History of Democracy

From Athens to Athens. Europe, crisis, and a new perspective on democracy. Suggestions for a debate

by Luca Asmonti

This is the draft of a book chapter for a volume entitled "Democracy in Transition: Political Debate in the European Union". Suggestions, feedback, comments are welcome

La Europa Proyectada. Democracia y Parlamentarismo en los orígenes de la construcción europea (1945-1957)

by Fernando Remiro

Memoria final del Máster Interuniversitario de Historia Contemporánea (UCM-UAM)

A cultural challenge to liberal democracy in Southeast Asia?

by Franz Seifert

A Defence of Sceptical Authoritarianism

by Thom Brooks

Politics 22(3) (2002): 152-62

Vittorio Bufacchi argued in this journal that democracy was under threat from two extreme philosophical positions:... more Vittorio Bufacchi argued in this journal that democracy was under threat from two extreme philosophical positions: totalitarianism and nihilism. Sandwiched between these polarities is liberal democracy. Bufacchi believes that one of liberal democracy's distinctive properties is an endorsement of scepticism, which he then attempts to illuminate. In contrast, this article will argue that an authoritarian government bound by a constitution permitting civil liberties might also adopt political scepticism. This removes the aforementioned distinctiveness of liberal democracy in this regard and, in addition, leads us toward a rethinking of the possibility of a more plausible consideration of democracy.

Narrating Democracy in the Commonwealth: An Overview

by Mel Bunce

with Liz Chatterjee. Commissioned paper, written for the Round Table Centenary celebrations. June 2010

The Presidency of Calderon Guardia (Costa Rica)

by Ian Holzhauer

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, President of Costa Rica from 1940 to 1944, created Central America’s first social... more Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, President of Costa Rica from 1940 to 1944, created Central America’s first social security retirement and healthcare program.  Concurrently, he practiced considerable corruption in a country with a tradition of generally honest and democratic government. 

Calderón is both an extremely significant and highly controversial figure, yet he has attracted little attention from historians, largely because he is overshadowed by José Figueres.  Figueres, who overthrew Calderón in the Revolution of 1948, granted women’s suffrage, nationalized the banking system, abolished the military, and set up an election tribunal that has overseen a string of competitive and fair elections up to the present time.

This paper seeks to shed light on the sometimes overlooked Presidency of Calderón.

Engaging "Primitive Democracy," Mideast Roots of Collective Governance

by Benjamin Isakhan

Isakhan, B. (2007). Engaging "Primitive Democracy," Mideast Roots of Collective Governance. Middle East Policy, 14(3), 97-117.

Many of the works on Middle Eastern democracy, whether from the neo-Orientalist camp or from those who avidly detail... more Many of the works on Middle Eastern democracy, whether from the neo-Orientalist camp or from those who avidly detail and support the region’s democratic developments, are based on a Western conception of democracy. This is the result of a discursive lineage that has its antecedents in the erroneous belief that democracy miraculously sprang out of Greek civilization in the fifth century B.C. This superior system of governance was later utilized by the Roman Empire and arguably gave rise to those great moments in the construction
and propagation of Western civilization. Democracy, in its modern, representative form, resurfaced later as a result of the major social upheavals that transformed Europe and America during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, many of the scientific methods, literary motifs and political systems that have formed the major cultural discourses of Western civilization ironically have their origins in the ancient Afro-Asiatic world. By placing the emphasis on the common heritage of both parts of wider Eurasia in the urban revolution of the Bronze Age, these scholars are not only able to undo the longstanding binaries between East and West, but are also able to gain new insights into the origins of some of humankind’s greatest achievements. Specifically, as is detailed below, these achievements include the earliest political mechanisms for human governance, “primitive democracy.”

Democratising the History of Democracy

by Benjamin Isakhan

Isakhan, B., & Stockwell, S. (2011). Democratising the History of Democracy. In Isakhan, B., & Stockwell, S. (Eds.) The Secret History of Democracy (p. 219-224). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

The aim of The Secret History of Democracy has been to open debate on a larger view of democratic practice than that... more The aim of The Secret History of Democracy has been to open debate on a larger view of democratic practice than that encapsulated by its wellknown standard history. The book came about from a concern that, while democracy was experiencing an ascendancy that began in the aftermath of the Second World War and intensified with the end of the Cold War, the global uptake of this particular form of governance came at the very moment when its limitations were becoming clearer: in its European and American heartlands there was less interest in participating in democracy; Clinton began in hope but ended in scandal; 9/11 was a victory for intolerance precisely because Western democracy restricted its own freedoms; the Bush, Blair and Howard governments became less relevant to their constituents and waged unpopular wars; the global financial crisis revealed democracy’s dependence on a flawed economic model; and difficulties in dealing with the global impact of climate change showed the limitations of national democracies, hostage to sectional interests. The exemplars of democracy were not having an easy time.

