Democratization

Cet ouvrage offre un panorama synthétique, inédit en français, des démocraties de par le monde. Après avoir présenté l’histoire et les théories de la démocratie, il fournit des connaissances précises sur le fonctionnement institutionnel et politique des régimes démocratiques. Il explore les défis contemporains auxquels sont confrontées les démocraties occidentales tout comme les démocraties du Sud, et met en lumière les similarités et les contrastes entre les continents et les États. La mondialisation peut laisser penser que les démocraties sont en voie d’homogénéisation mais, comme le révèle cet ouvrage, bien que fondées sur des principes communs, elles resteront inévitablement diverses.

While the canonical literature on oil wealth suggests that hydrocarbon windfalls encourage repressive despotism, Kuwait provides a case of an oil-rich autocracy governing instead through popular rentierism-that is, through a broad coalition of social forces, one that furnishes enduring loyalty from below while constraining abuses of state power from above. This paper provides a theoretically guided explanation for this exceptional outcome. I argue that the Kuwaiti regime's coalitional bargains originated in the pre-oil era, when domestic opposition and geopolitical constrictions compelled it to forge new social alliances at the dawn of modern statehood. This inclusionary strategy mediated the subsequent effect of oil rents, which the regime used to institutionalize its mass base with costly material and symbolic side payments. Such popular incorporation bound large constituent classes to the regime's survival, precluding the need for widespread repression. After 50 years, these coalitional bargains have also proven remarkably resilient, as social actors have continued to endorse the autocratic leadership despite economic crisis and wartime defeat.

The paper aims to give an in-depth analysis of the democratisation process in Turkey and attempts to evaluate the lessons that may be learned from this experience. Being one of the aims of the Barcelona process, democratisation is a general theme of politics in the Mediterranean. The countries in the Mediterranean region are experiencing problems in establishing a democratic system of governance. The transition process in countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan and Egypt run into similar problems experienced in Turkey. Thus being countries that share cultural and social commonalities they may benefit from Turkey’s experiences. The paper attempts to examine whether Turkey’s example of a democratic and secular country with a predominantly Moslem population can also be repeated in similar countries of the region. The main research question will revolve around the analysis of Turkey’s process of democratisation, conditioned by the role of the state, state-society relations, secularism and development of civil society and answer the question whether Turkey’s case is unique, i.e. that it rests on the existence of distinctive factors and cannot be replicated elsewhere, or it may serve as an example for other countries that share similar cultural and socio-economic factors and commonalities in historical development. It must also be emphasised that EU has been an important external stimulus for the democratisation process in Turkey. The paper also attempts to place the issue in the context of the EU’s Mediterranean policy and the Euro-Mediterranean process and evaluate the impact that the EU factor may have on the prospects of democracy in the region.

Dating from the Reagan presidency’s ‘crusade for freedom’, democracy promotion has been a central pillar of US foreign policy. Whether claims by George H.W. Bush that ‘beyond containment lies democracy’, or by George W. Bush that intervention into the Middle East promoted a ‘march to freedom in the Muslim world’, the importance of democracy to US foreign policy should not be underestimated. Far from promoting democracy, however, critics suggest that it is merely rhetorical cover for intervention and control, thus serving US rather than
local interests. While not discarding these insights, this paper suggests that while democracy promotion may support US self-interests, so too does it uphold a US self-image by acting as an ideal around which Washington constructs its identity and worldview. Explored in relation to Latin America, it is argued that US democracy promotion
enabled by authoritarian representations of Venezuela
is central to both a US-authored Latin American identity and, in contrast, integral to challenging it. While Venezuela acts as the reverse image of freedomloving
United States and a democratically abiding Latin America, Caracas also challenges US democratic pre-eminence by extending the very notion of democracy and thereby demonstrates how both democracy and US influence more broadly are increasingly sites of contestation.

This book provides an introduction to political psychology through a focus on European politics and topics. It describes a style of doing political psychology in Europe that has developed out of dialogue with as well as critique of North American approaches. By emphasising the theoretical and methodological diversity of political psychology, the book is intended to contribute to a greater understanding of the strength and utility of the field. • Opens up and extends the study of political psychology to a variety of socio-political contexts and manifestations of political behaviour • Clearly outlines the usefulness and promises of distinctive critical approaches in social and political psychology • Explicitly considers the role of language, communication, identity and social representations in the construction of political meanings. Political Psychology will appeal to upper-level students and scholars who seek to extend their knowledge of the complex relationship between psychology, politics and society.

The second edition of this popular and authoritative text provides a truly global assessment of democratization in theory and practice in the contemporary world. It has been systematically revised and updated throughout to cover recent developments, from the impact of 9/11 and EU enlargement to the war in Iraq.

