Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of interest and research into the connections between associations and democracy. This article divides the question of associative contributions to ...democracy into four component parts: What (a) contributions do (b) different kinds of associations make to advance (c) contesting ideals of democratic governance in various (d) political contexts? Associations enhance democracy in at least six ways: through the intrinsic value of associative life, fostering civic virtues and teaching political skills, offering resistance to power and checking government, improving the quality and equality of representation, facilitating public deliberation, and creating opportunities for citizens and groups to participate directly in governance. These contributions are not all mutually consonant with one another, and different forms of associations are better suited to advance some contributions than others. Furthermore, those who propose bolstering associations as a strategy for revitalizing democracy frequently have quite different ideals of democracy in mind. The forms and contributions of associations appropriate to three contesting notions of democratic governance-liberal minimalism, conventional representation-cum-administration, and participatory democracy-are also discussed. Finally, the democratic priority of associative contributions depends crucially on contextual features of particular societies. Under tyrannical regimes, for example, associations that resist government authority are more crucial than those that foster compliance and respect for political institutions.
In multi-ethnic nation-states, opposition to immigration has manifested itself in attitudes and behaviors. Past research has typically focused on anti-immigrant attitudes, and relied on threat and ...competition theories to explain patterns in such attitudes. These theories suggest that perceived threats stemming from new influxes or large concentrations of immigrants should prompt dominant groups to protect their interests, leading to anti-immigrant attitudes. We extend the literature with a focus on anti-immigrant activity, and introduce the legitimating contexts model, which argues that dominant groups may actually hesitate to engage in exclusionary public actions in places where the political and demographic strength of immigrant and ethnic groups is strong. In contrast to theories of group threat, we contend that in contexts with low levels of immigrant political power and demographic strength, anti-immigrant activity is less likely to be noticed, let alone challenged, and thus more likely to become part of the status quo. Extending political opportunity theory, we also claim that conservative elites and voters in local areas coupled with low levels of threat further legitimate anti-immigrant activity. We test these ideas using a new data set of exclusionary action targeted at immigrants in over 50 U.S. metropolitan areas. In support of the legitimating contexts model, we find that low levels of demographic and political threat—when immigrants enjoy less power—alone and coupled with a higher share of conservative voters act to legitimate and encourage restrictive events on the part of noninstitutional actors.
The aim of this paper is to bring into conversation two apparently disparate debates in the fields of politics and International Relations. The first is a debate over celebrity humanitarianism that ...is divided between optimistic scholars, who see in it an enhancement of democracy, and pessimistic scholars, who link it to capitalist imperialism or a throwback to older colonial tropes. The second is a debate over a (new) American empire which has prompted scholars in IR to redress IR's historic 'elision' of empire and to offer new network theories of empire. The paper argues that these two debates each address the shortcomings in the other and offers speculation on what celebrity humanitarianism might have to do with empire by bridging the connections between structuralist political theories of empire and the cultural accounts offered by postcolonial theory.
This article aims to test whether existing theories of what factors underlie the gender gap in political participation apply in an African context. Empirical estimations drawing on recent data ...covering over 27,000 respondents across 20 African emerging democracies suggest that whereas several of the investigated factors - structural differences in individual resource endowments and employment, and cultural differences based in religious affiliations - are found to be important determinants of participation, they explain only a very modest share of the observed gender gaps. Suggestive evidence instead points to the role of clientelism, restricted civil liberties, economic development and gender norms.
Starting from the debates over the 'reality' of global warming and the politics of science studies, I seek to clarify what is at stake politically in constructivist understandings of science and ...nature. These two separate but related debates point to the centrality of modern science in political discussions of the environment and to the difficulties, simultaneously technical and political, in warranting political action in the face of inevitably partial and uncertain scientific knowledge. The case of climate change then provides an experimental test case with which to explore the various responses to these challenges offered by Ulrich Beck's reflexive modernization, the normative theory of expertise advanced by Harry Collins and Robert Evans, and Bruno Latour's utopian vision for decision-making by the 'collective' in which traditional epistemic and institutional distinctions between science and politics are entirely superseded.
The refugee label acknowledges the plight of people marginalized, oppressed and pushed to the periphery of society. While having this status affords a number of rights from countries signatory to the ...1951 UN convention, the concept of ‘refugeehood’ within resettlement contexts can become a master status that defines a person above and beyond any other form of identity. Drawing upon political theories of recognition, this dilemma is addressed by examining the powerful current Western discourses on trauma where refugees are often situated. It is then contextualized, using the example of Sudanese men resettled in Australia to differentiate ordinary and extra-ordinary stories of lived experience. This distinction provides a helpful framework for developing more sophisticated understandings of how people have responded to trauma beyond the ‘event-worthy’ underpinnings of forced migration.
Drawing on theories of place, new political cultures, and idio-cultural perceptions, this paper examines the case of recent place character change in Memphis, Tennessee. Since 2009, a burgeoning ...bicycling culture has taken root in the city alongside a massive increase in bicycling infrastructure. We analyse how these changes are paralleled by shifts in governance emphasising amenity-based urbanism that favours themes of creative class-centred economic development. Changes also highlight the ability of contemporary urban governance to make place malleable by upending negative conceptions of the city and providing for new alternatives. Implications centre on how place may be more malleable than previously theorised, but recognise that changes serve only some populations, namely creatives and pre-existing power structures, while maintaining traditions that exclude others and contribute to racialised gentrification.
In this article the concepts of micro-courses, research tools and research outcomes are used to clarify why and how the use of micro-courses could effectively improve Ideological and Political ...Theories Curriculum Teaching (IPTCT) in China. Firstly, IPTCT is significantly different from other kinds of knowledge courses in China and effective teaching in IPTCT is a research topic that is usually accompanied by the development of micro-courses in recent Chinese higher education. The relationship between them is important and complex. And then research has also been conducted to explain how micro-courses could affect the four aspects of IPTCT teaching design which includes concept design, content design, strategy design and assessment design. In this part, researchers spend a large amount of content explaining and illustrating event design processes using micro-courses, which has an important role in the overall teaching design of IPTCT. Finally, the article concluded that researchers and/ or IPTCT teachers should pay lots attention to the utilities of micro-courses in the IPTCT, recognizing the strength and flexibility of micro-courses.
This article seeks to extend feminist critiques of Habermasian discourse ethics in International Relations by engaging with the feminist ethics of care. Using the work of Andrew Linklater as a ...starting point, it argues that neither the existing critiques nor the responses have adequately addressed the key features of care ethics. The article critiques the idea of ethics as dialogue among ‘human beings as equals’ through an elaboration of several features of the ethics of care: firstly, the importance in care ethics of ‘dependency’ and ‘vulnerability’ not as conditions to be overcome, but rather as ways of being for normal human subjects; secondly, the focus on the responsibilities for listening attentively to the voices of others rather than on rights of individuals to be included in dialogue; thirdly, the need for patience and commitment in the recognition that responsibilities to others are fulfilled over the long, rather than the short, term; and, finally, the idea of care ethics as a substantive, democratic ethic of responsibility. These arguments emerge out of the basic ideas of care ethics — that relations and responsibilities of care are central to human life, and that care is a public value that must be negotiated at a variety of levels, from the household to the international community.
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