Building Global Democracy

This article explores the implications of transitions to democracy for the economic policymaking process in developing countries. Democracy is supposed to give citizens oversight of their political leaders, while providing leaders with electoral incentive

In this paper, I argue that critical international theory could benefit from a broader and deeper conception of the limits of knowledge-that what is needed is more attention to the role of ambiguity in contemporary politics. While not challenging the usef

The "aestheticisation of politics", a term coined by Walter Benjamin, refers to a critique of various modes of politics considered to be irrational in leftist, critical theory. The critique ties aestheticised politics to fascism and capitalism, thereby pr

Along with essential political activism such as the emergence of the Zapatistas in 1994 and the World Social Forum in 2001, there has been a significant increase in research in the field of critical theory in the global South and especially in Latin Ameri

The latter part of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twentyfirst have seen major changes in world political and economic relationships. There has been disintegration of old countries such as the former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, the int

Contemporary political philosophy has only recently witnessed a widespread emergence of analyses of justice beyond the context of the nation-state. When modern political philosophers devised principles of justice in the past, they typically took for grant

An invitational Global Forum, organised by the Council of Europe and the US Steering Committee of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy, was held in Strasbourg in October. Its theme was Converging competence

It is a rather sad indictment of Arab politics today that the word democratization has virtually disappeared from research-based literature on the Middle East. Early optimism during the first half of the 1990s that the so-called third and fourth waves1 of

After months of bloodshed, violence, and vandalism, Bolivia may finally be back on the path to non-violent institutional reforms-no thanks to the U.S. government.

The principle of democracy is one of equal dignity for all cultures. But today the relationship between culture and politics, though close, often appears tense and occasionally contradictory. The introduction to this issue of Diogenes sketches the work do

Since colonial times, violent urban displacements have been part of politics in Africa. As 'Operation Sweep up the Rubbish', the massive slum demolition in Zimbabwe, illustrates, large-scale violent urban displacements persist in many parts of the contine

The Arab region finds itself at a historical cross-road between resilience and resistance to globalization. Arab countries' short-term strategies to globalization are primarily determined by the diversification of their respective economies. Long-term adj

Based on ethnographic research conducted with the Network of Healthy Communities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this article examines how grassroots leaders have sought networks and partnerships as a strategy to amplify and strengthen their work, particularly

Grassroots women's leadership is important if democracy is to be 'deepened' - that is, if representative democracies are to formally include citizen participation in more ways than simply voting in elections. One approach to deepening democracy is to enco

Peacebuilding has not been the success the world had hoped for when in June 1992 the then Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali put forward the 'Agenda for Peace'. The Agenda refashioned the traditional doctrine of the UN, accordin

This article is concerned with the potential that statebuilding interventions have to institutionalize social justice, in addition to their more immediate 'negative' peace mandates, and the impact this might have, both on local state legitimacy and the ch

What does history tells us about the prospects for democracy in post-invasion Iraq and Afghanistan? American policy makers frequently referenced the post-World War II success stories of Germany and Japan as plausible futures for the imposed democratic reg

The United Nations should become a proactive agent in the dissemination of democratic principles. U.N. Democracy Fund, an American-led initiative that has enjoyed the active support of Chile's member of its board, should continue to grant resources to gr

At the core of a $4-billion overall range of aid expenditures abroad, CIDA and its future needs a broad debate. Canadian foreign aid is in genuine need of a refocusing and re-organization. As we sit now, CIDA is too bureaucratic, too risk averse, too over

Broad and diverse civic participation is essential to a democratic society. Studies of opinion leadership show that politically active citizens report that Internet information and communication helped increase civic involvement by enabling them to keep u