"This… [new edition] is exemplary: it is very extensively updated and revised and the authors have not tried to cut corners by keeping outdated references or bits of text…. [A]n excellent textbook for undergraduate students both for its comprehensive overview of the literature and as a basis for discussion." – Anna Khakee, Democratization

Studies of electoral authoritarianism in Southeast Asia highlight the significance of a compliant media in acting as an obstacle to democratization. Analyses of Malaysian politics are no different. Although the media in Malaysia is largely private, most observers point to the various legislative mechanisms and ownership structures through which compliance is ensured. Although most political scientists have concluded that such mechanisms ensure there is a progovernment bias, there have been few attempts to measure this bias and analyze its impact. With this study, the author aims to begin to fill that gap by studying the degree to which newspapers in Malaysia display partisanship in their coverage of Malaysian politics. To do so, two Malay-language newspapers were selected for coding, using two separate two-week periods as samples. The first period coincided with the March 2008 Malaysian general election, and the second, serving as a control, was from October 2006. Having demonstrated a clear degree of progovernment bias in both newspapers, the author then explores the factors postulated to explain this.

Se analiza la naturaleza de la revocación del mandato como mecanismo de control político de democracia directa, así como las razones por las que el Pleno de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación optó por declararla inconstitucional y si su implementación genera mayor legitimidad democrática.

The European Union (EU) has closely correlated different aspects of the peace process in Bosnia with progress towards European accession. The ‘power of attraction’ of EU membership would presumably induce the Bosnian authorities to accept the adaptation costs of political and economic transformation. However, the Europeanisation approach has not produced the expected results. The track record of the EU’s policies towards Bosnia represents a paradigmatic case of what would happen if almost nothing works as efficiently as in the case of the countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007. The article investigates the causes of EU policy failure in Bosnia and claims that the EU has not effectively responded to three challenges: 1) adjust the process to the needs of an ethnically divided post-war state; 2) preserve the credibility of accession conditionality, and 3) convey the proper messages on how to comply with EU rules. Therefore, the article argues for a more cohesive and consistent EU approach towards Bosnia.

يتناول عبد الفتاح ماضي في كتابه عثرات في الميدان: كيف أخفقت ثورة يناير في مصر؟ الصادر عن المركز العربي للأبحاث ودراسة السياسات، المسار المتعثّر لثورة 25 يناير 2011 في مصر؛ باعتبارها جزءًا من نضالٍ ممتد في التاريخ الحديث للشعب المصري من أجل التغيير، وحدثًا أداره فاعلون داخليون وخارجيون بقناعات ومصالح مختلفة، وفي سياقات إقليمية ودولية غير مواتية.

يروم الكتاب فهم التحوّلات الكبرى التي طرأت على مسار الثورة، والبحث في عددٍ من القضايا المحورية، مثل دور النخب ومجموعة من جنرالات الجيش في الثورة، والعامل الخارجي والديمقراطية في مصر، وقضايا الهوية والتغيير في مصر.

مقدمات الثورة

يتألف الكتاب (300 صفحة بالقطع الوسط، موثقًا ومفهرسًا) من مقدمة وسبعة فصول وخاتمة.

في الفصل الأول، "مقدمات ثورة 25 يناير"، يعرض المؤلف مقدمات ثورة يناير، مع التركيز على إرث مرحلة مبارك في المجالَين السياسي والاقتصادي، موضحًا كيف أغلق نظام مبارك سبل الإصلاح السياسي التدرجي، وأفسد الحياة السياسية عقودًا طويلة، ما أدّى إلى إسقاطه وحزبه الحاكم عبر التظاهرات الشعبية. كما يعرض كيف ثارت قطاعات واسعة من المصريين ضد النظام، ودور الجماعات الاحتجاجية الشبابية والحركات الاجتماعية والعمالية في تعبئة الشارع ضد مبارك، ودور أدوات التواصل الاجتماعي والإعلام والجمعية الوطنية للتغيير وحركة 6 أبريل.

أما في الفصل الثاني، "اندلاع الثورة وردّ النظام"، فيرصد المؤلف اندلاع الثورة، وردّة فعل سلطة مبارك التنفيذية عليها، بدءًا من عناده وتهوينه شأن الحراك الشعبي ضده، مرورًا بخطابات التهديد والوعيد واستخدام القمع الوحشي ضد المتظاهرين، وانتهاءً بمحاولات التشبث بالسلطة وبدء تحرك الجيش.

