Do the institutions and procedures of democracy deliver more social justice than authoritarian regimes or a hypothetical government of experts? They can, suggests one philosopher, by virtue of the impartiality they foster between citizens.
How can the ideal of deliberative democracy be put into practice? A collective work analyses the “deliberative turn” in theories of democracy and outlines pathways for how deliberation could be implemented in mass democracies where public opinion continues to be shaped by the media and political parties.
Great Britain only belatedly passed certain laws regulating the funding of political parties. With a small share of public money and varied sources of private funding, this system is accused of favouring large donors and extremism. These criticisms invite us to think of a fairer system.
In France as in the United States, transparency has become a core democratic requirement, and is the cornerstone of all the laws that claim to regulate the funding of political life. But this art of disclosing information often coexists with the ability to conceal it.
What if it were necessary, in politics, to allow ourselves to be guided by our affinities rather than trying to build a general and often too distant theoretical position? And what if proximity had more value than truth? This is Valérie Gérard’s hypothesis, in an open-minded and stimulating book.
The ways in which political parties are funded, in France and elsewhere, tend to reinforce the invisibility of certain groups and the political influence of the wealthiest people in society, in particular through right-wing parties. Are there, Julia Cagé wonders, more democratic ways of funding democracy?
While many see the United States as a land of freedom, Sean Wilentz questions the passion for American equality. He takes a new look at the country’s political life and the deep antagonism to political parties, periodically played out in the country.
For France the 1970s marked a shift in political attitudes and intellectual trends. Surveying political changes over four decades, a new collection of essays seeks to find the proper vocabulary to capture France’s contemporary situation. From this collective work, readers may conclude that fracture could in fact be the first step to building something new.
The Front National has been an established player in French political life for thirty years now. Nevertheless, behind the figure of its historical leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the development of the party itself has had its fair share of vicissitudes.
The current strikes and mass protests in Brazil are part of a global wave of struggles against traditional political institutions and the notion of leadership. This essay highlights the absence of any clear political project answering the demands coming from the streets.
Whereas the country was still considered 10 years ago as a model of post-communist transition, the political choices of Hungary are now disquieting to many. A group of Hungarian economists, sociologists, legal experts and former politicians analyzes the oligarchic system set up by Victor Orbán’s party.
