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1
Cmejrek, J. "Citizens local political participation in the Czech Republic: rural-urban comparison." Agricultural Economics (Zemědělská ekonomika) 53, No. 1 (January 7, 2008): 21–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/856-agricecon.
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The Velvet Revolution in November 1989 in the former Czechoslovakia opened the way to the renewal of the democratic political system. One of the most visible aspects of the Czech political development consisted in the renewal of the essential functions of elections and political parties. On the local level, however, the political process - as well as in other post-communist countries - continued to be for a long time influenced by the remains of the former centralized system wherein the local administration used to be subjected to the central state power. Municipal elections took hold in these countries, however, the local government remained in the embryonic state and a certain absence of real political and economic decision-making mechanism on the local level continued to show. The public administration in the Czech Republic had to deal with the changes in the administrative division of the state, the split of the Czechoslovak federation as well as the fragmentation of municipalities whose number increased by 50 percent. Decision making mechanisms on the local and regional level were suffering from the incomplete territorial hierarchy of public administration and from the unclear division of power between the state administration and local administration bodies. Only at the end of the 1990s, the public administration in the Czech Republic started to get a more integrated and specific shape. Citizens participation in the political process represents one of the key issues of representative democracy. The contemporary democracy has to face the decrease in voter turnout and the low interest of citizens to assume responsibility within the political process. The spread of democratising process following the fall of the iron curtain should not overshadow the risk of internal weakness of democracy. The solution should be looked for in more responsible citizenship and citizensâÃÂàpolitical participation. The degree of political participation is considered (together with political pluralism) to be the key element of representative democracy in general terms, as well as of democratic process on the local and regional level. The objective of this paper is to describe the specifics of citizens local political participation in the Czech Republic and to show the differences between rural and urban areas. The paper concentrates on voting and voter turnout but deals also with other forms of citizens political participation.
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Díaz Orueta, Fernando. "Spain: Local Democracy and Citizen Participation." Space and Polity 10, no. 3 (December 2006): 263–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562570601110666.
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Alonso, Ángel Iglesias, and Roberto Luciano Barbeito. "Does e-participation Influence and Improve Political Decision Making Processes? Evidence From a Local Government." Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government 14, no. 4 (August 30, 2016): 873–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.4335/14.4.873-891(2016).
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In Local Governments, the quality of representative democracy is also measured by the extent to which demands of citizens and groups influence the agendas of local politicians. In this context, the potential of Internet and the NIT as tools that encourage participation, exchange and deliberation, have not been fully explored by either the local elites or the citizens to foster the discursive and decision-making dimensions of local democracy. But despite the growing importance of e-participation in improving local democracy, it remains unclear to what extent it also contributes to the introduction of new repertoires of action to improve efficiency and quality of local public service provision and, therefore, involving citizens meaningfully in the decision-making process continues to be a challenge. With this in mind and using recent empirical evidence from the current development of e-participation to improve administrative performance in a large city government, intended to enhance not only local democracy but also better decision-making, the paper focus on this gap on research by exploring to what extent e-participation contributes to foster, influence and improve local decision-making.
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Mujib, Ibnu. "Demokratisasi Desa dan Partisipasi Politik: Menurunnya Partisipasi dan Dukungan Warga dalam Pelaksanaan “Politik Lokal” di Bulungan-Pati." Paradigma: Jurnal Filsafat, Sains, Teknologi, dan Sosial Budaya 23, no. 1 (March 1, 2019): 17–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.33503/paradigma.v23i1.363.
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This study wants to keep track of public participation in responds to development of uncertaintly local democratic. This idea is based on an assumption of declining public participation in the previous elections of 2004. This study tries to observe how the development of democracy at the grassroots level can be influenced by extends political effect for imaging virtually designed and shaped by political pragmatism practices as conducted by the politicians in general. The fndings of this study explained that the democratization at the level of village/local is not understood as an urgent need, therefore the political participation of society is still in the category of “anut grubyuk” participation profess that is not based on the ideals and demands the real political rights of citizenship. The forms of participation are thus precisely met the drying times of democracy itself. It means that the future death of village democratization not only addressed because of the laziness of residents to political participation, but the attitude of the political elite is also partly responsible, especially in negotiating the political choices to rural communities in general.
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Forde, Catherine. "Participatory Democracy or Pseudo-Participation? Local Government Reform in Ireland." Local Government Studies 31, no. 2 (April 2005): 137–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03003930500031934.
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Kalaramadam, Sreevidya. "Presence into Participation and Representation." Journal of South Asian Development 13, no. 1 (March 13, 2018): 1–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0973174118757630.
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Over the last two decades, women’s ‘political participation’ has emerged as a major marker of democracy around the world. This is frequently operationalized through the policy of ‘gender quotas’ that seek to enhance women’s presence within national and subnational institutions of governance. Since 1993, India has implemented a large programme of decentralization (panchayati raj) and gender quotas, which enabled more than a million elected women representatives (EWRs) to become part of the political process. This article engages feminist theorizations of gender quotas using the Indian context. While affirming the need for gender quotas for increasing presence of women in politics, it argues that the presence of EWRs in local governance does not easily assure their effective political participation or political representation. This is because of the ‘social embeddedness of policy’ in local contexts. Effective participation and representation depend upon the ‘relative agency’ of EWRs who continually negotiate and construct their political subjectivities within everyday life situations, specifically three processes—patriarchal family relations, caste relations at the workplace and discursively produced marked identities.
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Kersting, Norbert. "Participatory Democracy and Sustainability. Deliberative Democratic Innovation and Its Acceptance by Citizens and German Local Councilors." Sustainability 13, no. 13 (June 28, 2021): 7214. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13137214.
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Political participation and sustainability seem to be closely intertwined. In the last few decades it can be shown that the topic of sustainability and ecological interest groups play an important role in citizen engagement, political participation, and democratic innovations at the local level. Using a participatory rhombus model of participatory democracy, different forms of participation and democratic innovations in the representative sphere, in direct democracy, in demonstrative participatory space, and finally in deliberative participatory instruments are important in the decision-making for sustainability policies. Here the paper tries to close the gap in empirical data on the perceptions of citizens and councilors on these participatory instruments. Citizens believe strongly in the importance of elections and referendums, but they extend their political repertoire and start protesting and demanding more deliberative democracy. Councilors positively perceive democratic innovations, and the councilors of the Green Party in particular strongly support new participatory instruments. However, citizens and councilors do not support all instruments in the same way.
