publishing landscape. Roberto Ambrosini is the Editor-in-Chief of Avocetta and can be contacted through his address and identification number. [Extracted from the article]

The objective of this paper is to review the rising tide of Illiberalism and its growing influence on democratization. Illiberalism, in counter to liberal democracy, refers to the kind of rule that is somewhat democratic but not genuinely democratized. Political leaders distort the mechanism of conducting elections, influence the coverage of the media, and use the notion of nationalism to strengthen their position. The qualitative method of research has been adopted whereas primary and secondary sources are adopted for data collection. Case studies from the United States under Donald Trump, India under Narendra Modi, and Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan illustrate these phenomena. It shows that such practices of illiberalism erode democratic institutions, civil liberties, and checks and balances in the country. The paper suggests steps for improving the electoral oversight, media freedom, Global cooperation and civic education. All these measures are critical for the sustainability of democratization in the wake of surging illiberal forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to tentatively explore the benefits of placing art's knowledge-building tradition, with its capacity to disrupt and reframe, at the centre of how we look at alternative organizing and alternative economic spaces, positioning lived experience, its uncertainties intact, at the heart of researching and practicing social enterprise (SE). Design/methodology/approach: The paper explores indeterminacy through two case-study narratives, one of an academic arts-based research project and the other of a unique organization it encountered. Findings: The paper describes the way juxtaposition, encounter and drift value indeterminacy as central to generative processes, challenging the control central to management and its research. Research limitations/implications: The paper proposes that adopting an arts-based approach that challenges control can create a research instrument sensitive to similar tendencies in case studies, thus highlighting what is different and alternative about them. This responds to concerns about the diminishing centrality of SE's democratizing ethic expressed in its scholarship, about creativity in its research and about its socially transformative potential. Practical implications: The practice, by SEs of an approach welcoming chance, encounter, meandering paths and place-making with porous boundaries, proliferates transformative possibilities and is linked to democratization and participation. Originality/value: Though dangerously challenging to accepted notions of academic rigour, this paper proposes an unusual thought experiment tied in with lived experiences, in themselves experimental in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of constitutional transit and its features in the context of modern development of Ukraine. The author considers constitutional transit as a complex, multidimensional process that encompasses a wide range of legal, political, and social changes. The paper analyzes the theoretical foundations of constitutional transit, its individual stages, and key factors influencing the success of democratic transformations. Particular attention is paid to the specifics of constitutional transit in Ukraine, especially in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the post-bellum period. The author identifies the main problems faced by Ukraine in the process of constitutional transformations, including the instability of democratic institutions, limited economic potential, and crisis phenomena in the cultural environment. The article offers an analysis of possible stages of constitutional transformation in Ukraine after the end of the war, including urgent changes to ensure national security, development of a comprehensive reform strategy, public discussion of changes, legislative process, and implementation of adopted decisions. The author emphasizes the need to take into account national characteristics, historical traditions, and social mentality when conducting constitutional reforms. The importance of creating an institutional constitutional system that would effectively coordinate the activities of all social subsystems and regulate the behavior of participants in transformational processes is emphasized. The study demonstrates that constitutional transit in Ukraine is part of the global process of democratization, but has its unique features due to historical experience and modern challenges. The article also touches upon the understanding of the complexity and multifaceted nature of constitutional transformation processes in transitional societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper looks for the main reasons of how was the Hungarian government of the Fidesz Party lead by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán able to within 13 years undermine the independent checks on their power so that it could convert what had looked like a stable but imperfect democracy into an autocracy? After listing the most obvious reasons the paper looks particularly at, how much is the way of a mostly elite-driven democratic transition using the tools of ‚legal constitutionalism'and ‚undemocratic liberalism'without real historical traditions of a liberal democratic constitutional culture and with the regionally determined value system is to blame. This also leads to the question, how to allocate the responsibility for the backsliding between the elites and the citizens, influenced and often manipulated by the leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the trilogy framework of decarbonisation, decentralisation and democratisation and its relevance in the implementation of just energy transition agendas in rural