The Value Theory of Democracy

by Corey Brettschneider

Politics Philosophy Economics October 2006 vol. 5 no. 3 259-278

Liberal political theorists often argue that justice requires limits on policy outcomes, limits delineated by... more Liberal political theorists often argue that justice requires limits on policy outcomes, limits delineated by substantive rights. Distinct from this project is a body of literature dedicated to elaborating on the meaning of democracy in procedural terms. In this article, I offer an alternative to the traditional divide between procedural theories of democracy and substantive theories of justice; I call this the ‘value theory of democracy’. I argue that the democratic ideal is fundamentally about a core set of values (political autonomy, equality of interests, and reciprocity) with both procedural and substantive implications. Further, I contend that limits on policy outcomes can be newly understood as part of the democratic ideal.

Tocqueville'in Amerikan Demokrasisi Algısı

by Erkan Mert Özoğul

Alexis de Tocqueville'in, Fransa'dan bürokratik görevle sınırlı bir süre için gittiği Amerika Birleşik Devletleri'nde beklenenden uzun bir süre boyunca geçirdiği dönemde edindikleri izlenimlerin bir özetinin ele alındığı bu çalışmamda, ABD'deki hapishanelerin durumunu incelemek ve konuya ilişkin bir raporla geri dönmesi için giden Alexis de Tocqueville'in, o dönemde coşkulu bir başlangıç dönemi geçiren Amerikan demokrasisi, bu demokratik düzen içindeki toplum-devlet ilişkileri, bürokratik sistemin işleyişi ve hatta daha da önemlisi o dönem için fazla tecrübe edilmiş mekanizmalar olmayan toplumsal örgütlenme konusu  ve STK'lar ve bunların işleyişi konuları üzerine olan düşünceleri oldukça dikkat çekicidir. Ülkemizde belli başlı akademik çevreler dışında çok az bilinen ve üzerine yorum yapılan ama gerçekte liberal düşüncenin önemli fikir adamlarından biri olan Alexis de Tocqueville'in düşüncelerini ana hatlarıyla anlayabilmenin önemli olduğunu düşünmekteyim. Böylesine önemli bir kitabın yapılmış tek Türkçe tercümesinin de baskısının artık yapılmadığını, çok eski bir Türkçe ile ve son derece yetersiz, orijinalinden eksik, fazla sadeleştirerek olarak sunulduğunu ki bunu internet üzerinde bulmanın bile oldukça uzun uğraşlar sonucu elde edebilmemiz ise eser üzerine inceleme yazarken biz yükske lisans öğrencileri için oldukça şaşırtıcı, ülkemiz adına ise üzüldüğümüz bir durum oldu açıkçası. Bu yazı sayesinde Tocqueville'i ve eserini gerçek anlamda tanımamıza olanak veren ve hatta bizi tatlı sert bir şekilde zorlayan Prof.Dr.Mehmet ALTAN hocama teşekkürlerimi sunmayı bir görev addediyorum. Umarım her ne kadar küçük çaplı ve özet bir inceleme çalışması olsa da az da olsa yararlanılacak noktalar yakalayabilirsiniz. Her türlü eksiklik ve hata şahsıma aittir. Okuyacak olanların bilgisine, istifadesine sunulur.

« Moyen Âge », dans Dictionnaire du vote, dir. P. Perrineau, D. Reynié, Paris : Presses universitaires de France, 2001, p. 667-678

by Julien Théry

Activist Theorists: Norman Manley, Eric Williams & West Indian Decolonisation

by F.S.J. Ledgister

Democracy in the Caribbean: Post-Colonial Experience

by F.S.J. Ledgister

Sacré et profane. Figures intangibles de la représentation politique? (2008)

by Stephanie Wojcik

Avec T. Fromentin in Fromentin T. & Wojcik S. (dir.), Le profane en politique. Compétences et engagements du citoyen, L’Harmattan, coll. « Logiques politiques », 2008, p. 13-35.