تحولات الثورة

يُعنى المؤلف في الفصل الثالث، "تحولات الثورة المصرية"، بمسار ثورة يناير وتحوّلاتها، فيتناول تحول الثورة من كونها ثورة "ديمقراطية" تنادي بالحريات والعدالة الاجتماعية إلى ثورة "انتخابية"، من خلال البحث في الطريقة التي أدار بها الفاعلون السياسيون الرئيسون المرحلة الانتقالية بعد إسقاط مبارك (12 شباط/ فبراير 2011 - 30 حزيران/ يونيو 2013)، مركزًا على انفراد المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة بإدارة الدولة، واعتماد خريطة طريق تقوم على التنافس الحزبي الانتخابي قبل التوافق، وسلوك القوى السياسية التقليدية التي تصدّرت المشهد السياسي، إضافةً إلى غياب الحوار والتوافقات الكبرى. كما يتناول المؤلف تحوّل ثورة يناير مرة أخرى من كونها ثورة "انتخابية" إلى ثورة "مضادة"؛ من خلال عرض الطريقة التي أوقف بها جنرالات المجلس العسكري المسار الديمقراطي، وقادوا ثورةً مضادة أطاحت المكتسبات القليلة التي حققتها ثورة يناير، وأقامت نظامًا يقوم على الصراع الصفري مع القوى التي لا تصطف مع النظام. ويوضح هذا الفصل كيف كانت اختيارات النخب تُعبّر، في واقع الأمر، إمّا عن قناعات وأفهام مغلوطة، وإمّا عن مقدمات أيديولوجية متحجرة، أو مصالح ضيقة، أو نصائح غير مدروسة قُدّمت من أطراف مختلفة، أو عن خليط من هذا وذاك.

الحوار والتجربة الدستورية

ينصب اهتمام المؤلف في الفصل الرابع، "محاولات الحوار الوطني"، على محاولات الحوار التي جرت في مراحل مختلفة؛ حيث يبدأ بعملية الحوار التي بدأتها جماعة الإخوان المسلمين قبل اندلاع الثورة بشهور، واستمرت في الشهور الأولى للثورة، وتُوّجت بما سُمّي وثيقة التحالف الديمقراطي. كما يعرض المؤلف حوارات المجلس العسكري الحاكم حتى لقاء "فيرمونت" وانتخاب الرئيس محمد مرسي، إضافة إلى الحوارات التي أجراها هذا الأخير، ثم بعض المبادرات التي قُدمت بعد 30 حزيران/ يونيو 2013.

أما في الفصل الخامس، "التجربة الدستورية بعد الثورة"، فيقدم المؤلف الوثائق الدستورية التي ظهرت في مرحلة المجلس العسكري حين شهدت البلاد إعلانًا دستوريًا في 13 شباط/ فبراير 2011، ثم تعديلات دستورية متعلقة بـ 9 مواد من دستور 1971، ثم إعلانًا دستوريًا آخر في 30 آذار/ مارس 2011، ثم إعلانَين دستوريّين (في 25 أيلول/ سبتمبر و19 تشرين الثاني/ نوفمبر 2011) يعدّلان إعلان 30 آذار/ مارس، ثم إعلانًا دستوريًا مكملًا في 17 حزيران/ يونيو 2012. كما يقدم المؤلف الوثائق الدستورية التي ظهرت في مرحلة مرسي؛ وذلك حين عرفت مصر في 12 آب/ أغسطس 2012 إعلانًا دستوريًا جديدًا (ألغى الإعلان الدستوري الصادر في 17 حزيران/ يونيو 2012)، والإعلان الدستوري في 21 تشرين الثاني/ نوفمبر 2012، ودستور 2012. ويقدم المؤلف، أيضًا، الوثائق الدستورية التي ظهرت في مرحلة ما بعد 30 حزيران/ يونيو 2013، وشهدت فيها البلاد بيان القوات المسلحة في 3 تموز/ يوليو 2013، وإعلانَين دستوريين (في5 و7 تموز/ يوليو 2013)، ودستور 2014.

جنرالات الداخل والعوامل الخارجية

يتناول المؤلف في الفصل السادس، "جنرلات الجيش وثورات الشعب"، بعض الجوانب ذات الصلة بعلاقة مجموعة من جنرالات الجيش المسيطرين على المؤسسة العسكرية بثورة يناير، فيعرض حالات مقارنة من خارج العالم العربي لإيضاح ما يأتي: سبب استيلاء العسكريين على السلطة، وطبيعة الحكم العسكري، وطريقة خروج العسكريين من السلطة. ثم يعرض باقتضاب الحالة المصرية، بدءًا من جذور تدخّل الجنرالات العسكريين في السلطة، وتطور أدوارهم السياسية والاقتصادية، مرورًا بالمغالطات التي ردّدها إعلام ما بعد 30 حزيران/ يونيو 2013 بشأن دور الجيش، وانتهاءً بالمخاطر المترتبة على طبيعة النظام الإقصائية والبوليسية؛ لا على الحياة السياسية والثورة فحسب، بل على المؤسسة العسكرية ذاتها والأمن القومي العربي أيضًا.

في الفصل السابع، "العوامل الخارجية والثورة المصرية" (الفصل الأخير)، يعالج المؤلف بعض الأدوار الدولية والإقليمية في مسار الثورة المصرية، فيتناول موقف القوى الغربية من مسألة الديمقراطية في البلدان العربية قبل ثورات 2011، ثم موقف الولايات المتحدة الأميركية وأوروبا وروسيا من الثورة المصرية، ودعم القوى الإقليمية نظامَ ما بعد 30 حزيران/ يونيو 2013، إضافةً إلى أثر استخدام خطاب الحرب على الإرهاب واستراتيجياته في مسار الثورة.