communities of Global South countries (GSCs). It argues that just energy transition should be implemented via developing nationally independent but locally driven renewable energy projects in GSCs. To corroborate the trilogy framework, the paper discusses case studies of India's Panchayat institutions, Nepal's community renewable projects, and Bhutan's hydro projects. The paper recommends that the trilogy framework be implemented in GSCs through the concept of 'energy prosumer communities'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Political Science Studies / Studia Politologiczne is the property of University of Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Norwegian parliament has agreed to fund the Nansen Support Program for Ukraine, promising to deliver a total of NOK 75 billion (EUR 6.7 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine over the period 2023–2027. In 2023, half of the aid was delivered in the form of military support, the other half constituted civilian support, including humanitarian relief and direct support to the Government of Ukraine. Over the next four years, the distribution between military and civilian aid through the Nansen Support Program will be decided on an annual basis. To achieve the long-term goal of making Ukraine ‘well-functioning, democratic and safe’, and supporting the country’s ambitions for European integration, the Norwegian aid is intended to strengthen democratic institutions, the rule of law and civil society in Ukraine. This paper examines the debate on Norway’s assistance to Ukraine and discusses the competing, or even conflicting, goals of helping Ukraine win the war and strengthening Ukrainian civil society, looking for answers to several difficult questions: How will the Norwegian government ensure that funding to Ukraine is in fact spent ‘in line with Ukraine’s needs’ and does not enrich criminals or facilitate unlawful activities? How will the funding help strengthen Ukraine’s democratic institutions and civil society? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the practice of the Hungarian Constitutional Court regarding the restrictions of fundamental rights during the state of danger between 2020 and 2023. The state of danger – which is a type of special legal order in Hungary – was first introduced in March 2020 due to Covid-19. The rules of the Fundamental Law related to the special legal order reserve the Government the opportunity of broader restrictions on certain fundamental rights than in a normal legal order. It was the first period when the Constitutional Court could have established its practice and defined its own role in a special legal order, since the democratic transition in Hungary. The need for the interpretation of the constitutional rules on special legal order never applied before has posed a significant challenge to the Constitutional Court. The paper first examines the development of the constitutional rules on special legal order situations since the democratic transition, then reviews the most important parts of the Constitutional Court's practice on the cases related to the restrictions of fundamental rights in special legal order with a focus on the elements of the test used for checking the constitutionality of the challenged items of legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Necmettin Erbakan University Journal of the Faculty of Political Science / Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Necmettin Erbakan University Journal of The Faculty of Political Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Democratic institutions were seriously challenged across Europe between 1917 and 1939. In 1920, most European states were parliamentary democracies, by 1939 the majority had become authoritarian. However, some states weathered the crises they faced and successfully maintained democracy. There is a significant literature on democratic breakdown, but considerable attention has now been given to those that survived. This paper revisits the question of democratic survival by focussing on the Irish Free State and its experience when compared with other European states. It argues that while the Irish Free State was fragile in a comparative context, sharing many of the challenges associated with breakdown, it also showed considerable resilience. Various factors associated with survival and breakdown are critically assessed to explain the positive Irish outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the symbolic political phenomenon of Karaeng power in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The main objective of this research is to understand how Karaeng traditional symbols of power are maintained and utilized in the local political context. Qualitative research methods are used by conducting in depth interviews with community figures and content analysis of related primary and secondary data. The research results show that traditional Karaeng symbols of power still have strong relevance in influencing local political dynamics, even in the modern era and ongoing democratization. The discussion in this paper highlights the importance of understanding the role of symbols in the local political context, as well as its implications for power dynamics and community political participation in Jeneponto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This summary is based on an article that examines the effects of fear and corruption on Mexico's democracy. The study finds that Mexicans are disappointed with the way democracy works in the country, driven by perceptions of political corruption, concerns for safety and security, and their economic situation. A substantial proportion of the Mexican public is considering trading democracy for security. The article raises questions about the survival of democracy in Mexico and the need for further research on the complex relationship between Mexicans and the perception of widespread corruption. Additionally, the summary mentions other sources, including a book chapter on citizens and the state, an article on wealth inequality in Mexico, a research paper on satisfaction with democracy in Western Europe, and a research paper on the collapse of democracy in Brazil. [Extracted from the article]