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NEWMAN, JANET, MARIAN BARNES, HELEN SULLIVAN, and ANDREW KNOPS. "Public Participation and Collaborative Governance." Journal of Social Policy 33, no. 2 (March 29, 2004): 203–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0047279403007499.
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This paper draws on the findings of a study within the ESRC's Democracy and Participation Programme. It explores the processes of participation within deliberative forums – such as user panels, youth forums, area based committees – developed as a means of encouraging a more active, participating mode of citizenship and of improving welfare services by making them more responsive to users. Our findings open up a number of issues about constraints on the development of ‘collaborative governance’. To understand these constraints, we suggest, there is need to locate participation initiatives in the context of government policy, to explore ways in which such policy is interpreted and enacted by strategic actors in local organisations and to examine the perceptions of members of deliberative forums themselves. Our findings highlight the constraints on the ‘political opportunity structures’ created by the enhanced policy focus on public participation, and the consequent limits to ‘collaborative governance’. We discuss how governance theory and social movement theory can each contribute to the analysis, but also suggest productive points of engagement through which each of these bodies of theory might enrich the other.
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Ruman, Yustinus Suhardi. "Praktik Demokrasi Pasca-Pemilu di Tingkat Lokal: Preferensi para Aktor Elite dalam Perspektif Teori Pilihan Rasional." Humaniora 6, no. 2 (April 30, 2015): 264. http://dx.doi.org/10.21512/humaniora.v6i2.3340.
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Electoral democracy generates the political elites. Because these political elites are born through a democratic process, they are expected to practice their power in accordance to the basic principles of democracy. One of them is to open the opportunity and acces of people to participatie in decision making proceses. Nevertheless, the problem is that the political elites who were elected through electoral democracy tend to close the participation of citizen in policy making process. To analyze how the political elites formulated the policy and what the rationality of the policy was, this article used rational choice theory. Article used secondary data to analyze the problem. Results of the analysis showed that democracy in local level after elections was determined by rationality, preferences, and interests of the political elites. The practices of power of the elites in local level in the context of rational choice theory made opportunity and access for the people obstructed. It then affects the existing development policies reflect only rationality, preferences, and interests of some elites.
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SCHÖNLEITNER, GÜNTHER. "Between Liberal and Participatory Democracy: Tensions and Dilemmas of Leftist Politics in Brazil." Journal of Latin American Studies 38, no. 1 (February 2006): 35–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022216x05000283.
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Brazil's left, especially the Workers' Party (PT), largely views civil society participation as a means of correcting the shortcomings of liberal democracy, and to break clientelistic politics. This article questions the underlying assumptions that civil society is inherently a pro-democratic force and that participatory arrangements enjoy sufficient autonomy from local power dynamics to democratise state action. Effective participation requires a positive interplay between government commitment, civic virtues, and supportive institutional design. Participatory democracy presupposes a well-functioning representative democracy rather than curing its ills. The article compares four municipal health councils in towns with varying combinations of government commitment and civicness, which highlights a complex interaction of political, civic, and institutional factors that shaped deliberative participation.
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Posner, Paul. "Local democracy and popular participation: Chile and Brazil in comparative perspective." Democratization 10, no. 3 (August 2003): 39–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13510340312331293927.
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MacLean, Lauren Morris. "Mediating ethnic conflict at the grassroots: the role of local associational life in shaping political values in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana." Journal of Modern African Studies 42, no. 4 (November 3, 2004): 589–617. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x04000412.
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This article attempts to understand why ethnic-regional civil war has challenged the national unity of Côte d'Ivoire and not Ghana, two neighbouring countries with nearly identical ethnic, religious and regional divisions, by examining politics at the grassroots. Based on a carefully controlled comparison of two similar regions of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, the study investigates how participation in local voluntary associations reinforces the local experience of the state to shape the ongoing development of political values and affect the prospects for ethnic peace and democracy. The article finds that participation in ethnically heterogeneous voluntary associations does not necessarily promote democratic values and practice. In fact, in Côte d'Ivoire, participation in ethnically heterogeneous cocoa producer and mutual assistance organisations reinforces vertical patronage networks based on narrower ethnic identities. In contrast, in Ghana, participation in more ethnically homogeneous local church groups encourages the development of democratic values and practices at the local level that mediate the potential for ethnic conflict and support the consolidation of a democratic regime.
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Prasad, Dr Shiw Balak, and Kiran Modi. "Rural Leadership: Backbone of Democracy in India." Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research 1, no. 2 (July 8, 2020): p1. http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/sshsr.v1n2p1.
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Panchayati Raj is accepted as a way of life to-day. An attractive name like “Decentralization” seems to attract popular imagination. The birth of Panchayati Raj has necessitated self-management of the problems of the community, a sense of popular participation and the political education of the villager in the citizenship of his country. The success of Panchayati Raj and the fulfillment of the hopes of people’s participation and involvement in the development work in the villages depend largely upon effective local leadership. “No country can hope to achieve good working democracy let alone a Welfare State without a strong and healthy system of local Government.” Again, no local Government can remain healthy unless it is liable to change needed to adapt it to changes in the human and physical environment.
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Jacobs, Jamie Elizabeth. "Community Participation, the Environment, and Democracy: Brazil in Comparative Perspective." Latin American Politics and Society 44, no. 04 (2002): 59–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2002.tb00223.x.
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Abstract Grassroots environmental activism among Latin America's poor has altered the debate over environmental policy, social welfare, and citizenship. Yet the question remains whether this social mobilization of the poor is part of a larger trend toward broader environmental concerns and democratic political participation, or a shortlived movement susceptible to the same pressures that have dissolved community mobilization in the past. This article compares Brazil with other Latin American and European countries in surveys of environmental awareness, concerns, and reported behavior. It finds that Brazilians residing in the urban periphery link their own local environmental concerns to more global considerations, and that concern for and activism on environmental issues is positively related to wider community involvement.
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Winengan, Winengan. "Local Political Democratization Policy: Voter Participation in the Direct Regional Head Elections." Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik 22, no. 1 (September 5, 2018): 61. http://dx.doi.org/10.22146/jsp.31222.
