Building Global Democracy

This article discusses the role non-state actors may play in the democratization of global governance. It is argued that the nature of international power in a globalizing world requires a redefinition of democracy that is more expansive than the traditio

Democracy is generally considered to be the most successful form of government. Yet we remain uncertain about its relationship to modernization. What is essential is not democracy but good governance, according to Alexander Pope's challenge. Political Ela

President Hugo Chávez's victory in the 15 February 2009 referendum, permitting indefinite re-election of all elected officials, marked an acceleration of his "Bolivarian revolution" and "socialism of the 21st century". Chávez has since moved further away

How does the insect swarm serve as a figure for humanity? In recent formulations by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, the swarm buzzes for the anonymous multitude, achieving creative solutions to humankind's problems "through collective and distributed tec

In this article we develop a concentric containment policy for dealing with political extremism starting from the deliberative model of democracy. This model of democracy is particularly well suited because it overcomes the traditional opposition between

In recent years radical democracy has become a prominent perspective in contemporary political theory. However, radical democracy involves numerous theoretical arguments and interpretations of democracy as can be witnessed in the work of some theorists wh

The article comparatively investigates the role of religious actors in the democratization processes of five 'young' democracies from the Catholic, Protestant, Christian-Orthodox and Muslim world: West Germany after World War II (1945-1969), Georgia and U

This article examines the complex relationship between state, religion and democratization in Turkey, Egypt and Israel. It demonstrates that binary and static models of separation and integration between state and religion are not sufficient to understand

Throughout Africa, charismatic Christianity has been caricatured as an inhibitor of democratization. Its adherents are said either to withdraw from the rough and tumble of politics ('pietism') or to preach a prosperity gospel that encourages believers to

While the positive relationship between democracies and peace is by now a commonplace of international relations (IR) literature, the possible dangers of democratization processes for international peace and security have only recently become a focus of I

Since 1923 the official ideology of republican Turkey has been strictly secular. However religious networking has always been a very important component of the socio-structural system in the country. Over time, the republican regime sought to stifle devel

The history of Turkish modernization has been inextricably linked with the question of secularism. From the advent of the Turkish Republic in 1923, Islam was held responsible for the underdevelopment and eventual demise of the Ottoman Empire. Based on the

What does it mean for progressive performance activists to use citizenship as an animating rhetoric? To address this question, I examine the activist tactics of two ideologically opposed groups: the civilian border-watch organizations known as Minutemen a

The overarching theme of this special issue was the attempts by various religious actors - Christian, Muslim, and Jewish - to try to assert their values and pursue their goals in variable political circumstances. We saw that they sought to do this in cont

This article focuses on the ambivalent effect of religious autonomy in India and the outcome for democracy in the country. The Indian constitution guarantees autonomy to its religious minorities, and promises the minorities the freedom independently to ma

Climate change will undoubtedly affect the lives and lifestyles of nearly every person who inhabits the planet. But although climate change is a global issue, today's international institutions are incapable of managing such a complex and far-reaching pro

There is an underlying optimism in much of the literature that considers the emergence of social movements as being associated with deepening processes of democratization. The expansion of civil society is seen to expand political space. This paper takes

This article conceptualizes power in the context of long-term process of structural change. First, it discusses the field of transition studies, which deals with processes of structural change in societal systems on the basis of certain presumptions about

In his important new book, Veit Bader defends an 'associational democracy' (AD) approach to the governance of religious diversity, one that would involve creating a significant degree of 'institutional pluralism'. This pluralism would be manifested at var

While a large literature explores the effect that regime type has on personal integrity rights violations, few studies have explored a state-centric approach to understanding these violations. I develop an argument that focuses on the leaders of the state