The relationship between modernization and religion is contested, with the literature differing in how and in what ways religion helps or hinders countries' social, economic, and political development. This paper draws upon the history of Christianity in South Korea to critically explore the links between religion and modernization. It makes two arguments. First, discussions of the link between religion and modernization frequently employ static definitions of religion, but Christianity is characterized by oscillations between worldly (institutionalizing) and unworldly (countercultural) impulses that theoretically make very different contributions to social, economic, and political development. Second, in the case of South Korea, it is shown that both impulses have made vital contributions to the country's modernization at different times. This suggests that the dynamic tug-of-war between the institutional and countercultural facets of Korean Christianity, although problematic for individual believers and religious leaders, helped it become an important contributor to the country's success story. However, this paper concludes on a cautionary note by warning that extreme instances of these impulses have caused cleavages between Christianity and the Korean state and society and could undermine its future contributions. This suggests that diversity and toleration—a hallmark of Korean Christianity—will continue to be the best pathway forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applied the mixed approach on primary data. It is comprative study of democratic system in Kenya and Ethiopia. The developed theoretical framework prism of the two third world African Countries. The study explored the modules of the democracy in these neighboring east African states. Both nations have same colonial legacies and political mindset. It investigated causes behind post elections conflicts in these African nations and its effects. This paper explores the Democratization in Kenya and Ethiopia as third world countries, and provides a better understanding of the practical implementation of democratic principles in both Countries. The continuing wave of, as well as civil agitation carries spillover effects. It carried SWAT analysisThis paper advocates several recommendations Focus on Transparency Increase transparency and accountability in resource allocation to reduce insecurity and rebuild public trust. Both Kenya and Ethiopia need to strengthen their democratic institutions such as the judiciary and the electoral commission. Economic development is important, but it should not come at the expense of democracy. Regional Cooperation Encourage collaboration between Kenya and Ethiopia, along with other African nations, to share best practices in democratic governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the political economy of organizing slow and ongoing genocide against the de facto stateless community of Rohingyas. We draw on the method of organizing situated solidarity offered by Richa Nagar and the concept of political society. Basing on that, we explore the ways, methods, and contents of organizing situated solidarity during Myanmar's political transition as a democratic state against Rohingyas' misrecognition and their experience of slow and ongoing genocide. We argue that such organizing urges us to recognize the structural reasons for misrecognizing Rohingyas as internally displaced people (IDP) or stateless people. Thus, our analysis shows that structuring misrecognizing by the militarized state and its interventions was deeply linked to the political economy of slow and ongoing genocide. We argue that the method of organizing situated solidarity has enabled us to constitute our situated understandings and has the capacity to extend the debate by asking what role we should undertake as researchers and business academics in an increasingly militarized racial capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a large panel of countries, this paper studies whether, or not, democracies can disproportionately produce better economic outcomes for the poor than non-democracies. To deal with the endogeneity of democracy and inequality, a regional democratisation wave is used to isolate the exogenous variation in country-level democracy. Our main finding is that the exogenous component of democracy significantly and robustly decreased inequality in the long run, after controlling for key inequality determinants. We identify that the two potential mechanisms through which democracy affects inequality are structural transformation and middle-class bias channels. However, we find that this negative democracy-inequality link is reversed in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea's transition to democracy in 1987 was driven by social movements. The grand democracy coalition included the opposition party and various civic associations, including student groups, labour unions, and religious organisations. Civil society continued to pressure the post-transitional governments to dismantle authoritarian structures and remove undemocratic practices. Political authoritarianism in South Korea in 1961–1987 was inseparable from the developmental state that delivered the country's impressive economic development. Government reform after the democratisation entailed the weakening, if not dismantling, of the developmental state, to make public governance and policymaking more transparent, responsive, and participatory. In this paper we examine government reform in South Korea, focusing on the first ten years following democratisation. The Roh