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The regional head election, a local political event and a symbol of democratic government, is a contest for a legitimized power of regional leaders, who are given authority and responsibility to administer and lead the regional apparatus and development. Since the Indonesian reformation era, the policy regarding the regional head election has shifted from being elected by the local legislative assembly (representative system) to being elected by the people directly (direct election). Anchored in the quantitative descriptive research design, in which the data was garnered from documentation, this study aims to examine the extent to which the people partook in the first round of the direct and simultaneous regional head election in 2015. The collected data was analyzed by means of the participatory and democracy approach within the local political landscape. The empirical findings showed that the public participation in the local election remained low given the statistical evidence (64.02% of the total voters). The study demonstrates that despite the provision of the political stage within the local scope, it does not fully encourage the people to exercise their political rights.
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Guziana, Bozena. "Only for Citizens? Local Political Engagement in Sweden and Inclusiveness of Terms." Sustainability 13, no. 14 (July 13, 2021): 7839. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13147839.
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In both policy and research, civic engagement and citizen participation are concepts commonly used as important dimensions of social sustainability. However, as migration is a global phenomenon of huge magnitude and complexity, citizen participation is incomplete without considering the political and ethical concerns about immigrants being citizens or non-citizens, or ‘the others’. Although research on citizen participation has been a frequent topic in local government studies in Sweden, the inclusiveness and exclusiveness of terms used in the context of local political engagement, which are addressed in this article, has not received attention. This article examines the Swedish case by analyzing information provided by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and by websites of all 290 municipalities as well terms used in selected research publications on local participation. Additionally, this article studies the effectiveness of municipal websites in providing information to their residents about how they can participate in local democracy. The results show that the term citizen is commonly and incorrectly used both by local authorities and the Association. The article concludes that the term citizen is a social construction of exclusiveness and the use of the term citizen should be avoided in political and civic engagement except for the limited topics that require formal citizenship.
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Blockmans, Wim. "Civil Rights and Political Participation in Ancien Régime Europe." Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History 65, no. 3 (2020): 842–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu02.2020.309.
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After the Second World War, a wave of euphoria fostered an international consensus that led to the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Treaty for Human Rights, and institutions safeguarding their application. In the early 21st century, however, these great ideals and even parliamentary democracy appear to be open to various forms of manipulation tending to the restriction of its own constitutional rights and functions. This paper retraces the long-term genesis of these concepts which emerged in the course of a centuries-long development that is uniquely European. A constant tension can be observed between the difficult formulation of fundamental rights of subjects, originally on a local and regional basis, and the effectiveness of the institutions created to control governments. The growth of cities, which acquired various levels of autonomy and autarchy, was fundamental to make it possible that immunities and particular privileges similar to those of clerics and aristocrats were extended to the new communities. The periods of urban growth, and the density of cities within particular territories, determined which balance of powers was stabilised. The earliest and most intense wave of urbanisation, in North and Central Italy from the 10th to the 13th century, brought civil rights and privileges for local communes, but also domination of the largest cities as they absorbed or eliminated all potentially countervailing powers. In other regions, various balances were attained between the prevailing seigneurial interests and those of urban communities.
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McNulty, Stephanie. "Participatory Democracy? Exploring Peru’s Efforts to Engage Civil Society in Local Governance." Latin American Politics and Society 55, no. 03 (2013): 69–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2013.00203.x.
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Abstract As institutions are created to engage citizens and civil society organizations more directly, who participates, and what effect does participation have? This article explores two of Peru’s participatory institutions, the Regional Coordination Councils and the participatory budgets, created in 2002. Specifically it asks, once these institutions are set up, do organizations participate in them? and what effect does this participation have on the organizations? The data show that the participatory processes in Peru are including new voices in decisionmaking, but this inclusion has limits. Limited inclusion has, in turn, led to limited changes specifically in nongovernmental organizations. As a result, the democratizing potential of the participatory institutions is evident yet not fully realized.
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Thomas, Olivier. "Participation des citoyens et démocratie de proximité en France: la permanence d'un mythe." Canadian Journal of Political Science 36, no. 4 (September 2003): 813–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0008423903778871.
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This article questions the relevance of the use of participatory democracy, in order to build a new theoretical frame for the understanding of the government of French cities. The nature of local actors, the way they are organized and deal with common issues, will be assumed to challenge the spreading of participatory democracy. The analysis will consider the problem of the adoption of the word “governance” from corporate and development patterns to urban ones, the structural shackles due to French municipal organization, and some special weaknesses in the way associations try to get involved in urban government.
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Yansons, Yanis. "E-DEMOCRACY IN UKRAINE: CONDITION AND DEVELOPMENT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE." EUREKA: Social and Humanities, no. 6 (November 30, 2020): 47–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.21303/2504-5571.2020.001541.
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The work analyzes the mechanism of legal support of e-democracy development in Ukraine and European Union in a part of formation and implementation of its tools. A position of central executive authorities in Ukraine in the context of e-democracy development is considered.
The Ukrainian legislative base of formation and realization of e-democracy tools have been studied, and ones, considered priority in the aspect of their legal support and implementation level, have been separated. These e-democracy tools in Ukraine include: e-consulting, e-petitions, e-appeals, participation budgets (public budgets).
The analysis of e-democracy tools, offered and implemented in the EU countries allowed to establish a series of them, needed additional attention from both state authorities of Ukraine and Ukrainian publicity. These tools include: e-voting, e-referendum, e-plebiscites, and e-election process totally.
Based on comparison analysis of using e-democracy tools in Ukraine and EU, there have been separated obstacles on the way of potential improvement of the national legal mechanism of e-democracy development as to its tools usage at the national, regional and local levels. The main ones are: imperfection of resource provision of the development legal mechanism; absence of an integral idea of the development strategy of e-democracy as an institution in the state; predominance of e-services automation development over development of tools of active involvement of citizens in participation in the public-political life of the country.
Recommendations for public authorities as to improvement of the existent legal mechanism of implementation, use and development of e-democracy tools in a part of development of a series of strategic documents that must fix the priority of e-democracy development, its resource support; comprehensive support to public initiatives as to implementation and development of e-democracy and e-participation tools and so on, have been substantiated.
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Jalil, Mat. "DEMOKRATISASI OTONOMI DAERAH SEBAGAI WUJUD REFORMASI BUDAYA." AKADEMIKA: Jurnal Pemikiran Islam 17, no. 1 (December 30, 2019): 169. http://dx.doi.org/10.32332/akademika.v17i1.1782.
