31 August 2011

Article: Why libertarians apologize for autocracy

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Article: Why libertarians apologize for autocracy

Michael Lind of the radical-centrist New America Foundation is the author of an article, "Why libertarians apologize for autocracy", published on 30 August 2011 in the US online magazine, "Salon".

Excerpt: "The history of democratic nation-states since the 19th century proves that Macaulay, and von Mises, and Hayek, as well as lesser lights like Patri Friedman, have been right to argue that democracy is incompatible with libertarianism. ... Given the power to vote, most populations will not only vote for some system of government-backed social insurance, but also for all sorts of interventions in individual behavior that libertarians object to ... Unfortunately for libertarians who, like Hayek, prefer libertarian dictatorships to welfare-state democracies, even modern authoritarians reject the small-government creed."

Article: Senior Official in Egyptian Islamic Jihad: If We Come to Power, We will Launch a Campaign of Islamic Conquests to Instate Shari'a Worldwide

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Article: Senior Official in Egyptian Islamic Jihad: If We Come to Power, We will Launch a Campaign of Islamic Conquests to Instate Shari'a Worldwide: "The Christian is Free to Worship His God in His Church, but if the Christians Make Problems for the Muslims, I Will Exterminate Them"

On 29 August 2011, the US-Israeli Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) published on its website the English translation of excerpts from an interview with Sheikh 'Adel Shehato, "a senior official in Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ)", which was printed in Arabic in the Egyptian newspaper, "Roz Al-Yousef", on 13 August 2011. This Special Dispatch bears the usual cumbersome title, "Senior Official in Egyptian Islamic Jihad: If We Come to Power, We will Launch a Campaign of Islamic Conquests to Instate Shari'a Worldwide: 'The Christian is Free to Worship His God in His Church, but if the Christians Make Problems for the Muslims, I Will Exterminate Them'".

Excerpt: "As Muslims, we must believe that the Koran is our constitution, and that it is [therefore] impossible for us to institute a Western democratic regime. I oppose democracy because it is not the faith of the Muslims, but the faith of the Jews and Christians. ... According to Islam, it is forbidden for people to rule and to legislate laws, as Allah alone is ruler. ... We said that 'the people wants to implement the shari'a ' ... based on [our] reading of the situation on the ground. [At the same time,] we did not make demands for the people's sake in the people's name, but demanded the rule of Allah. And once Allah's law is instated, the role of the people will end and Allah will reign supreme."

Article: What Anna Hazare's new plans mean for democracy

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Article: What Anna Hazare's new plans mean for democracy

More on Anna Hazare's anti-democratic background in a column by Yogi Sikand (National Law School of India University), published on 29 August 2011 on the website of the Indian news portal Rediff under the title, "What Anna Hazare's new plans mean for democracy".

Excerpts: "Anna Hazare has ... now announced that his struggle for the Jan Lokpal was just a precursor to more campaigns which he soon plans to launch, including to change the country's electoral laws and education system. ... [I]n most of the villages under Anna Hazare-inspired programmes, 'elections are not welcomed'. ... Hazare defends this on the grounds that elections 'bring party politics and divide the people'. ... The denigration of electoral democracy, and, in its place, the glorification of the benevolent leader as divinely-inspired hero ... are central to Anna Hazare's political project".

Article: India's assault on democracy

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Article: India's assault on democracy

There has been endless debate in India over what the till-death hunger strike and political demands of Anna Hazare mean for democracy in the country. Here's a piece from the blog of the British left-of-centre magazine, "New Statesman", written by Indian freelance journalist Kapil Komireddi on 29 August 2011, calling the recent events "India's assault on democracy".

Excerpt: "Unanswerable to parliament, above the constitution, beyond the traditional checks and balances of democracy, and its incorruptibility apparently secure because its functionaries would be drawn primarily from a pool of distinguished prizewinners, the Jan Lokpal [citizens' ombudsman] is a crystallisation of the emergent Indian middle class's yearning for a benign dictatorship."

Book: Criticism of Democratic Practice: A Study in the History of Ideas (in German)

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Book: Criticism of Democratic Practice: A Study in the History of Ideas (in German)

Just published: Dirk Jörke (University of Greifswald), "Kritik demokratischer Praxis: Eine ideengeschichtliche Studie" ("Criticism of Democratic Practice: A Study in the History of Ideas"; my translation), a monograph released by Nomos in August 2011.

Quote (translated by me): "The present study shows how authors central to the history of ideas - including Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Burke, the authors of the Federalist Papers, Sieyes, Tocqueville and Weber - described and criticized democratic practices such as elections, public meetings and consultation processes. ... As a result it becomes clear that our current understanding of democracy has been shaped significantly by critics of democratic practice".

Book: Muslims in Modern Turkey: Kemalism, Modernism and the Revolt of the Islamic Instellectuals

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Book: Muslims in Modern Turkey: Kemalism, Modernism and the Revolt of the Islamic Instellectuals

On anti-democratic thought in contemporary Turkey: Sena Karasipahi (Yeditepe University), "Muslims in Modern Turkey: Kemalism, Modernism and the Revolt of the Islamic Instellectuals" (I.B. Tauris, January 2009).