Tae Woo government created the Administrative Reform Committee in 1988, and the Kim Young Sam government launched the Presidential Commission for Administrative Reform in 1993. Although both agencies engaged civilians in the reform process, it was the Ministry of Government Administration and the Ministry of Finance and Economy that dominated the designing and implementing of the reforms, which demonstrates that the introduction and implementation of collaborative governance in South Korea was state led. Comparative implications are drawn from the South Korean case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reward-based crowdfunding has enabled an unprecedented number of consumers to provision capital for commercial and artistic ventures. Each year, consumers use digital platforms to transfer billions of dollars to entrepreneurs and artists to help them develop a wide range of market innovations. Notably, these consumers obtain no financial benefits, no formal guarantee that their money will be used aptly, and no reimbursement options. Under such materially unfavorable conditions, why do consumers transfer their money to these producers? The present research answers this question by introducing the concept of a "market-fostering gift system": a social contract that entices consumers to fund the creation and enhancement of market offerings by mobilizing the logic and practices of gift-giving. This conceptualization includes the core stakeholders, processes, outcomes, and shortcomings of reward-based crowdfunding, providing theoretical structure to this consequential articulation of platform capitalism. In addition, this conceptualization advances theory about how gift and market economies intersect. Whereas previous research emphasizes the tensions that characterize their interface, this article brings to the fore the complementary, scalable relationship between gift-giving and market exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered a conflict that has transformed international relations through drastic impacts on policymaking, energy politics, and alliances. Such impacts have produced severe multi-dimensional consequences for African countries that have yet to be sufficiently interrogated in the literature. In response to this gap, this paper examined the security implications of the conflict for African countries to offer a comprehensive analysis that considers the intersection of the conflict with contemporary economic, human, social, and political issues confronting Africa. In discourse using a qualitative approach and rooted in a theoretical perspective drawn from the Copenhagen School, the paper underlined the security implications as evident in the areas of food security and governance, buttressing that the proxy conflicts and power struggles associated with this war have exacerbated existing challenges related to food availability and interfered with the consolidation of democracy in Africa. The paper concluded that the war's multi-dimensional impact potentially compounds political instability vectors. It generates dynamics capable of eroding social cohesion and fomenting social unrest in Africa, meriting its designation as an issue of great concern to African policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent progressive reappraisals of the enlightenment by Jonathan Israel and Rainer Forst, Voltaire figures as almost a reactionary thinker, opposing the radical dimensions of the enlightenment pushing forwards secularisation, democratisation, and toleration. Part 1 examines Israel's and Forst's accounts of Voltaire, showing their striking proximity. Part 2 is divided into the three subheadings of (i) Voltaire's deism, (ii) the pivotal subject of toleration, and (iii) the decisive question of what philosophical radicalism, in the direction of democratising reform, involves. At issue in Israel's and Forst's claims that Voltaire's deism represents a step backwards from Bayle's and Spinoza's more radical conceptions of reason and toleration, we will claim, is a shared, anachronistic failure to duly credit Voltaire's deism's distance from the revealed religions, and the radicalism of Voltaire's anti-clericism. In the key claim of the paper, however, we will argue that the larger issue in Israel's and Forst's positioning of Voltaire as almost reactionary are a deeper set of assumptions about how we should assess philosophical texts which aim to act in the world, and (evoking Feuerbach) to change it (2, iii). Both Israel and Forst, despite the former's extensive labours in contextualisation, read the texts of eighteenth century philosophers for their arguments alone, rather than as rhetorical and political acts and interventions which aimed to reach, entertain, and reform an expanding reading public through esprit, art, satire, and rhetoric, as well as by making argumentative contributions to the controversies of the day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from the theoretical and empirical results of a European research project, this paper tentatively elaborates a post-neoliberal framework for social policy and welfare reform. We argue that for moving beyond neoliberalism it is not sufficient to just increase the generosity of social policies: what is also needed is 'social empowerment', i.e. processes of democratization of social policymaking that effectively redistribute power in society, making welfare institutions increasingly accountable and responsive to citizens, including marginalized ones. Building on reflections and learnings emerging from our work in the research project, we show that a capability and human rights informed participatory action research involving civil society organizations, marginalized citizens and academic researchers, can offer potential pathways forward to advance a post-neoliberal social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The external incentives model (EIM) proved highly