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Abstract
The essential of Pancasila Democracy teaches the openness. The openness is a condition to make democracy has function, citizen politic participation would not exist without the openness. Regional autonomy is regional authority to arrange, and manage the interest of local people according to its initiative. Regional autonomy gives a wide chance to the people to be participated in their regional management in order to create collective prosperity. Tha active participation of people to the democratic economy development process by means of togetherness which is has mutual benefit as the participation process from, by, and to the people. Autonomy covered the competence to discuss, consider, choose, and do different act inside the private or public to achieve democracy or public beneficience.
The connection between the regional as a fair framework, and the people as the agents who can determine. The connection between village as a independent law institution or based structure of law, the institutions, and the idea about democracy as a autonomous determiner. The characteristic of democracy connection and regional autonomy are political thoughts, where focusing region as a powerful position in the society.
Keywords: democracy, autonomy, openness, transperancy.
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Hermoso, Jocelyn Clare R., and Carmen Geanina Luca. "Civil society’s role in promoting local development in countries in transition." International Social Work 49, no. 3 (May 2006): 319–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0020872806063404.
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English This article discusses civil society’s role in the process of local development undertaken by countries transitioning towards democracy, comparing and contrasting the experiences of the Philippines and Romania. The study illuminates the limits and possibilities offered by the democratization process in terms of how civil-society organizations can participate more meaningfully in local development and in establishing structures of democracy. French Cet article examine le rôle de la société civile dans le processus de développement local entrepris dans deux pays en transition vers la démocratie, les Philippines et la Roumanie. L'étude met en lumière les limites et les possibilités du processus de démocratisation quant à la participation des organisations civiles dans le développement et l'établissement de structures démocratiques. Spanish Se explora el papel de la sociedad civil en el desarrollo local llevado a cabo en países en transición hacia la democracia. Se compara la experiencia de Las Filipinas, Rumania. Se iluminan los límites y posibilidades ofrecidas por el proceso de democratización en ambos países en términos de cómo las organizaciones civiles pueden participar de una forma significativa en el desarrollo local y en el establecimiento de estructuras democráticas.
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Mikhailov, Maksym. "ROLE OF RESOURCE – TECHNOLOGICAL MECHANISM IN DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTORAL COMMUNICATION IN UKRAINE." Scientific Journal of Polonia University 42, no. 5 (February 12, 2021): 149–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.23856/4220.
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Digital transformations taking place in Ukraine require public authorities to be effective and active position of the civil society. In this case, joint activities become the basis for implementation of respective public policy on central, regional and local levels. Mechanisms of digital democracy should accelerate introduction of electronic elections in Ukraine, improve quality of electoral communication between voters and the candidates for public office. Public institutions also strengthen existing and operating digital technologies in public authorities at the same time contributing to formation of innovative technologies, both for the state and for separate settlements. In his article, the author outlines existing trends in this area of activity in order to consolidate efforts to improve the quality of electoral communication and introduce electronic elections in Ukraine. It is new digital tools, communication services and open platforms that can provide new innovative solutions to increase political participation and involve citizens into the electoral processes, helping to increase level of trust, transparency and accountability within the democratic system. The author, referring to the European Parliament Resolution of 16 March 2017 on E-democracy in the EU, outlining future potential of digital democracy, in particular the use of digital communication as its key feature, stating that many examples of national, regional and local digital participation can serve as examples of how digital (information and communication) technologies are used in E-democracy and encourage further development of such practices at the national and local levels in Ukraine
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Tamrin, Tamrin, Zulfadli Zulfadli, Asrinaldi Asrinaldi, and Aidinil Zetra. "Planning For Participative Development Based On Local Values: Case Study of Kelurahan Lambuang Bukik, Kota Padang." Jurnal Ilmu Sosial Mamangan 7, no. 1 (June 28, 2018): 40–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.22202/mamangan.2566.
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Participatory development is the idea of the World Bank to link democracy with good the governance, an idea is a form of change in the development paradigm of developing countries from a modernization approach to an ecological approach. Local values as elements that are not related to modernization are ignored in the development process. This article explains about participatory development methods through a political culture approach. So that development participation involves the values of the local identity. Based on the use of the Adult Learning Circle or Learning Circle Based on Experience method that is applied to the implementation of community service in the LambuangBukik village, Padang City, it was found that the use of local community identity in the implementation of participatory development is more likely to form a broad community participation in development planning
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Tamrin, Tamrin, Zulfadli Zulfadli, Asrinaldi Asrinaldi, and Aidinil Zetra. "Planning For Participative Development Based On Local Values: Case Study of Kelurahan Lambuang Bukik, Kota Padang." Jurnal Ilmu Sosial Mamangan 7, no. 1 (June 28, 2018): 40–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.22202/mamangan.v7i1.2566.
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Participatory development is the idea of the World Bank to link democracy with good the governance, an idea is a form of change in the development paradigm of developing countries from a modernization approach to an ecological approach. Local values as elements that are not related to modernization are ignored in the development process. This article explains about participatory development methods through a political culture approach. So that development participation involves the values of the local identity. Based on the use of the Adult Learning Circle or Learning Circle Based on Experience method that is applied to the implementation of community service in the LambuangBukik village, Padang City, it was found that the use of local community identity in the implementation of participatory development is more likely to form a broad community participation in development planning
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OLKEN, BENJAMIN A. "Direct Democracy and Local Public Goods: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia." American Political Science Review 104, no. 2 (May 2010): 243–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003055410000079.
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This article presents an experiment in which 49 Indonesian villages were randomly assigned to choose development projects through either representative-based meetings or direct election-based plebiscites. Plebiscites resulted in dramatically higher satisfaction among villagers, increased knowledge about the project, greater perceived benefits, and higher reported willingness to contribute. Changing the political mechanism had much smaller effects on the actual projects selected, with some evidence that plebiscites resulted in projects chosen by women being located in poorer areas. The results suggest that direct participation in political decision making can substantially increase satisfaction and legitimacy.
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Feltes, Tilmann. "Youth and Democracy: The Promotion of Youth Participation by the International Community in Kosovo." Security and Human Rights 24, no. 2 (2013): 195–209. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18750230-02402010.
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Kosovo is a good example of the successes and failures of international efforts to promote democratization. From 1999 to 2008, the territory was an UN-protectorate and democracy promotion was largely in the hands of the international community. Even today, five years after the self-declaration of independence and the acquisition of full sovereignty in September 2012, the influence of the international community is still tremendous. Hopes for the democratic development of the country are largely invested in the young generation. This paper, based on interviews with local and international experts, and a survey of students in Pristina, examines whether the criticisms of the international community also apply to the promotion of political participation by the young generation. It also considers the co-ordination of activities between international organisations and local organisations.