DPC’s Valery Perry recently spoke with the Accountability Unit about her research and work over the past 20 years, providing an opportunity to reflect on the situation in BiH and the region today, and the broader arc of developments in democratization, human rights and conflict management.

In the Western Balkans, as elsewhere around the world, governments took extraordinary measures to effectively contain the spread of COVID-19, measures that entailed serious restrictions to individual freedoms. They also introduced extra powers that upset the ordinary division and balance of governmental power. In this context, several analysts have expressed concern that the authoritarian trend observed in the region during the last decade will become further entrenched. The worst fear, that some of the Western Balkan leaderships may retain extraordinary powers indefinitely, has not been confirmed. However, constitutionally prescribed procedures were disregarded and the operation of formal and informal mechanisms of checks and balances ignored. The article argues that the ease with which the Western Balkan leaders removed any checks and controls over their rule raises the valid question of how they may deal with future circumstances which may endanger their power.

The massacre of almost 50 Maidan protesters on February 20, 2014 was a turning point in Ukrainian politics and a tipping point in the conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. This mass killing of the protesters and the mass shooting of the police that preceded it led to the overthrow of the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych and gave a start to a civil war in Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, Russian military intervention in Crimea and Donbas, and an international conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. A conclusion promoted by the post-Yanukovych governments and the media in Ukraine that the massacre was perpetrated by government snipers and special police units on a Yanukovych order has been nearly universally accepted by the Western governments, the media, and many scholars. The Ukrainian government investigation identified members of the special company of Berkut as responsible for killings of the absolute majority of the protesters, but did not release any evidence in support, with the exception of videos of the massacre.
              The question is which side organized the “snipers’ massacre.” This paper is the first academic study of this crucial case of the mass killing. It uses a theory of rational choice and a Weberian theory of instrumental rationality to examine actions of major actors both from the Yanukovych government, specifically various police and security forces, and the Maidan opposition, specifically its far right and oligarchic elements, during the massacre.
          The paper analyzes a large amount of evidence from different publicly available sources concerning this massacre and killings of specifics protesters. Qualitative content analysis includes the following data: about 1,500 videos and recordings of live internet and TV broadcasts from mass media and social media in different countries(some 150 gigabytes), news reports and social media posts by more than 100 journalists covering the massacre from Kyiv, some 5,000 photos, and nearly 30 gigabytes of publicly available radio intercepts of snipers and commanders from the special Alfa unit of the Security Service of Ukraine and Internal Troops, and Maidan massacre trial recordings. This study also employs field research on site of the massacre, eyewitness reports by both Maidan protesters and government special units commanders, statements by both former and current government officials, estimates of approximate ballistic trajectories, bullets and weapons used, and types of wounds among both protesters and the police. This study establishes a precise timeline for various events of the massacre, the locations of both the shooters and the government snipers, and the specific timeline and locations of nearly 50 protesters’ deaths. It also briefly analyzes other major cases of violence during and after the “Euromaidan.” This study includes two video appendixes.
            This academic investigation concludes that the massacre was a false flag operation, which was rationally planned and carried out with a goal of the overthrow of the government and seizure of power. It found various evidence of the involvement of an alliance of the far right organizations, specifically the Right Sector and Svoboda, and oligarchic parties, such as Fatherland. Concealed shooters and spotters were located in at least 20 Maidan-controlled buildings or areas. The various evidence that the protesters were killed from these locations include some 70 testimonies, primarily by Maidan protesters, several videos of “snipers” targeting protesters from these buildings, comparisons of positions of the specific protesters at the time of their killing and their entry wounds, and bullet impact signs. The study uncovered various videos and photos of armed Maidan “snipers” and spotters in many of these buildings. The paper presents implications of these findings for understanding the nature of the change of the government in Ukraine, the civil war in Donbas, Russian military intervention in Crimea and Donbas, and an international conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine.

The paper examines the dynamics of social protests in Lebanon from
October 2019 till March-May 2020 when the government imposed unprecedentedly rigorous restrictive measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 infection. The paper identifi es the underlying causes of the protests. The author stresses that from the very beginning socio-economic demands of protestors addressed to the executive power (particularly, to grapple with the rising income inequality) were accompanied by calls for democratization on the secular principles and elimination of political confessionalism. At the same time, the author outlines certain specifics of popular uprisings in Lebanon that distinguish them from simultaneous protests in other countries, namely their supra-ethnic, supra-religious and non-partisan character and their remarkable coherence and coordination, given the lack of overall leadership. The author emphasizes that the subsequent change of government has not brought, however, signifi cant changes the protestors hoped for. The new Cabinet was not free from traditional confessional and political bias, whereas legal and administrative measures undertaken by the new government to combat the pandemic were, apparently, also aimed at ‘freezing’ the current situation favorable for both the parliamentary majority and the government. In particular, the recent laws and regulations reflect the Government’s desire to prevent the resumption of protests equivalent to those of the fall of 2019. All these measures did not face serious resistance, even though the economic situation of the population has worsened, and many people have lost their livelihoods. However, the fear of the COVID-19 has proved to be a more efficient means of preventing protests than any punitive measure. The author concludes that the dynamics of inter-party competition even under strict quasi-quarantine measures shows that the hopes of protestors for a genuine transition from a traditional clan and confessional structure of the Lebanese political system to the standards and principles of a developed democracy proved futile.

