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Taking some controversial claims philosopher Jason Brennan makes in his book Against Democracy (Brennan 2016) as a starting point, this paper argues in favour of two theses: (1) There is No Such Thing as Superior Political Judgement; (2) There Is No Such Thing as Uncontroversial Social Scientific Knowledge. I conclude that social science experts need to be kept in check, not given more power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an extended review of Randolph T. Hester's Design for ecological democracy (2006). Initially, a brief introduction to the book, its author and the works position in the literature is given, before a broad summary of the book's central argument is provided. The paper then considers the three key themes Hester explores: enabling form, resilient form and impelling form. Through this discussion, linkages are made to wider concepts of ecology in planning practice as well as political and planning theory. The paper concludes that Design for ecological democracy provides not only an engaging philosophy for the future, but also a series of case study-supported interlinked practical methods for change for the way the built environment is shaped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews several books on political communication. "Women, Democracy and the Media: Cultural and Political Representation in the Indian Press," by Sonia Bathla; "News, Gender and Power," edited by Cynthia Carter, Gill Branston, and Stuart Allan; "Gender Setting: New Agendas for Media Monitoring and Advocacy," by Margaret Gallagher.

The article reviews the book "In the Shadow of the Durian: Indonesia Observed," by R. W. L. Austin.

Reviews the book 'Teaching Democracy by Being Democratic,' edited by Theodore L. Becker and Richard A. Couto.

Reviews the book 'Challenges to Democracy: Ideas, Involvement and Institutions,' edited by Keith Dowding, James Hughes and Helent Margetts.

Reviews the book 'Joseph Schumpeter's Two Theories of Democracy,' by John Medearis.

The article reviews the book "Democracy and Modernity," edited by S. N. Eisenstadt.

Reviews the book "The Origins of Economic Democracy: Profit-Sharing and Employee-Shareholding Schemes," Michael Poole.

Reviews the book "Autocracy and Democracy." by Ralph K. White and Ronald O. Lippitt.

Jerry Harris’s optimistic book shows how capitalism has remorselessly moved to end Keynesian social justice measures over the globe and consequently destroy opportunities for us moving toward democracy. He shows how class power has moved back from its brief Keynesian respite, falling effortlessly into patterns of neoliberal political, social and economic extremes. He looks for alternatives beyond state-centred experiments as different parts of the global transition of the capitalist experiences. He reviews possible transitional alternatives to continuous capitalism within green alternatives and other alternatives in Italy, Venezuela, Bolivia and Greece, and he finishes by asking questions about what a real post-liberal democracy needs to look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his bookDemocratic GovernanceMark Bevir has highlighted a number of key issues facing those of us who want to understand the state and its role in governing. Not only has the role of the state changed significantly in the last 30 years but those changes need to be understood in terms of the implications for the nature of the state’s interaction with society and the ways in which the state exercises power within a democratic context. Perhaps what Bevir highlights most is how the conceptions of the state amongst elites is being challenged by changes in the form of government but more importantly by changes in the nature of knowledge and how citizens understand their relationship to the state. Whilst Mark Bevir is right to acknowledge the role and influence of ideas, he has a tendency to overemphasize their impact and as a consequence pays insufficient attention to the role that institutions and structures more generally play in mediating the way in which beliefs and ideas affect outcomes. This simplification leads to an overestimation of the degree of change that has occurred in Britain in particular and in states in general. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A review of the book "South Korean Social Movements: From Democracy to Civil Society," part of the Stamford Korean Democracy Project, edited by Gi-Wook Shin and Paul Y. Chang, is presented.

Reviews the book "Whose Democracy? Nationalism, Religion, and the Doctrine of Collective Rights in Post-1989 Eastern Europe," by Sabrina P. Ramet.

This article reviews the book "Democracy in Latin America, 1760-1900: Civic Selfhood and Public Life in Mexico and Peru," vol. 1, by Carlos Forment.

Reviews the book "The Democratic Process and the Market: Challenges of the Transition," edited by Miha'ly Simai.

Reviews the book 'Audacious Reforms: Institutional Invention and Democracy in Latin America,' by Merilee S. Grindle.

Reviews the book 'Local Democracy and Turkey,' by Kemal G ö rmez.

Steven Wilkinson's Army and Nation presents an all-too-rare case study of apparently successful civil–military relations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews the book 'Representative Democracy in Britain Today,' by Colin Pilkington.

The article reviews the book "Keeping Them Honest: Democratic Reform in Queensland," edited by Andrew Hede, Scott Prasser and Mark Neylan.

The article reviews the book "Deterring Democracy," by Noam Chomsky.