Deliberation,Democratic Decision-Making and Internal Political Efficacy

Empirical research into the possible positive consequences of deliberation increasingly reveals that there is a complex relationship between deliberation and its effects on citizens. In this experimental study I examine the relationship between internal political efficacy and one type of deliberation: deliberative decision-making. I also test whether different structures of decision-making mediate between deliberation and internal political efficacy. The data suggest that deliberative decision-making had no direct effect on a global measure of internal political efficacy. Participants in face-to-face deliberative decision-making, though, had higher scores on a situation-specific measure of internal political efficacy than participants who only voted. The structures of decision-making had no effect on either measure of internal political efficacy. These results support claims that deliberation will not necessarily lead to direct, positive effects on citizens internal political efficacy, but they also highlight the likelihood that face-to-face deliberation can lead citizens to feel more competent in their deliberative abilities.     

从政党与公民社会的关系看当代西方政党的发展趋势

当代西方国家基本上完成了国家和社会的分离,形成了较为成熟的公民社会。①在此背景下,从政党和公民社会的关系的视角来研究当代西方政党的发展趋势。共分为三个部分,在第一部分,简要地阐述了西方政党与公民社会的历史关系;在第二部分,主要论述了当代西方政党和公民社会的关系;第三部分,对当代西方政党的发展趋势进行了简单的探讨。     

直接民主制的困境和代议制民主的防护保障机制

直接民主制作为民主的一种实现形式,是人类政治文明发展史上的一项伟大创举。然而,随着人类历史的发展以及民族国家的兴起,直接民主制从政治实践到理论本身都面临着困境。代议制民主的产生为民主车轮继续前行注入新的动力。但是,代议制民主自身同样也面临着天然的或衍生的缺陷,必须为其构建防护机制,以保障其有效运行。     

“被时代”引发的关于信息权的思考

近两年,网络上不断出现"被"词语,"被时代"来临,无论是被自杀,被代表,还是"被自愿"都表现出了话语权弱势一方的无奈,透过现象看本质,被时代的出现也折射出当今信息时代社会传播的失衡,政府、媒介和公民之间的传播链条出现症结,引起我们的深刻反思。政府与媒介,政府与公众,媒介与公众之间的关系需要改善和协调,从而促进信息民主的实现。     

由环境群体性事件看我国参与式民主建设

环境群体性事件是我国公众基于维护生态利益而采取的环保自力救济行为的典型表现,实际上环保自力救济行为也为我国参与式民主政治建设提供了新的视角,解决生态问题内在地包含于以生态为导向的社会主义政治文明建设的理论逻辑与实践进程之中。有序的社会参与是建设社会主义政治文明和社会主义生态文明的双向要求和逻辑结合点,因此,在环境管理中引入社会参与机制,既是参与式民主理念在环境事务中的应用和深化,也是建设中国特色社会主义民主政治的现实选择。     

网络话语权的公共领域特征与话语民主的实现

网络作为公共舆论的重要平台,使得公民的话语权在网络空间得到全新的实现。网络公共领域的话语表达所表现出的匿名性、开放性、互动性等特点,使得网络话语权的行使具有传统媒体无可比拟的优势,成为公民问责和实践话语民主的重要形式。     

The Unruly Past: History and Historiography of the 1932 Thai Revolution

ABSTRACT

The monarchy and the country’s military dominate discussions of Thai political history. The country’s democratic history meanwhile is much less well known. To many people, historiography – the history of the writing of history – is a dull affair that only concerns academics. But the changing representations of the origins of democracy in the 1932 revolution that ended the absolute monarchy show the politics of history as a continuous problem that still shapes Thai society. The interpretations have been bound to the bitter partisanship that has accompanied a history of political instability. This article examines the changing interpretations of 1932 in their historical contexts and demonstrates the central antagonism towards the ideal of popular sovereignty, despite its long history in the country, that is still held by the military and monarchic elite.     

Post‐conventional Political Cultures via Processes of Direct Democracy: Theoretical Considerations Based on Jürgen Habermas and Lawrence Kohlberg

In this article, it is proposed to differentiate political cultures in two dimensions. First, inspired by Habermas' distinction of the contents of discourse, a distinction is suggested between moral, ethical‐political and pragmatic elements of political culture as well as of an element of culture of balancing interests. Second, inspired by Kohlberg's stage models for the development of the individual moral consciousness and for moral culture, a distinction is similarly suggested between two pre‐conventional, two conventional and two post‐conventional collective stages of political culture. It can be shown that from a normative point of view, only deliberations made in a post‐conventional political culture can produce reasonable or at least fair results. Conceptual considerations indicate processes of direct democracy as the method for promoting post‐conventional political cultures. The more liberty that the citizens have to formulate and trigger processes of direct democracy, the more one can expect from them to generate post‐conventional political cultures.     

The file on operation “Priboi”: A re-assessment of the mass deportations of 1949

Abstract

Using information from documents found in the Russian State Military Archives, this article discusses the organization and execution of the Soviet mass deportations from the Baltic States in March 1949 — code-named Operation “Priboi” by the USSR MVD. These findings are presented for the first time in English, in the context both of established historiographical interpretations and recent literature on the deportations. The aim is to encourage a scholarly reassessment of Operation “Priboi” as a crime against humanity perpetrated by the Soviet occupation regime, but supported by indigenous collaborators to a far greater degree than previously assumed.     

Text Matters: Some Reflections on the Forging of a New Constitutional Jurisprudence in South Africa

The South African Constitution establishes a constitutional democracy with a strong form of constitutional review. The Constitutional Court is required to declare invalid any legislation or conduct of the President which is inconsistent with the Constitution. The author, a former judge of the Constitutional Court, argues that the text of the Constitution has been an important determinant of the Court's jurisprudence, both in relation to the Court's jurisprudence concerning the institutional structures established by the Constitution and its Bill of Rights jurisprudence.