compelling in explaining Europeanization and rule adoption in countries from Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe. Building on the EIM, the present article seeks to contribute along three key objectives. First, it proposes to re‐evaluate the EIM for the Eastern European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) region: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Second, the paper introduces a conceptual distinction between domestic transformation costs and regulatory costs. Third, it integrates and evaluates the EIM in a broader framework, incorporating domestic and alternative international conditions. The paper combines theory‐guided case comparisons and panel data analysis, based on a dataset with evidence collected from the Eastern ENP countries. The study corroborates the EIM and finds that higher domestic transformation costs lead to lower levels of democratic development and a positive cost–benefit balance of transformation, on the other hand, tends to encourage democratic consolidation in the Eastern ENP region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of a shift in focus from political praxis to trauma work in the context of a failed democratisation movement. It investigates the various phenomena which emerge when intellectuals, under the traumatic impact of violence and atrocities, place trauma narration at the core of their interventions. Drawing on document analysis, participant observation and semi-structured interviews with twenty nine exiled Syrian intellectuals in Paris and Berlin who had participated in the revolutionary movement of 2011, the paper suggests that an inversion of the normative power structures pertaining to how intellectuals relate to their publics occurs when they adopt, under conditions of extreme violence and trauma, what we call a radically embedded positionality vis-à-vis 'the people'. This results in the dismantling of previous figurations of the 'militant intellectual' along with praxis-focused notions of the 'responsibility of intellectuals', ultimately undermining their ideational influence upon domestic publics and weakening their political impact and critical role within a revolutionary movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does landholding inequality undermine democratization? Recent contributions have challenged the argument that landholding elites oppose suffrage extension if geographically fixed assets are unequally distributed. We advance research on this long-standing question by exploiting exogenous variance to reinvestigate the relationship. Using multiple instruments, we find that landholding inequality decreases support for suffrage extension. By focusing on traditional patterns of social control, we explore an empirically neglected mechanism linking landholding inequality and democratization. Taking advantage of four direct democratic votes between 1866 and 1877 in Switzerland, we demonstrate that landholding inequality also influences the political preferences of ordinary citizens who do not control these resources. This paper shows that high levels of landholding inequality provide local elites with the incentive and the means to align the local population's voting behaviour with their political goals. Supplementary analyses using qualitative and quantitative data further substantiate this social control mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to analyze a complex interplay between democratization and authoritarianism during Pervez Musharraf's tenure as Pakistan's military dictator from 1999 to 2008. On the one hand, Musharraf initiated some democratic reforms, such as holding elections, granting freedom of speech, and lifting restrictions on political parties. However, on the other hand, he also maintained authoritarian control through emergency rule, arbitrary arrests, and censorship. Examining Musharraf's regime in comparison with other military regimes in Pakistan reveals both similarities and differences. Therefore, this research employed a qualitative research methodology under case study approach. However, the findings of the study suggest that like other dictators, Musharraf justified his rule by claiming to restore order and stability in the face of political instability. He also implemented economic reforms that achieved short-term growth but exacerbated inequality and debt. However, unlike some previous regimes, Musharraf's rule included elements of democratization, albeit limited. Unlike the brutal dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq, Musharraf allowed some political dissent and facilitated the formation of opposition parties. This tentative liberalization foreshadowed the eventual transition to civilian rule after his resignation in 2008. Additionally, this study recommends that Pakistan must commit to upholding fundamental rights, strengthening independent institutions, and ensuring accountability to foster genuine democratization and move beyond its troubled past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary society, artificial intelligence (AI) impacts human lives to different extents, including reshaping the public's creative experience. Software and programs enable users to create images from scratch, notwithstanding their actual knowledge or competencies. The visual art system is currently facing an ongoing democratization process, in which the distance separating the creator and the informatic algorithm is gradually fading. Therefore, there is a growing need to analyze AI's implications on the creative process. The paper will analyze the different software and websites providing image-generating services while discussing their impact on society as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the impact of the 2012 and 2014 elections in conflict-ridden Libya. Rather than resolving political and institutional crises, these elections intensified challenges, deepened