This chapter seeks to assess Western and Russian influence on the collapse of Viktor Yanukovych’s regime. Drawing on the works of Levitsky and Way and Tolstrup, the chapter explains why during the 2014 crisis Yanukovych was able to withstand Western and domestic pressure much longer than Leonid Kuchma did in 2004, and why he was eventually toppled. I argue that Yanukovych’s ability to prolong his stay in power was circumscribed by three specific factors: his concentration of power, Russian backing and miscalculated Western threats to impose sanctions. His downfall, however, was ultimately determined from within the state.
The chapter contributes to the theory of hybrid regimes by extending the concept of linkage and leverage to non-democracies; it also offers an empirical measure of Russian anti-democratic influence on Ukraine.

Th is book explores the activism promoted by organised networks of civil society actors in opening up possibilities for more democratic supranational governance. It examines the positive and negative impact that such networks of civil society actors – named “interlocutory coalitions” – may have on the convergence of principles of administrative governance across the European legal system and other supranational legal systems.
Th e book takes two main controversial aspects into account: the first relates to the convergence between administrative rules pertaining to different supranational regulatory systems. Traditionally, the spread of methods of administrative governance
has been depicted primarily against the background of the interactions between the domestic and the supranational arena, both from a top-down and bottom-up perspective. However, the exploration of interactions occurring at the supranational
level between legal regimes is still not grounded on adequate empirical evidence.
The second controversial aspect considered in this book consists of the role of civil society actors operating at the supranational level. In its discussion of the first aspect, the book focuses on the relations between the European administrative law and the
administrative principles of law pertaining to other supranational regulatory regimes and regulators, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Asian Development Bank, and the Council of
Europe. The examination of the second aspect involves the exploration of the still little examined, but crucial, role of civil society organised networks in shaping global administrative law. These “interlocutory coalitions” include NGOs, think tanks,
foundations, universities, and occasionally activists with no formal connections to civil society organisations. Th e book describes such interlocutory coalitions as drivers of harmonized principles of participatory democracy at the European and global levels.
However, interlocutory coalitions show a number of tensions (e.g. the governability of coalitions, the competition among them) that may hamper the impact they have on the reconfi guration of individuals’ rights, entitlements and responsibilities in the global arena.

During the last few years in Bulgaria, as well as in other parts of the world, we are witnessing a proliferation of social movements. As far as the current global crisis is defined as predominantly economic and financial crisis, it puts to question neoliberalism as the doctrine with a minimalist vision of the state intervention and deregulation of public goods. What can be seen in social movements around the world, as well as in Bulgaria, are the demands for stronger state with citizen participation and restricted influence of privileged (financial) lobbies on political decision­making. The article presents data collected through in­depth interviews and anthropological observation of protest mobilizations in Bulgaria, analysed with the methodology of grounded theory, to form three core categories: representative democracy and political parties, participation, deliberation. The data show a strong preference for forms of citizen control and a return to established forms of representative democracy in a fraction of the protesters by the end of the studied period.

Die sechs Jahre der sowjetischen Perestroika zwischen 1985 und 1991 stellen eine krisenhafte Umbruchszeit dar, in der der Wandel von Bevölkerung und politischer Elite bewusst erlebt und aktiv gestaltet wurde. In dieser speziellen Periode ermöglichte die Lockerung medialer und gesellschaftlicher Zensur die Entstehung informeller Organisationen, die sich in Form einer lautstarken Demokratiebewegung für diverse Systemalternativen einsetzten. Die Kritik am repressiven Staatssozialismus sowie am ungerechten Kapitalismus eröffnete den Blick auf viele Dritte Wege, die in einer Zeit rasanter öffentlicher Politisierung intensiv diskutiert wurden. Die Massendemonstrationen und propagierten Alternativen der russischen Informellenbewegung werden jedoch von Geschichtsschreibung und Sozialwissenschaften weitgehend ignoriert und sind so in Vergessenheit geraten. Der vorliegende Beitrag versucht diesem Vergessen entgegenzuwirken und die damaligen Ideen in aktuelle Diskussionen um eine Redemokratisierung der Demokratie bzw. um sozialistische Systemalternativen einfließen zu lassen. So soll eine neue Perspektive auf das Verhältnis von Demokratie und Sozialismus eingenommen werden. Nach einer historischen Einbettung des
Forschungsgegenstandes werden die diversen Reformvorschläge und Alternativkonzeptionen dargestellt. Da es zu den Inhalten der russischen Informellenbewegung fast keine Literatur gibt, wurden sechzehn qualitative ExpertInneninterviews mit AktivistInnen verschiedenster ideologischer Richtungen in Moskau durchgeführt. Abschließend werden die besprochenen Ideen in den Kontext aktueller Krisen- und Alternativdiskussionen gestellt.