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Mahmud, Ramli, Asmun Wantu, and Ruslin Limalo. "Strengthening Local Democracy (Orientation Study of Political Culture of Coastal Communities in Dulupi District, Boalemo Regency)." International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding 7, no. 7 (August 26, 2020): 758. http://dx.doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v7i7.1830.
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The political culture of the local community, especially the coastal communities in Dulupi District, Boalemo Regency, is the main instrument in strengthening democracy at the local level of Gorontalo. The composition of voters according to 2019 election data shows 38.4% or 4,418 voters in Dulupi District are in coastal areas including 2,926 people in Dulupi village and 1,492 people in Tabongo village. The figure of 38.4% shows that political participation for coastal communities will determine the direction of development and strengthening democracy at the local level, especially in Boalemo Regency. In fact, the strengthening of local democracy is strengthened through the participant's political culture, but the paternalistic coastal social system tends to direct the political culture of the local community to the parochial aspects and subjects or what is known as kaula politics. Therefore, the tendency of coastal communities to determine their political rights is more on the consideration of parochials and subjects than the participant's cultural aspects. This writing would like to analyze and map the orientation of the political culture of coastal communities in Dulupi District as an agenda for strengthening local democracy in Boalemo District which encompasses: 1) How is the cultural orientation of coastal communities in Dulupi District in strengthening Boalemo local democracy and 2) What factors affect the political cultural orientation of coastal communities in Dulupi District in strengthening Boalemo local democracy.
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Mahé, Anne-Laure. "A Tradition Co-opted: Participatory Development and Authoritarian Rule in Sudan." Canadian Journal of Political Science 51, no. 2 (September 28, 2017): 233–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0008423917000993.
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AbstractThe concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studies on participatory development rarely examine the political regimes those policies are embedded in. Yet, in authoritarian contexts, participation is ambiguous, potentially threatening—as it can be connected to democratic ideals—and it also can be used as a resource, a tool for domination. Through an analysis of participatory development projects implemented in Sudan, I explore how power relations are renegotiated at the local level. Relying on data collected during fieldwork in Khartoum and the state of North Kordofan, where the projects are located, I highlight the disconnect between the discourse surrounding the participatory devices, which establishes an horizontal relationship between citizens and the local government, and the actual practices that strengthen the latter's power. In doing so, the article challenges a linear, top-down conception of authoritarian power and reveals the tensions that exist between institutional levels.
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Graham, Ann, and Joanna Regulska. "Expanding Political Space for Women in Poland: An Analysis of Three Communities." Communist and Post-Communist Studies 30, no. 1 (March 1, 1997): 65–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0967-067x(96)00024-4.
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The paper argues that Poland's emerging democracy has yet to open political space for women. Through an analysis of three case study communities, the authors that Poland's political culture—whether communist or democratic—cannot be relied on to ensure women's equal participation. Formal mechanisms of power continue to favor the experience of men. By focusing on the ignored context of women's local activism, the study draws attention to the barriers and opportunities for women and how these barriers play out differently in which political cultures are similar yet distinct.
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Geurtz, Casper, and Ted Van de wijdeven. "Making Citizen Participation Work: The Challenging Search for New Forms of Local Democracy in The Netherlands." Local Government Studies 36, no. 4 (August 2010): 531–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2010.494110.
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Черкасов, Александр Игоревич. "The institution of the local referendum in Eastern Europe: the organization and legal regulation." Studia Politologiczne 2020, no. 56 (June 15, 2020): 11–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.33896/spolit.2020.56.1.
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This article examines the characteristic features of the institution of the local referendum in Eastern Europe. The author believes that it is very important for states, which have relatively recently embarked upon the path of democratic development, after decades of communist domination, that the traditional representative institutions are supplemented by the structures of direct democracy, which can facilitate the more effective involvement of the population in the social and political life of the state, and introduce them to modern democratic values. It’s pointed out in the article that attitudes towards the institution of the local referendum in the countries of Eastern Europe are ambiguous, and its introduction has run into a number of obstacles. This might be explained by institutional reasons, by citizens having limited interest in municipal affairs, and the absence of the tradition of citizens directly participating in the resolving of issues of governance. The institution of direct democracy has often only been introduced slowly, which is often due to resistance from the main political parties and the current political elites, who see the activation of direct democracy as a threat to their position. Nevertheless, the author stresses the important practical role of the institution of the local referendum, its ability to serve the interests of both the state as well as the citizens. Through to the institution of the referendum citizens have acquired an additional channel of participation in the political decision-making process, and this facilitates the realization of the principle of political equality and the formation of more open political power structures. The institution of the local referendum is after all an important instrument of political control on the part of the civil society that is necessary for the further development of democratic statehood in the countries of Eastern Europe.
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Camilleri, Gérard. "La participation des citoyens aux choix énergétiques généraux." Les Cahiers de droit 24, no. 4 (April 12, 2005): 783–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/042570ar.
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Many citizens have been alarmed by the development of nuclear facilities, especially when the proposed site for a nuclear plant is located in their neibourghood or region. Parliamentary democracy is not particularly appropriate as a means of channeling citizens' apprehensions and commrnyd. Legislative power is delegated every four years or so to elected members of Parliament. Meanwhile, citizens have no say in the business of the State. The administration is even more remote since administrations of government departments, boards and corporations are not elected and parliamentary control is often weak and sometimes non-existent. The frustration of citizens and groups is therefore exacerbated by the lack of access to the decision-making process. Exasperation sometimes leads to violent demonstrations and acts of terrorism. To counter this feeling ofpowerlessness, governments have developed some means of positive participation. Firstly, channels of information have been opened so that rumours can be replaced by facts and objective policy statements. This requires from the Administration that its proposals be fully justified and that preliminary work has been made. Secondly, the development of public inquiries gives interested persons and groups the feeling they are integrated in the decision making process instead of being left outside in the dark. Parliamentary control can be updated to allow for national debates on nuclear policy and its implementation. Finally, the use of the referendum technique at the national, regional or local level would give back to the people their freedom of expression on such issues. The examples set by Austria and Sweden are particularly interesting in this respect. However, the equilibrium between the requirements of democracy and political expediency still remains very hard to find.