divisions, and increased violence. The paper identifies the Libyan case as part of a deleterious pattern in which elections in conflict zones impede democratic transitions. It argues for delaying elections until the issues underlying conflict are systematically addressed, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing national reconciliation and establishing a stable institutional framework. Given that elections alone may not resolve conflicts, the study advocates for internally-driven national dialogues and reconciliation initiatives, with collaborative efforts from the United Nations and the broader international community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the susceptibility of post-conflict democratization processes to civilian forms of ethnic violence. Shifting the focus away from institutions and political elites, which dominate analyses on democracy and ethnic violence, the paper analyzes social relations and struggles among civilians during post-conflict democratization. Through an analysis of anti-Kurdish communal violence in twenty-first-century Turkey, the paper shows that social movements led by minorities demanding recognition make ethnicity a politically salient cleavage. This triggers contention over ethnic boundaries, resulting in civilian forms of ethnic violence. A key finding of this paper is that violence is not merely an outcome of increasing polarization and division but also a strategy employed by dominant populations to reinforce former boundaries and reduce uncertainties surrounding the existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of data democratization and information leakage from trained models hinder the development and acceptance of robust deep learning-based healthcare solutions. This paper argues that irreversible data encoding can provide an effective solution to achieve data democratization without violating the privacy constraints imposed on healthcare data and clinical models. An ideal encoding framework transforms the data into a new space where it is imperceptible to a manual or computational inspection. However, encoded data should preserve the semantics of the original data such that deep learning models can be trained effectively. This paper hypothesizes the characteristics of the desired encoding framework and then exploits random projections and random quantum encoding to realize this framework for dense and longitudinal or time-series data. Experimental evaluation highlights that models trained on encoded time-series data effectively uphold the information bottleneck principle and hence, exhibit lesser information leakage from trained models. Healthcare data democratization is often hampered by privacy constraints governing the sensitive healthcare data. Here, the authors show that encoding healthcare data could be a potential solution for achieving healthcare democratization within the context of deep learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why was the route to democracy in Scandinavia extraordinarily stable? This paper answers this question by studying Scandinavia's eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century peaceful agrarian reforms, which contributed to auspicious state–society relations that made democracy progress relatively smoothly. Based on comparisons with contemporary France and Prussia and process-tracing evidence, the paper shows that Scandinavia achieved relatively extensive and peaceful agrarian reforms because of relatively high levels of meritocratic recruitment to the central administration and state control over local administration, which ensured impartial policymaking and implementation. These findings challenge prevailing theories of democratization, demonstrating that the Scandinavian countries represent an alternative, amicable path to democracy led by civil servants who attempt to transform their country socioeconomically. Thus, strong state-cum-weak society countries likely have better odds of achieving stable democracy than weak state-cum-weak society countries. However, building bureaucratic state administrations alongside autonomous political societies is probably a safer road to democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The women in developing countries face a lot of hurdles in effective participation in the political, social and economic development of their countries. This is particularly true for women in Pakistan who comprise 48.54% of the total population but their contribution in political and economic development is not proportionate to their numerical strength. This research paper aims at to find out the impediments of women participation in political development of Pakistan. It also highlights the conceptual framework work under which this research paper has been written i.e.by using some of Lucian Pye's aspects of political development. The role of women participation in political development of Pakistan is being analyzed with regard to economy, mobilization/participation, democracy and modernization. Women's inadequate involvement in economic sector, the lack of their representation in legislative, executive, administrative and judicial bodies not only negatively impacts the political development but it also has an even deeper impact on the progress at familial, communities and even individual levels. The question how these impediments determine the process of political development in Pakistan has been resolved by applying qualitative method of research. The countries where females are marginalized are unlikely to modernize and capitalize on its benefits. Democracy is not workable in such countries where almost half of the population is ignorant or deprived of their due rights and duties. It is infer that there is a need to bring radical socio-cultural changes in Pakistan to empower women and put the country on the path of political development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]