Democracy: Marx’s theory of history (ex. Organization of the mode of production determines superstructure; unequal distribution of labor) explains the lack of actual democracy in capitalist societies; however, Marx’s thought concerning progression (also a theory of history) states that capitalist societies would eventually progress to a democratic state after a revolution of the proletariat. Ma...

There are competing conceptions of democracy. In particular, the terms “democracy” and “democratic” have been defined by political philosophers and political scientists in many different ways. Which one is right? How should one choose among the proposed definitions? A democracy is perhaps always a State, but the adjective “democratic” is often applied to other entities as well; for example, org...

Political scientists are not generally accustomed to treating Max Weber’s unusual account of democracy—plebiscitary leader democracy—as a genuine democratic theory. The typical objection is that Weber’s account of democracy in terms of the generation of charismatic leadership is not really a democratic theory at all, because it contains no positive account of popular power: specifically, that i...

We construct a model of revolution and transition to democracy under individualistic and collectivist cultures. The main result is that, despite facing potentially larger collective action problems, countries with an individualistic culture are more likely to end up adopting democracy earlier than countries with a collectivist culture. Our empirical analysis suggests a strong and robust associa...

background & aim: despite the advantages of natural childbirth and complications associated with cesarean section, rate of cesarean delivery has increased dramatically in recent years. therefore, appropriate training is essential to reducing this trend. this study aimed to evaluate the effects of training about the benefits of natural childbirth on the attitude and intention to select the mode ...

Democracy as a political form of social organization offers humanity its best prospect for freedom and peace. Today, it faces deliberate threats from totalitarian movements that rely on terrorist tactics. Democracy also faces threats from its own leaders because of the consequential nature of their judgment and decision making. This article examines how threats to democracy are perceived and ma...

In this paper we revisit the relationship between democracy, redistribution, and inequality. We first explain the theoretical reasons why democracy is expected to increase redistribution and reduce inequality, and why this expectation may fail to be realized when democracy is captured by the richer segments of the population; when it caters to the preferences of the middle class; or when it ope...

In this essay, we outline a cognitive approach to democracy. Specifically, we argue that democracy has unique benefits as a form of collective problem solving in that it potentially allows people with highly diverse perspectives to come together in order collectively to solve problems. Democracy can do this better than either markets and hierarchies, because it brings these diverse perceptions ...

Deliberative democracy by the people themselves is a distinctive form of democratic practice. It can be distinguished from deliberative democracy practiced by elites or representatives as well as from other forms of democracy that do not emphasize deliberation. In this article I explore ways this kind of democracy can be realized and then inserted into our current democratic institutions. The i...