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Marianata, Anita. "Inclusive, Responsive, Democratic Local Government Institution and Active Citizens." Policy & Governance Review 3, no. 1 (April 15, 2019): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.30589/pgr.v3i1.102.
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Reform in decentralization and village democratization can be seen in the involvement of villagers in the policy-making process, both in the economic, political and rural development fields. In the community planning process there is widespread (participatory) community involvement. The involvement of citizens in village development is one part of the development goals. Equality, justice, non-violence, tolerance, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability and responsiveness are principles that must be put forward in the village development planning process. The involvement of citizens in village development planning and budgeting aims to ensure and identify what should be the development priorities, policies, programs and activities that require budget or resources. By using a descriptive qualitative approach, this research is expected to be able to understand more deeply about inclusive and responsive democracy carried out by village government institutions and the involvement of villagers' participation. This is one of the first steps that should be taken by the village government in building democracy at the village level.
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Azevedo, Daniel Abreu de, and Bruno Lessa Meireles. "Territorial and Electorate Size Influence: Participation/Competitiveness in Costa Rica’s 2016 Local Scale Elections." Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía 30, no. 1 (January 1, 2021): 25–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.15446/rcdg.v30n1.79637.
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In recent years, political geography has begun to revisit traditional geographical theories using quantitative methodologies. Size, location, density, position, and other important geographic characteristics have reemerged as central data points in the analysis of political phenomena. In this article, we analyze possible relationships between size (territorial and electoral) and electoral outcomes (competitiveness and participation) in Costa Rica’s 2016 local (canton) elections. In this effort, we seek to revisit a tradition abandoned by some currents of geography, often erroneously associated with geographic determinism and widely criticized by geography researchers since the 1960s. Costa Rica was chosen for the study because it is considered one of the most successful democratic systems in Latin America, and it is now facing important issues about its new decentralization process. Linear Ordinary Least Squares (ols) regressions were used to analyze the 2016 elections in 82 Costa Rican cantones. This article reveals that there are important causal relationships between territorial size and electoral participation/competitiveness in Costa Rica. Conclusion Geographical analyses are crucial to understand voter turnout and competitiveness. Our conclusion could help Costa Ricans create new strategies to further develop their democracy and its decentralization process.
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VILLADSEN, SØREN. "Another Century for Local Democracy? Decentralization, Deregulation and Participation in Scandinavia in Times of European Integration." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 17, no. 1 (March 1993): 42–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.1993.tb00211.x.
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Aryal, Shiva. "Process and Practices of Community Participation in School Education of Nepal." Rupantaran: A Multidisciplinary Journal 5 (September 27, 2021): 110–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/rupantaran.v5i01.39868.
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Formally, community participation in schools was started after the establishment of democracy. It has really a good influence on development of physical infrastructure and efficient use of local resources for school development. In this context, this article analyses the existing situation of level of participation and struggle of member of SMC experiences while they are working as authority’s persons. It is a drawing upon a grounded theory. The site and sample both are purposive and information was also collected by open-ended interview with real stakeholders. This article argues that poor language and economic status as well as lack of awareness of community people, political intervention and differences between home and school culture are subjected to what fairer terms of difficulty of community participation within schools for backward society with illustration how such problems influence on participatory decision making practice in school. This article emphasizes the need of education policy; it is obviously based on the society’s socio-economic and intellectual capacity.
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BIANCHI, GABRIEL. "Training in Skills for Coping with Democracy." ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 552, no. 1 (July 1997): 114–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002716297552001011.
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This article presents experiences from projects aimed at training citizens (especially environmental leaders, local government officials, and mayors) in group decision processes, public participation procedures, conflict resolution, and mediation approaches. The general purpose of these activities has been to assist the development of democratic skills in citizens with decision-making power. Third-sector organizations (nongovernmental, nonprofit organizations) play a significant role in this process of challenging old values and introducing new ones through open communication. The author generalizes from his experience in conducting training over the last three years.
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A, Raheena P., and Sara T. T. Neena. "Participation of Women for the Development of Civil Society: A Study among Women Representatives in Local Governance." Artha - Journal of Social Sciences 16, no. 2 (April 1, 2017): 23. http://dx.doi.org/10.12724/ajss.41.2.
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Political Participation and grass root democracy have been strengthened considerably by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments that have created new democratic institutions for local governance by giving the opportunity to women in the local administration. Indian Government raised reservation for women in all tiers of the panchayat raj system from 33 to 50 percent. An elected women representative needs the requisite social space in order to effect and experience the changes that she desires. The involvement of women in the development process is not merely a matter of equality but a necessity too. This study attempted to assess the involvement of women representatives to the development of weaker sections of society, especially women and children. This study was conducted in village panchayats under Cherpu and Ollukkara blocks in Thrissur district. Simple random sampling technique was adopted for selecting the sample of fifty elected women representatives and data collected through structured Questionnaire Method.
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Wong, Siu Wai, Bo-sin Tang, and Jinlong Liu. "Village Elections, Grassroots Governance and the Restructuring of State Power: An Empirical Study in Southern Peri-urban China." China Quarterly 241 (August 1, 2019): 22–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305741019000808.
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AbstractChina's urbanization has revitalized grassroots governance under which millions of villagers have become increasingly keen to participate in grassroots elections and influence decision making in their village affairs. To maintain its political legitimacy over a rapidly transforming society, the authoritarian party-state has progressively promoted open, competitive grassroots elections in response to the increasing demand by villagers for more public participation. Based on in-depth field research in urbanizing villages in southern China, this article provides an empirical analysis of how the local state has adopted different interventionist strategies in elections to support villagers’ active participation while sustaining its direct leadership over daily village governance. Our findings explain why the recent development of open and transparent grassroots elections is reinforcing the ruling capacity of the socialist state rather than enhancing self-governance and grassroots democracy, although villagers now have more opportunities to defend their economic and social rights through elections.
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Noureddine, Dakhane. "Influence factors and levels to create a culture of democracy: Critical study." Journal of Governance and Regulation 4, no. 4 (2015): 160–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.22495/jgr_v4_i4_c1_p3.