Schlagwörter: Alternative Demokratiekonzepte, Sozialistische Ideengeschichte, Russland, Perestroika, Systemtransformation, Zivilgesellschaft, Demokratiebewegung

Many Third Ways: Alternative Conceptions of Democracy in Russia during the Perestroika

The six years of Soviet perestroika represent a time of radical change, consciously experienced and actively promoted by society and the political elite. In this special period the loosening of social and media censorship enabled the emergence of informal organisations, promoting their various ideas of system alternatives in a loud democracy movement. The criticism of repressive state socialism and unjust capitalism opened a perspective on many Third
Ways, which were vividly discussed in a time of rapid public politicisation. The mass demonstrations and promoted
alternatives of the Russian informal movement are, however, ignored by historic and social sciences and are thus almost forgotten. This paper tries to counteract this oblivion and to incorporate those ideas into current discussions about a re-democratisation of democracy or socialist alternatives respectively. Thus a new perspective on the relationship of democracy and socialism is taken into account. After a historic overview of the Russian informal movement, the various reform suggestions and system alternatives are illustrated. Since almost no literature on this
topic exists, sixteen qualitative interviews with activists of various ideological backgrounds were taken in Moscow. Finally, the illustrated ideas will be put into the context of current alternative discussions of democracy.

Keywords: Alternative models of democracy, history of socialist ideas, Russia, perestroika, system transformation,
civil society, democracy movement

U knjizi su predstavljeni rezultati prvoga znanstvenog istraživanja uzroka i posljedica te obilježja novijih iseljavanja Hrvata u Saveznu Republiku Njemačku. Istraživanje je provedeno u Njemačkoj među hrvatskim iseljenicima koji su se iselili u razdoblju od priključenja Hrvatske EU-u, i to na uzorku od 1200 ispitanika.
Prema percepciji samih iseljenika, glavni motivi za iseljavanje nisu ekonomski. Analiza stajališta iseljenika pokazala je kako hrvatski iseljenici imaju predodžbu da u Hrvatskoj nisu institucionalizirane vrijednosti radne etike i uopće poštenja te smatraju da se hrvatsko društvo moralno slomilo.
Hrvati se stoga iseljavaju zbog nepravde, a ne zbog siromaštva. Naša istraživanja pokazuju jasnu vezu između političke etike, slabih institucija i iseljavanja. Nemoral političkih elita, pravna nesigurnost, nepotizam i korupcija svakako su među glavnim razlozima za iseljavanje. Iseljeni Hrvati svojim odlaskom nedvojbeno kažnjavaju loše politike i političare, no – ne htijući to – kažnjavaju zapravo i sve koji ostaju.
Dok se Hrvatska socijalno, moralno i gospodarski lomi, u populacijski oslabljenoj Njemačkoj Hrvati su i više nego dobrodošli jer je cijena njihova uključivanja u njemačko društvo vrlo mala ili nikakva što pak nije slučaj s useljenicima iz drugih kultura. Sa svakim iseljenim Hrvatom Hrvatska ne gubi samo svoj socijalni kapital, mogućnost biološke obnove društva i kapital uložen u njihovo obrazovanje nego nastaje i visok trošak integracije useljenika koji će doći na njihovo mjesto.
Migracije nikada nisu interesno neutralne i ne događaju se slučajno, nego se proizvode. Dok Njemačka usisava Hrvate, odgovor je hrvatske države slab ili gotovo nikakav. U BiH svjedočimo vrlo vjerojatno povijesnom odlasku Hrvata nakon kojega više nema povratka. Očito je riječ o strateškom pomicanju hrvatskog naroda iz etnički hrvatskih krajeva u etnički njemačke krajeve. Svjedočimo zapravo velikoj seobi hrvatskog naroda.

Une recherche menee aupres de deux organismes communautaires a permis de constater que l’education populaire realise certains des objectifs vises par l’education a la citoyennete, en misant surtout sur la participation du citoyen a la vie sociale et politique. Ces organismes soutiennent que la democratisation pronee par le gouvernement ne peut se realiser pleinement sans deux conditions. La premiere concerne la mise sur pied de structures aptes a permettre a la population de participer reellement aux processus de prise de decision. La deuxieme, celle qui a retenu notre attention, a trait aux connaissances, habiletes et attitudes que doivent posseder les citoyens afin de participer de facon efficace a ces processus.

