COMMENTS ARE WELCOME. Powers behind control: An essay on democracy Peter L. Hupe Department of Public Administration Erasmus University Rotterdam hupe@fsw.eur.nl To be presented at the Annual Work Conference of the Netherlands Institute of Government‚ held at Erasmus University Rotterdam‚ October 29‚ 2004 Workshop 3: Institutional Rearrangement of the Public Domain 1 Abstract In contemporary Western democracies the role of government is not what it used to be. In the public
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compatible with democracy. Seemed as a simple question‚ such an inquiry requires an in-depth look at the matter at hand. When one asks whether Islam is compatible with democracy‚ one needs to analyze the definition of democracy. According to Webster’s Dictionary‚ democracy is “a form of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or their elected agents under a free electoral system.” Such is the definition that mainly pertains to western democracy and western
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Although the people of Athens clearly knew and recognized that they lived in a democracy‚ Pericles goes out of his way to remind them of this as a means of praising and extolling the uniqueness of Athens and its system of government. It also supports the argument that Athens has a way of life that is superior to other poli within Greece‚ and its people must therefore fight for it and the values it upholds as a democracy. In fact‚ one way of looking at Pericles’ ancestor reference in the previous section
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Jeffersonian Democracy vs. Jacksonian Democracy Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were both strong advocates of a democratic government in America‚ and both claimed to be for the “common man”. They did‚ however‚ have their differences on how they believed a democracy should be run in their respective eras. Even though they were both wealthy farmers‚ Jefferson appealed more to the upper class‚ while Jackson appealed more to the lower class. Thomas Jefferson had a strict interpretation of the
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The Evolution of Democracy “I think democracy is the best form of government‚” says Alan. In reply Beth says‚ “You must be crazy to believe that the so-called democratic government in this country is the best we can have! Why I don’t even think it’s much of a democracy!” While Alan is speaking about the ideal of a democracy‚ Beth speaks of democracy as a form of government (pg 26). The ideals of democracy and the actuality of democracy as a form of government are at opposite ends of the spectrum
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Introduction The birth of democracy in Sparta and Athens was a long‚ painful journey‚ created by wars‚ cruel leaders‚ and heroic figures. Although many of democracy’s ideas came from Athenian government‚ it was very different from the democracy in the United States‚ for example. In general‚ wealthy aristocrats had the most power. But without the ideas that this time period created‚ who knows where we would be now. In this paper‚ I’m going to outline how democracy came to be in early Athenian and
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What issue of local‚ national‚ or international significance concerns you? Why? “No substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press.”- Amartya Sen This quote expresses my main concern on international level. There are so many countries who are currently suffering due to lack of freedom. We see it in the Middle East‚ especially now‚ we also see it in a lot of African countries. In any country who is not democratic‚ there seems to be an
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Shashi Tharoor‚ "Are Human Rights Universal?" World Policy Journal‚ Vol. XVI‚ No. 4 (Winter 1999/2000) The growing consensus in the West that human rights are universal has been fiercely opposed by critics in other parts of the world. At the very least‚ the idea may well pose as many questions as it answers. Beyond the more general‚ philosophical question of whether anything in our pluri-cultural‚ multipolar world is truly universal‚ the issue of whether human rights is an essentially Western
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Social Democracy Essay Essay title: Analyse the influence of social democracy or conservatism on the nature of welfare state(s) development during the 20th century. Assess its current influence on welfare discourse with reference to relevant examples. Social Policy Essay – Social Democracy Social Democracy emerged from socialism in the 19th century; its aim was to combat individualism and later on critique capitalism. Social democrats are sometimes compared to liberalists as they emphasise individual
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Democracy is the political system where all governmental power is dispersed among the people. What the people want‚ is what the people get. Everyone has as much of an equal say as the next person; whether that person is more wealthy‚ more influential‚ or more well liked. It was created in opposition to many forms of government where the main power is held solely by one‚ or a few individuals‚ such as an oligarchy or a dictatorship. There are many modified forms of democracy that exist‚ but the main
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