vital democracy a theory of democracy in action jun 2010

[...]... more advanced in years than Harry, who, at 49, was in fact ten years her senior Harry had not changed much In Victoria’s memory, Harry wore a black corduroy jacket and jeans faded at the knees even back then Harry had remained a bachelor, and had but few enduring relations at work Supervising student reading groups was what he enjoyed most, and the group that was meeting up again today had always remained... chairmanship, Harry, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could find a way to continue it in some way ’ ‘Yes, for democracy is not doing at all well,’ Harry added Vital democracy has all but vanished At all levels, local, national, and international, the vital juices are leaking away ’ ‘And Jonathan – look at him scowling – has different ideas about it than you do, Harry, and Diana disagrees with Selma; look... ‘six characters in search of democracy that appear in the opening debate of this book The characters are fictional but made up of existing and widely held beliefs and ideas They illustrate that the outlook that people have on democracy is closely connected to the outlook they have on social relations xvi Opening Debate Six Characters in Search of Democracy It was strange to meet up again after all those... ultimately argues in favour of a learning, contextually sensitive, approach to democratic reform (Chapter 8) The book tellingly ends with a democatic debate, just as it began Following this plan, a theory of democracy in action is built which contributes to the literature on democracy in a particular way In addition to the ‘confessional’ literature on democracy – in which a single model of democracy is... technology,’ said Jonathan ‘Sounds good, but is it distinctive enough? The indirect kinds of democracy Victoria and Roderick are sold on are also kinds of teledemocracy: they’re literally democracy at a distance” What does the academy say?’ Diana cast a questioning look in Harry’s direction 11 Vital Democracy ‘I think “plebiscitary democracy might be an appropriate one here,’ said Harry ‘The Romans used the... (majoritarian) Pendulum democracy Voter democracy Integrative (non majoritarian) Consensus democracy Participatory democracy ‘That’s just typical, isn’t it: rapidly appropriating someone else’s ideas It used to be mainly men who did that, but these days it’s women pushing and shoving other women aside.’ Selma looked at Diana with a questioning look that called for assent ‘I’m not appropriating anything, am... within about fifty years, democracy became a good thing.’ This is how C.B Macpherson sketched the relatively recent revival of democracy One might dispute his timing, but in the main this picture is correct.4 For a long time, the way in which Plato and his contemporaries described Athenian democracy was seen as a warning against democracy Democracy was the ‘belly’ taking over the ‘head’, a state of direct... fact that the direct election of an of ce holder does not entail direct democracy, for instance, is not apparent to every democracy watcher.3 Below I will interrelate the distinction between direct and indirect democracy and the distinction between majoritarian and non-majoritarian democracy, resulting in a matrix with four basic types of democracy: consensus democracy, pendulum democracy, voter democracy, ... Particular expressions of democracy are endlessly variable, but its fundamental forms are not The various ways in which democracy is practised are central to this book The central part of this work, Part II (Chapters 3 to 6), examines how the four basic models of democracy are given form in the realities of states and places, in which capacities and varieties, and to what effects, positive and negative... be taking it too far.’ Of course the people should be involved in government in a democracy, but that doesn’t mean that everyone should always be involved in everything,’ Harry lectured ‘If the people can appoint their rulers and dismiss them, the people also rule and this is, in fact, a democracy You are in favour of maximum feasible participation of all concerned, Selma, which was the ideal of authors . in some way ’ ‘Yes, for democracy is not doing at all well,’ Harry added. Vital democracy has all but vanished. At all levels, local, national, and international, the vital juices are leaking away.