Some may recall, or have read about, those heady days when history allegedly ended, as the Berlin Wall collapsed. When the wall came down it seemed to may observers as if, with the end of communism – at least in Europe – the only threat to existing democratic political power was vanquished. Liberal, plural democracy, the open society and open organizations seemed to stretch as a vista into a fu...

This brief commentary discusses a recent paper by Speed and Mannion that explores "The Rise of post truth populism in liberal democracies: challenges for health policy." It considers their assertion that through meaningful democratic engagement in health policy, some of the risks brought about by an exclusionary populist politics can be mediated. With an overview of what participation means in ...

How can one justify the secession of a territory from a liberal-democratic state of the kind currently prevalent in North America and Western Europe? The question does not primarily concern a mutually agreed secession, such as that of Norway from the United Kingdoms of Norway and Sweden in 1905. If the government and legislature of the ‘parent state’ freely agree to a secession of a part of its...

The Second Reform Act ushered in the age of democratic politics in the United Kingdom by expanding the voting franchise and remedying legislative malapportionment. Analyzing parliamentary debates and divisions, we investigate why reform successfully passed the House of Commons in 1867. We consider why reform passed under a minority Conservative government yet failed under a majority Liberal gov...

It is often argued, both in popular and academic literature, that there are two Israels: one religious, benighted and anti-democratic and the other secular, Western and liberal. The fact that this account dominates public discourse in Israel tells us a great deal, but the account itself tells us little about Israeli society. Actually, the most telling fault line in Israeli society lies between ...

In the standard image of power and decision, no force is beld to be as important as The Great American Public. More than merely another check and balance, this public is thought to be the seat of all legitimate power. In official life as in popular folklore, it is held to be the very balance wheel of democratic power. In the end, all liberal theorists rest their notions of the power system upon...

Despite a growing interest in volunteering at national and international levels, few studies have explored comparative aspects of voluntary activities. To remedy this situation, this paper looks at the cultural differences in defining volunteering in relation to paid work on the one hand, and compulsory work on the other. Against this background, the paper explores cross-national patterns in th...

Despite being a developed and industrialized country with one of Europe‟s most booming economies, Germany ranks only 33rd in Gallup‟s World Poll on happiness, well below the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other first-world countries.1 This is particularly perplexing when one considers Germany‟s highly progressive taxation system and its residents‟ extraordinary access to public goo...

3 ABSTRACT A significant theoretical and empirical question underlying much of the literature on post-conflict state-building is what institutions offer the best prospect for peace and democracy in divided societies recovering from conflict. This debate is highly relevant for many developing countries. With much invested by third parties in post-conflict reconstruction and a mixed track record ...

What is the ideological direction of the judges whom President George W. Bush has appointed to the bench during his first term? Until now we have had no quantitative, empirical data to respond to this query. Critics of the President, often liberal Democrats, have suggested that Bush’s judicial appointees are ultra-conservatives who are hostile to the interests of racial minorities, women, the e...