Under the Bush administration, the US has aggressively promoted democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.  By replacing repressive tyrants with moderate liberals and giving voice to hitherto suppressed social forces, US-backed democratization would drain the swamp of ideological extremism and reduce violent conflict, all while underscoring the role of America as a moral beacon of international enlightenment.  However, as this chapter argues, the project of encouraging Arab democracy faltered under a devastating self-contradiction. Democratization requires that autocratic incumbents surrender their monopolies over executive authority to legal opposition groups ensconced in parliaments and civic institutions. Yet, in the Arab world, this would likely bring into power Islamist groups that evoke fierce hostility toward Washington’s vital strategic interests. An Arab spring of democracy might thus result in a winter of discontent for U.S. policymakers bound by stringent imperatives, such as sponsoring Israeli policies and securing regional oil reserves. Such dissonance has exposed American democracy promotion as an ideological cloak for a darker agenda: paying lip service to gradual reform while quietly sustaining long-standing support for  autocratic allies. The theoretical lesson is stark: observers should expect not the imminent breakdown or even the slow erosion of Arab authoritarianism, but rather its renewed durability in an era of continuing patron-client ties.

Timothy’s Frye’s Building States and Markets after Communism. The Perils of Polarized Democracy is one of the most valuable contributions on post-communist transformation(s) appeared in the last decades. The book examines the relationship between state building and market creation in twenty-five post-communist countries since the end of communism.

It combines statistical quantitative analysis on a variety of data (including a survey of business elites) with more in-depth country studies on Bulgaria, Poland, Russia and Uzbekistan. Frye’s main focus is on political polarization – the policy distance between different political factions present in the political arena – and its effects on democracy and market reforms. The main questions that the author addresses are: 1. ‘Does democracy promote the creation of market economies and robust state institutions? 2. If so, why? 3. Under what conditions do state building and market building work at cross-purposes and when are they mutually reinforcing?’ (p.2). Access the full review

This paper seeks to examine the relation between democracy and violence. It will first offer an historical overview of the emergence of democracy in relation to three major political events: the English civil war from 1640-1660; the American war of independence and the drafting of the Bill of Rights; and the French Revolution. It will propose that, apart from the fact that each of these struggles was marked by large-scale and protracted violence, they also shared a common discourse – the discourse of rights, understood proprietorially. The paper will argue that the emergence of democracy as articulated through this discourse of proprietorial rights was, in turn, closely related to the emergence of the contemporary form of the nation-state, and that, consequently, it is founded on a paradox: the discourse of the nation (or nationalism) has been historically an exclusivist one, while the discourse of democracy seeks, by definition, to be inclusive. It will argue that the colonial moment served on the one hand, to disseminate the discourses of nationalism and democracy; while on the other, it complicated the paradoxical relation between them further, when the discourse of rights (integral to both) often emphasized community rights over individual rights, at least in colonial South Asia. The contours of community, then and since, have been overwhelmingly determined by the personal law system and the communal patriarchates. Given that, this paper will argue that the tensions between the exclusivism of such communalisms and the inclusivism of the democratic discourse leads inevitably to the production of cultures of violence. It will conclude by questioning the sustainability of a rights-based understanding of democracy.

Artikel ini merupakan studi terhadap hubungan demokrasi dan korupsi. Argumentasi utama artikel ini bahwa korupsi sangat potensial tumbuh di negara yang sedang memasuki era transisi demokrasi yang tidak ada reformasi yamg serius dalam sistem hukumnya. Mengambil data dari berbagai negara membuktikan bahwa demokrasi tidak serta merta mengurangi korupsi dan sebaliknya di negara otoriterian dengan sistem hukum yang kuat justru korupsi susah untuk tumbuh subur. Resep utama pemberantasan korupsi adalah penegakan hukum bukan sistem politiknya. Untuk negara transisi demokrasi seperti Indonesia lembaga anti korupsi yang kuat bisa jadi solusi yang tepat untuk meredam korupsi di tengah belum ada reformasi serius dari sistem hukum yang ada.

Kata Kunci: demokrasi, korupsi, penegakan hukum

RESUMO
Através de uma metodologia dedutiva, o presente artigo analisa os fundamentos ideológico-estruturais do capitalismo em relação à democracia e aos direitos humanos. Para isso, estuda-se o capitalismo e a democracia em cotejo com os direitos humanos sobre o enfoque da teoria de Thomas Piketty. Em seguida, aborda-se o vínculo dos direitos humanos com a “hipótese comunista” de Alain Badiou, com subcapítulos. Posteriormente, faz-se análise de crítica de Badiou aos direitos humanos, para, por fim, concluir-se pela necessidade de fomentar rupturas no sistema capitalista que conduzam a uma promoção dos direitos humanos ao alcance da dignidade da pessoa humana a todos.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Desenvolvimento Econômico; Capitalismo; Hipótese Comunista.

The 1999 decree by Kuwait’s emir granting women electoral rights, and its subsequent parliamentary rejection, is more than just an instance of women’s oppression in action. It also demonstrates a potential paradox between two axes of
democratization: liberalization, the existence of a sphere of meaningful public contestation, and participation, that the right to participate in that sphere is extended to all. In Kuwait, 1999 represents an instance where those two axes were in direct competition. This article explores the 1999 enfranchisement as a way of understanding this democratic paradox and then follows these issues through the successful 2005 enfranchisement and the election of female Assembly members in 2007 and in the 2012, post-Arab Spring elections.