"The Reconceptualization of Kingship in Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic Historys Transformation of Torah"

by Bernard M. Levinson

Vetus Testamentum 51 (2001): 511-34.

Because the royal ideology of ancient Israel was largely identical to that of the broader ancient Near East, the... more Because the royal ideology of ancient Israel was largely identical to that of the broader ancient Near East, the points of divergence are the more remarkable. In particular, the legal corpus of Deuteronomy conceptualizes the king in a way that rejects all prevailing models of monarchic power, both Israelite and Near Eastern. Deuteronomy submits a utopian manifesto for a constitutional monarchy that sharply delimits the power of the king. This redefinition of royal authority takes place as part of a larger program (Deut. xvi 18-xviii 22) whereby the authors of Deuteronomy redefine the jurisdiction of each branch of public office (local and central judicial administration, kingship, priesthood, and prophecy). Each is subordinated, first, to the requirements of cultic centralization, and, second, to the textual authority of deuteronomic Torah. This utopian delimitation of royal power never passed from constitutional vision into historical implementation: it represented such a radical departure from precedent that the Deuteronomistic Historian, precisely while seeming to implement deuteronomic law, pointedly reversed the deuteronomic program and restored to the monarch all that Deuteronomy had withheld.

Keywords:
Law of King Deuteronomy 17:14-20; Deut 17:14-20; Dtn 17, 14-20; Kingship, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomistic History, Ämtergesetze; constitutional theory, democracy, Deut 16:18-18:22; Ezekiel 37; democratic kingship; Greek ideology of kingship; constitutional monarchy; Elyon, Psalm 1, royal psalms, Laws of Public Officials.

The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding.

by Bernard M. Levinson

Co-authored with Joshua Berman, published as a special supplement in The History Channel Magazine, November 2010, pp. 1-11.

This short article addressed to a broader readership investigates the impact of the King James Bible upon the American... more This short article addressed to a broader readership investigates the impact of the King James Bible upon the American founding. In order to show that impact, the article's first half portrays the political context for the formation of the King James, charts the influence of the Bible upon early modern political thought, and then sketches the impact of the KJV upon the rhetoric and political thought of the Founders. The essay is accompanied by a timeline.

Key Words:
Authorized Version; King James Version; American Founding; Bible and political thought, religion and the founding, founders, Bible and intellectual history, Spinoza, Bible and constitution; Bible and democracy.

Democracy's Place In World History

by Steven Muhlberger

Journal of World History, 4(1993) : 23-45. Co-authored with Phil Paine

Book review: on Carlos A. Forment, Democracy in Latin america 1760-1900. volume I. Civic selfhood and public life in México and Peru.

by Alfredo Avila

Published in" Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México", 29, January 2005.

El Partido Popular en México

by Alfredo Avila

Published in Historia y Política, 11, Jan-June 2004

After the fall of the Mexican monarchy in 1823, some partisans of the dethroned emperor, Agustín de Iturbide, used the... more After the fall of the Mexican monarchy in 1823, some partisans of the dethroned emperor, Agustín de Iturbide, used the new republican institutions and the popular xenophobia to constitute the «Popular Party». This Party has been accused by many historians of having egoistic goals. However, it cannot be denied that it transformed the political culture of large sectors of Mexican society. The political pro-gram of the Popular Party, known as «American system», supported federalism, the republican government and the protection of national producers. The masonic lodges of the rite of York (from which the term «yorkinos» comes), the popular mobilizations, and the electoral campaigns built a new sociability that allowed the Popular Party to emerge as the most important political forcé in the 1820s.

El Intendente: entre el centralismo y la descentralización

by Álvaro Caso Bello

In: AA.VV.: "A 100 años de la ley de creación de la figura del intendente municipal" OPP - Congreso de Intendentes - Unión Europea, Montevideo, 2009.

Este estudio pretende examinar las tensiones entre el centralismo  y la descentralización que motivaron, primero,... more Este estudio pretende examinar las tensiones entre el centralismo  y la descentralización que motivaron, primero, la introducción de la figura del Intendente en la América Hispana; luego, su exclusión, y, posteriormente, su reinstauración en el Uruguay de comienzos del siglo XX.

A su vez, pretende ser una primera "punta de lanza", para comprender la consolidación de una mentalidad "reformista" en la política uruguaya de los siglos XIX y XX.