This paper's central concern is with signs of fascism in recent political developments in a number of European countries and the United States. It takes the reader back to earlier periods in European and American history when this same anguished question was raised. Thus a longer intellectual history of concerns about the viability of democratic systems is drawn to guide us in our current polit...

Introduction Considering "all the options" "Listening to everyone" and considering "all the feedback" Designing out options and feedback Learnings from democratic voting and polling systems Misleading feedback solicitation: implications for democracy and consensual strategies Implications for e-democracy and crowdsourcing Forms of cognitive protectionism in the light of trade protectionism Fram...

This paper uses elements of the Paideia concept to suggest guidelines for contemporary hospital reform, particularly the reorganization of work processes based on the concepts of extended general practice and democratic management. Instead of production-line work processes, an alternative way of structuring patient care is proposed, newly crafted with professional autonomy and clearly defined c...

The past decade has seen intensified calls for the reform of democratic political institutions in Canada, on the grounds that there is a “democracy deficit” at the level of federal politics. Some commentators have even begun to describe the country as a “banana republic,” or a “friendly dictatorship.” Yet any attempt to assess the state of democracy in Canada must naturally presuppose some theo...