The success of Spain’s transformation from a dictatorship to a stable democracy has triggered a lively discussion about the factors which contributed to the process. The question of civic participation in Spain’s political transformation has proved highly controversial and I suggest that observing professional domains and their implications for citizen formation processes provides a new way to evaluate the civic contribution to Spain’s democratization. Spanish teachers mobilized in the 1970s around two main issues: their working conditions and pedagogical methods. This article focuses on the implications of their common struggle to articulate, construct and disseminate democratic citizenship. It shows how they contributed to free deliberation, civic involvement and citizen empowerment, aspiring to supplement the concept of citizenship with those of active participation in community organizations, knowledge of governmental procedures, critical assessment of social, political and economic structures and addressing areas of injustice.

This book discusses whether labor migration can affect democratization processes and what impact the political order of the host country can have on this potential effect. In migration research, studies on the influence of return migrants on the societies in their home countries are still few and predominantly concentrate on the economic dimension of migration. The literature on democratization has likewise paid only scant attention to the external factors that play a role in the transition of states in the process of becoming more democratic. Cognizant of these lacunae in research on migration and democratization, this book sets out to argue that return migrants can play an important role in the consolidation process of young democracies. The goal is to explore the nature of this influence and to discuss its stabilizing as well as destabilizing aspects with regards to democratization. As a case study this book analyzes a “labor exporter par excellence,” the Philippines. Research is...

American efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East under the Bush administration have floundered.  This article explains why.  First, American policymakers have proven unwilling to sponsor electoral openings that might favor the ascendance of potentially hostile Islamist groups. Second, they have refused to attach negative conditionality to reform demands made to strategic autocratic allies-that is, punishing noncompliance by withdrawing economic aid, military assistance,
and other forms of support. Both obstacles reflect the reality that America's overarching strategic goals, in particular the preservation of Israel's security
and regional hydrocarbon reserves, require a vision of regional stability that unpredictable regime shifts would endanger. Hence today's paradox of why the democratizing intentions of a unilateral superpower -- one with unmatched political and military power -- have been effectively stymied by its smaller, weaker, and poorer authoritarian allies.

The United Nations (UN) peacebuilding strategy often establishes a nexus between security, democracy and development. This strategy states that sustainable peace could be achieved whenever institutional reforms towards democratization and economic development take place. In this paper, we intend to identify whether the strengthening of state institutions in the aforementioned sectors contributes to tackling the root causes of intrastate warfare. Methodologically, this paper consists of a case study of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (2003-2018). To evaluate the effectiveness of the peacebuilding policies deployed in Liberia, we have gathered empirical data to identify advantages and flaws in the UN approach. Our findings show that although policies regarding the nexus between security, democracy and development have addressed some crucial post-conflict issues, reforms in these areas were unsuccessful to fragment local elites, avoid uneven economic development and ensure horizontal welfare for Liberians.

This research paper review United States of America and Soviet Russia foreign policy impacts in the Middle East through Afghanistan case in order to analyze which imperialistic power is “less harmful” or which one of them is a “Big Devil”. It begins with the very brief historical turbulent of Middle East and followed by special focus on Russia and USA interventions. These interventions reviewed by general look on Middle East and special look on Afghanistan. Comparison of the consequences of two involvements was analyzed through personal observation. To evaluate which one is “less harmful” I focused on foreign policy instruments of each country. In other word, my aim here was to analyze why the regions that US brought “democracy” are now in constant imbalance and war, while the regions that Soviet involved are in “better” (if might be called) condition.
In conclusion I discussed whether to live absolute democracy (need to discuss whether democracy distribute justice or not) at cost of wars, hunger and death or absolute tranquility at the expense of dependency which differentiate the two imperia in comparison. At the end the two approaches was evaluated in short and long term.

Presentation delivered as a guest seminar at the University of Cape Town's Department of Political Science (9th September, 2014). The presentation discusses a path of post-authoritarian transition in Poland, and it asks questions about similarities and differences between Polish case and South African democratization after the fall of apartheid regime. It focuses on three comparative categories: reconciliation, truth and forgiveness, and national unity.

The article explores the conditions under which incumbent leaders in initially competitive political systems manage to offset democratic resistance and establish an authoritarian regime. Autocratisationthe transition from a competitive political system to a regime dominated by a single political forceis a challenging effort for an incumbent and involves interventions in three 'arenas' to achieve a) public legitimation, b) institutional reforms increasing political repression and c) mass-scale co-optation. Focusing on Slovakia and Belarus in the 1990s, where autocratisation efforts failed and succeeded respectively, the article finds that cooptation plays a catalytic role in helping the incumbent pass institutional reforms and escalate repression without risking de-legitimation. In Belarus, co-optation engulfed society and the economy whereas, in Slovakia, a socioeconomic environment with greater autonomy from government limited the scope for co-optation. The Slovak opposition was able to find the resources and supporters necessary to fight back against the incumbent.