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1 – 10 of over 18000
Article
Publication date: 9 April 2018

Irene Daskalopoulou

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different types of social capital contribute to the satisfaction with democracy (SWD) in Greece. Understanding the relationship…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different types of social capital contribute to the satisfaction with democracy (SWD) in Greece. Understanding the relationship between different variants of social capital and SWD allows one to situate the Greek democracy in the continuum of democracy types, from primary to modern.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses microdata extracted from the European Values Surveys of 2002-2010 and multivariate regression analysis.

Findings

The results are compatible with a conception of the Greek political organization as a civil virtue democracy. A change in the nature of the relationship is observed after the recent economic crisis in the country.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to the empirical knowledge regarding the relationship between different variants of social capital and SWD.

Originality/value

Using a typology approach, the micro-relationship between democracy and social capital is analyzed as embedded in a continuum of different democracy types. In addition, this is the first study that uses microdata to analyze the effect of social capital upon SWD in Greece. The results of the study provide valuable understanding of the social and institutional arrangements that might sustain Greece’s efforts to meet its overall developmental challenges.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 45 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1983

R.G.B. Fyffe

This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and…

10994

Abstract

This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and economic democracy, which centres around the establishment of a new sector of employee‐controlled enterprises, is presented. The proposal would retain the mix‐ed economy, but transform it into a much better “mixture”, with increased employee‐power in all sectors. While there is much of enduring value in our liberal western way of life, gross inequalities of wealth and power persist in our society.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 3 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 12 no. 4/5/6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 24 July 2009

Milan Zafirovski

The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the impact of conservatism on political liberty and liberal democracy in contemporary society. It applies Weber's description of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the impact of conservatism on political liberty and liberal democracy in contemporary society. It applies Weber's description of capitalism as the “most fateful” social force in modern society to analyzing conservatism in relation to political liberty and liberal democracy. The paper posits and finds that conservatism primarily (with secondary variations) negatively impacts political liberty and so modern liberal democracy. Alternatively, it argues and shows that conservatism almost invariably generates political repression and elimination or subversion of liberal democracy and society. It concludes that conservatism, especially in America, becomes from the “most fateful” to the “most fatal” social force on the account of its adverse impact on political liberty and democracy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of conservatism and its essentially destructive effects on political liberties and liberal democracy in contemporary society.

Findings

The paper finds that conservatism, especially in America, becomes from the “most fateful” to the “most fatal” social force on the account of its adverse impact on political liberty and democracy.

Originality/value

The paper posits and finds that conservatism primarily (with secondary variations) negatively impacts political liberty and so modern liberal democracy. Alternatively, it argues and shows that conservatism almost invariably generates political repression and elimination or subversion of liberal democracy and society.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 29 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2013

Jason K. Ritter

This qualitative inquiry reports the ways in which three graduate-level preservice elementary teachers conceived of the relationship between diversity and democracy, and explores…

Abstract

This qualitative inquiry reports the ways in which three graduate-level preservice elementary teachers conceived of the relationship between diversity and democracy, and explores how their understandings of this relationship informed their planning for democratic citizenship education with young learners. Findings indicate while the participants exhibited a certain measure of variance in their thinking about diversity and democracy, all of them planned their lessons at a lower level of multicultural support than their views suggested they would. This primarily highlights the ongoing lack of understanding regarding what it might mean to teach democratic citizenship through its practice as well as its study.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Marcus Marktanner and Luc Noiset

The purpose of this paper is to critique recent findings that democratic practices are positively related to homicide rates.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critique recent findings that democratic practices are positively related to homicide rates.

Design/methodology/approach

Economic rational choice model supported by empirical evidence.

Findings

It was found that higher homicide rates are only characteristic of democracies that fail to respond to the median voter's call for equitable social development.

Originality/value

The paper makes an original distinction between conservative and social democracies, operationalizes this distinction theoretically and empirically, and shows that higher homicide rates are a phenomenon of conservative, not social, democracies.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 40 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1987

John E. Elliott and Joanna V. Scott

This article examines relationships between capitalism and democracy as perceived by contending perspectives within the liberal capitalist‐liberal democratic tradition(s). Bentham…

Abstract

This article examines relationships between capitalism and democracy as perceived by contending perspectives within the liberal capitalist‐liberal democratic tradition(s). Bentham and the Mills are taken as initiating both this tradition and the core elements of the debate within it. Pre‐Benthamite theories are first reviewed. Then, after discussion of Bentham and James Mill and of John Stuart Mill, Mill's late nineteenth and early twentieth century successors are examined. We then go on to consider hypotheses concerning the “exceptional” quality of relationships between capitalism and democracy in the United States. The penultimate section of the article adumbrates the main contours of mid‐twentieth century pluralist‐elitist theories. We conclude with a summary.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 14 no. 7/8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 July 2023

Hanna Carlsson, Fredrik Hanell and Lisa Engström

This article explores how public librarians understand and perform the democratic mission of public libraries in times of political and social turbulence and critically discusses…

1330

Abstract

Purpose

This article explores how public librarians understand and perform the democratic mission of public libraries in times of political and social turbulence and critically discusses the idea of public libraries as meeting places.

Design/methodology/approach

Five group interviews conducted with public librarians in southern Sweden are analyzed using a typology of four perspectives on democracy.

Findings

Two perspectives on democracy are commonly represented: social-liberal democracy, focusing on libraries as promoters of equality and deliberative democracy, focusing on the library as a place for rational deliberation. Two professional dilemmas in particular present challenges to librarians: how to handle undemocratic voices and how to be a library for all.

Originality/value

The analysis points to a need for rethinking the idea of the meeting place and offers a rare example of an empirically based argument for the benefits of plural agonistics for analyzing and strengthening the democratic role of public libraries.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 79 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2011

Mark J. Kaswan

“Democracy” can be defined in different ways, each of which offers a different way of looking at the relationship between democracy and governance. Mark Bevir’s (2010) Democratic…

Abstract

“Democracy” can be defined in different ways, each of which offers a different way of looking at the relationship between democracy and governance. Mark Bevir’s (2010) Democratic Governance offers a genealogical account of the development of this relationship from the late 19th century, focusing on the role of particular theories of social science, and raising serious questions about the degree to which contemporary practices conflict with democratic ideals. Bevir suggests a more radical, participatory approach as a way of resolving this conflict. Here I extend his genealogical account to include two thinkers, Jeremy Bentham and William Thompson, who laid much of the groundwork for modern social science, but with very different ideas about democracy. Extending the genealogy to Bentham and Thompson opens the way for a consideration of some aspects of the relationship between democracy and governance not included in Bevir’s account, and raises questions as to whether the different models of democracy can be integrated in the way he suggests.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1989

John E. Elliott and Barry S. Clark

The relationship between capitalism and democracy has beenquestioned recently by economists and political scientists. In view ofthis debate, a reappraisal is made of the writings…

2484

Abstract

The relationship between capitalism and democracy has been questioned recently by economists and political scientists. In view of this debate, a reappraisal is made of the writings of Richard Henry Tawney, the English economist and social philosopher. Central to his personal, intellectual and socio‐political project was the ideal of the creation of a genuinely democratic community. Capitalism; the principles of a democratic economy; institutions and processes; and the alternative perspectives on political economy are discussed.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

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