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Includes a general concept for the various philosophical implications for the conduct based on participation in the exercise of power through the institutions of formal and informal value of finality associated outputs any effect of each of these other actors and processes on daily life from the simplest affairs to the most complex groping ordinary citizen impact of these outputs through its relationship with actors and represented locally and nationally this perception itself constitute the base of the logical behaviour of the political mechanisms of nutritious local and other actors thus - as we have seen in the former - this is a performance of official institutions and non-formal primary factor effecting the nature and size of the feedback. We are trying to address through the topic of the impact of the level of human development and the content of those measures various dimensions of political, economic, social and cultural rights on the culture of the citizen. Lifting of the levels of human development in general requires efforts and cooperative from all sectors of society groups also requires equal participation of key parties and requires the mobilization of all the energies and finally the existence of the ability of these key parties to cooperate and participate in the responsibility for achieving development and motivating factor to all of this is to be a human being effective role through participation and production would not be available without a good rehabilitation and the acquisition of knowledge and skills with a reduction of the necessary rights of citizenship. On this basis, we examine how it affects the performance of institutions to create the motivation of individuals to be active citizens through three axes: ideology, the actors and the psychological impact of building individual capacity.
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Barber, Stephen. "The Brexit environment demands that deliberative democracy meets inclusive growth." Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit 32, no. 3 (May 2017): 219–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269094217705360.
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This article proposes the convergence of two concepts both as intrinsically useful and to help explain the ‘Brexit environment’. Deliberative democracy and inclusive growth have existed separately in different disciplines and this article identifies and combines their core virtues for the first time to argue that it is difficult to conceive of a deliberative democratic system that fails to enable inclusive economic growth. It reassesses the divisions exposed in the wake of the referendum on UK membership of the EU to demonstrate the deliberative and inclusive shortcomings of Britain’s political economy and shows the weakness of the Westminster model which has myopically focussed on aggregate economic outcomes and vote at the expense of broader participation and voice. As a result many citizens have found themselves excluded and opportunities for innovation, enterprise and skill development inhibited. To achieve more sustainable business, a stronger economy and greater social justice the article concludes normatively with the case for reform in the direction of a more deliberative democracy set in local economies capable of widening participation in economic success.
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Touchton, Michael, Natasha Borges Sugiyama, and Brian Wampler. "DEMOCRACIA EM AÇÃO: indo além das eleições para melhorar o bem-estar." Caderno CRH 33 (July 27, 2020): 020006. http://dx.doi.org/10.9771/ccrh.v33i0.33273.
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<p>Como a democracia contribui para melhorar o bem-estar? Neste artigo, separamos os componentes da prática democrática – eleições, participação social, expansão dos programas sociais, capacidade administrativa municipal – para identificar sua relação com o bem-estar. Nossa análise de um conjunto de dados original abrangendo mais de 5.550 municípios brasileiros demonstra que eleições competitivas sozinhas não explicam variação nas taxas de mortalidade infantil, um resultado associado ao bem-estar. Vamos além das eleições para mostrar como instituições participativas, programas sociais e capacidade administrativa municipal podem interagir para se apoiar e reduzir as taxas de mortalidade infantil. O resultado é uma nova compreensão de como os diferentes aspectos da democracia trabalham juntos para melhorar uma característica essencial do desenvolvimento humano.</p><p> </p><p>DEMOCRACY AR WORK: moving beyond elections to improve well-being</p><p>How does democracy work to improve well-being? In this paper, we disentangle the component parts of democratic practice—elections, civic participation, expansion of social provisioning, local administrative capacity—to identify their relationship with well-being. Our analysis of an original dataset covering over 5,550 Brazilian municipalities demonstrates that competitive elections alone do not explain variation in infant mortality rates, one outcome associated with wellbeing. We move beyond elections to show how participatory institutions, social programs, and local state capacity can interact to buttress one another and reduce infant mortality rates. The result is a new understanding of how different aspects of democracy work together to improve a key feature of human development.</p><p>Keywords: Democracy, Well-being, Participation, Social programs, Brazil.</p><p> </p><p>DÉMOCRATIE EN ACTION: aller au-delà des élections pour améliorer le bien-être</p><p>Comment la démocratie contribue-t-elle à améliorer le bien-être? Dans cet article, nous séparons les éléments constitutifs de la pratique démocratique - élections, participation sociale, expansion des programmes sociaux, capacité administrative municipale - pour identifier sa relation avec le bien-être. Notre analyse d’un ensemble de données original couvrant plus de 5 550 municipalités brésiliennes montre que les élections compétitives n’expliquent pas à elles seules la variation des taux de mortalité infantile, résultat lié au bien-être. Nous allons au-delà des élections pour montrer comment les institutions participatives, les programmes sociaux et la capacité administrative municipale peuvent interagir pour se soutenir mutuellement et réduire les taux de mortalité infantile. Le résultat est une nouvelle compréhension de la façon dont différents aspects de la démocratie travaillent ensemble pour améliorer une caractéristique essentielle du développement humain.</p><p>Mots clés: Démocratie, Bien-être, Participation, Programmes sociaux, Brésil.</p>
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Alonso, Ángel Iglesias. "The Shaping of Local Self-Government and Economic Development through City Strategic Planning: A Case Study." Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government 12, no. 3 (July 9, 2014): 373–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.4335/12.3.373-391(2014).
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In the contemporary multiplying uncertainties of local governments, politicians and public managers are constantly faced by a recurrent problem: despite financial constraints and with scarce resources, they have to combine the delivery of efficient public services with local economic development and democratic quality. This paper draws on an ethnography concerning the design and implementation of a Strategic Planning process within a Spanish city government and is framed by the proposition that local governments are experimental places for what is usually referred to as democratic governance. Focusing on the way in which the use of Strategic Planning entails a trade-off between urban and economic development and democracy, the article explores how this formal mechanism of citizens’ and business´ participation serves to establish relational processes to reinvigorate local economic development, democracy and administrative modernization. The paper also argues that, in order to fully implement new urban development practices at the local level, it is necessary to take into account not only institutional issues, but also the communal, social and political resources that frame both formal and informal deliberations propelled by the Strategic Planning process. It is the interaction and combination of these that determine the paths and developments of local government innovations.
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Watson, Elizabeth E. "Making a Living in the Postsocialist Periphery: Struggles between Farmers and Traders in Konso, Ethiopia." Africa 76, no. 1 (February 2006): 70–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/afr.2006.0006.
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AbstractThis article explores the experience of one village in Ethiopia since the overthrow of the Marxist‐Leninist Derg regime in 1991. The new government introduced policies that have much in common with those dominating the international geopolitical scene in the 1990s and 2000s. These include an emphasis on democracy, grassroots participation and, to some extent, market liberalization. I report here on the manifestations of these policy shifts in Gamole village, in the district of Konso, once remote from the political centre in Addis Ababa but now expressing its identity through new federal political structures. Traditional power relations between traders and farmers in Gamole have been transformed since 1991 as the traders have exploited opportunities to extend trade links, obtain land and build regional alliances through participation in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. They have appropriated the discourse of democracy to challenge their traditional position of subordination to the farmers – and this, in turn, has led to conflict. While these changes reflect the postsocialist transition, they can also be seen as part of a continuing process of change brought about by policies of reform in land tenure, the church and the state, introduced during the Derg period. These observations at a local level in Ethiopia provide insights into the experiences of other states in postsocialist transition.
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TOUCHTON, MICHAEL, NATASHA BORGES SUGIYAMA, and BRIAN WAMPLER. "Democracy at Work: Moving Beyond Elections to Improve Well-Being." American Political Science Review 111, no. 1 (February 2017): 68–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s000305541600068x.
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How does democracy work to improve well-being? In this article, we disentangle the component parts of democratic practice—elections, civic participation, expansion of social provisioning, local administrative capacity—to identify their relationship with well-being. We draw from the citizenship debates to argue that democratic practices allow citizens to gain access to a wide range of rights, which then serve as the foundation for improving social well-being. Our analysis of an original dataset covering over 5,550 Brazilian municipalities from 2006 to 2013 demonstrates that competitive elections alone do not explain variation in infant mortality rates, one outcome associated with well-being. We move beyond elections to show how participatory institutions, social programs, and local state capacity can interact to buttress one another and reduce infant mortality rates. It is important to note that these relationships are independent of local economic growth, which also influences infant mortality. The result of our thorough analysis offers a new understanding of how different aspects of democracy work together to improve a key feature of human development.
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Quinlivan, Aodh. "Reforming local government: Must it always be democracy versus efficiency?" Administration 65, no. 2 (May 24, 2017): 109–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/admin-2017-0017.
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Abstract The financial crisis from 2008 has had a profound impact on Irish local government. Councils were faced with a disastrous combination of factors - declining funding from central government, difficulties in collecting commercial rates as businesses struggled, and a drastic fall in revenue from development levies. Staffing levels in the local government sector were reduced by over 20 per cent, significantly more than the losses suffered by central government ministries and departments. Yet the financial crisis also offered an opportunity for reform and a fundamental reappraisal of subnational government in Ireland. A reform strategy produced in 2012 paved the way for the Local Government Reform Act, 2014. As a result of this legislation, the number of local authorities was reduced from 114 to 31 with the complete abolition of all town councils. The number of council seats also fell from 1,627 to 949. Using Scharpf’s dimensions of democratic legitimacy, this article assesses whether the focus of the 2014 reforms was on output legitimacy (efficiency and effectiveness) as opposed to input legitimacy (citizen integration and participation).
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Krämer, Mario. "Neotraditional authority contested: the corporatization of tradition and the quest for democracy in the Topnaar Traditional Authority, Namibia." Africa 90, no. 2 (February 2020): 318–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0001972019001062.
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AbstractThis article examines two closely related themes: the triangle of tradition, capital and the state; and resistance to neotraditional leadership and local activism for democracy. I investigate an uprising in the Topnaar Traditional Authority in the Erongo region of Namibia by young community activists who aimed to promote democracy in their community in a context of manifold accusations of self-enrichment and corruption against the neotraditional leadership. The article demonstrates that the corporatization of tradition is a double-edged sword: neotraditional leaders expand their local power towards their subjects in the short term, but it often produces severe conflict that may result in the delegitimization of neotraditional authority in the long run. However, the Topnaar youth uprising and quest for democracy was less about challenging neotraditional authority per se and more about replacing the incumbents as well as obtaining a fair share of political power. It resulted from the perception that the neotraditional-cum-corporate ventures no longer served the cause of a common good; this, in turn, contradicted the general ideal of equality among the Topnaar. The corporatization of tradition thus generated local grievances and stimulated demands for democratic participation. Since the uprising gained at least some of its momentum from my research on neotraditional authority, I also reflect on my role.
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Kahloun, Hatem. "What urban government for a sustainable urban planning? Conceptual analysis based on the case study of Tunisian cities and their local Agenda 21." Environnement urbain 4 (January 11, 2011): c31—c42. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1005644ar.
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In Tunis, as in most developing cities, the highly centralized system of authority can be seen as the single supplier-regulator of urban development and sustainability. In such contexts in which citizen participation in urban management is undervalued, concepts such as “urban government” and “governance” may appear to be particularly irrelevant to the “networking” practices of actors within their own social and political structures. With a focus on the system of local power in Tunisian cities, this study shows that actions and decisions taken by emerging forms of local government remain highly vulnerable due to extra-local forces. Such a paradox in the forms of power and their manner of conduct, by comparing contextual and conceptual frameworks, draws attention to the issues of democracy in action at the local level and the overall impact of these issues on sustainable urban planning.
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Kusainova, Azhar, and Gregory Gleason. "Constitutional Reform and Regional Politics in Kazakstan." Nationalities Papers 26, no. 3 (September 1998): 531–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00905999808408581.
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The fate of democracy in Kazakstan may well depend less upon decisions taken in Kazakstan's capital, Almaty (the capital is now Aqmola), than upon what takes place in Kazakstan's far-flung and disparate regions. This should come as no surprise to anyone who appreciates the history and complexities of democratic development. The history of democracy is a history of bottom-up initiative. The democratic institutions that are the most successful and enduring are those that originate from the common and everyday interests and concerns of citizens. Even in historical cases where the political institutions of democracy were adopted consciously and deliberately to break with authoritarian tradition, democracy has been closely associated with local control, self-governance, public participation, and citizen empowerment. The fate of Kazakstan's constitutional order, on the other hand, depends almost exclusively upon decisions taken at the “center” of the new Kazakstan government. The establishment of a constitutional order is a highly conscious and deliberate process. It is also a highly political undertaking. To what extent has the democratic process in Kazakstan corresponded to the process of the establishment of a constitutional order in Kazakstan? To what extent has constitutional development supported limited, accountable government based on popular sovereignty? To what extent can democratic process and constitutional development be expected to mutually reinforce one another in Kazakstan's future? The answers to these questions have great importance for the development of democracy in Kazakstan. They have great importance for the efforts of the international community to encourage democratic development in Kazakstan. These are the key questions of this article.