Quote: "Modern Turkey is the site of a powerful Islamic revival, with a strong intellectual elite dedicated to the overthrow of secular modernism. ... 'Muslims in Modern Turkey' is the first book to analyse this phenomenon, tracing the evolution of Muslim intellectual thought from the 1980s to the present day. It focuses on six leading Muslim thinkers ... who ... act as public intellectuals, ... arguing not for the compatibility of Islam and European values but the fundamental superiority of Islam over secular democracy."

Book: Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government

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Book: Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government

Adam Przeworski (New York University) is the author of "Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government" (Cambridge University Press, August 2010).

Quote: "[I]f we judge contemporary democracies by the ideals of self-government, equality and liberty, we find that democracy is not what it was dreamt to be. This book addresses central issues in democratic theory by analyzing the sources of widespread dissatisfaction with democracies around the world. ... The conclusion is that although some of this dissatisfaction has good reasons, some is based on an erroneous understanding of how democracy functions."

Sorry, our mistake.

Article: "Repressive Tolerance": Herbert Marcuse's Exercise in Social Epistomology

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Article: "Repressive Tolerance": Herbert Marcuse's Exercise in Social Epistomology

May be of interest to some: Rodney Fopp (University of South Australia), "'Repressive Tolerance': Herbert Marcuse's Exercise in Social Epistomology" ("Social Epistomology", 24 [2], May 2010: pp. 105-22).

Quote: "When Herbert Marcuse's essay entitled 'Repressive tolerance' was published in the mid‐1960s it was trenchantly criticised because it was anti‐democratic and defied the academic canon of value neutrality. Yet his argument is attracting renewed interest in the 21st century, particularly when, post 9/11, the thresholds or limits of tolerance are being contested."

Article: Radical Muslim Politics from Comparative Perspective: Theological Deprivation as the Major Source of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Influence

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Article: Radical Muslim Politics from Comparative Perspective: Theological Deprivation as the Major Source of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Influence

Another recent article bridging the research agendas on political theology and anti-democracy: Ihsan Yilmaz (Fatih University), "Radical Muslim Politics from Comparative Perspective: Theological Deprivation as the Major Source of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Influence" ("Uluslararası Hukuk ve Politika: Review of International Law and Politics", 6 [23], 2010: pp. 99-117).

Quote: "This study is a comparative qualitative analysis of radical Muslim politics. It focuses on the transnational anti-systemic and anti-democracy Hizb ut-Tahrir (hereinafter referred to as HT) that aims to establish a global Muslim state called Caliphate by non-violence means. ... [O]ur analysis of three countries (Britain, Uzbekistan and Egypt) ... suggests that theological deprivation is the major factor that paves the way for radicalization of the Muslim youth when socio-economic and political deprivations already exist."

The link provided is to the full text version.

Article: Proceduralism and Popular Threats to Democracy

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Article: Proceduralism and Popular Threats to Democracy

Likely of interest to some, although I can't access the article: Alexander S. Kirshner (NYU, Abu Dhabi), "Proceduralism and Popular Threats to Democracy" ("Journal of Political Philosophy", 18 [4], December 2010: pp. 405-24).

Excerpt: "When antidemocratic groups immobilize or capture democratic institutions, they pose a distinctive threat to democracies. ... The pure procedural theories of democracy prevalent during the Weimar era seemed to offer no support for the defense of the republic. The apparent impotence of procedural democracy led numerous scholars and political actors to conclude that purely procedural principles should not guide the institutional development of modern representative regimes".

No abstract provided.

Article: I hate democracy

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Article: I hate democracy

A "view from the global South", and one of those blunt diatribes against democracy that keep appearing in African newspapers from time to time and get very little attention in other parts of the world: The op-ed, "I hate democracy", by Wonder Guchu, a Zimbabwean journalist, poet, and writer of short stories, published in the Namibia-based newspaper, "The Southern Times", on 15 August 2011.

Excerpt: "This democracy speaks the language of anger and hatred. It seeks to isolate and shame all those who do not agree in principle with whatever desires or wishes such democracy wants. It is 'God' in itself. Everything must rally around it. Stop and listen only to its voice. Every person must kneel and crawl only to this democracy. And many voices are drowned. Many people sit back in fear of being called names. Debate is stifled because once you say what you think and it's different from what democracy wants, then you are an 'operative' or an 'apologist'. Whatever view you have does not mean anything as long as it is different from what democracy dictates."

Article: History of US public administration in the Progressive era: Efficient government by and for whom?

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Article: History of US public administration in the Progressive era: Efficient government by and for whom?

Anti-democratic thought in an historical perspective: Mordecai Lee (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), "History of US public administration in the Progressive era: Efficient government by and for whom?" ("Journal of Management History", 17 [1], 2011: pp. 88-101).

Quote: "Histories of American public administration during the Progressive era (1890-1920) tend to highlight the positive contributions of its major founders, skimming lightly over nativist, anti-democratic and racial writings. The purpose of this paper is to broaden the given narrative by setting the record straight regarding the latter writings of three major figures: Frederick Cleveland, Frank Goodnow and W.F. Willoughby. ... The three major public administration figures on President Taft's Commission on Economy and Efficiency (1910-1913) ... deemed that only limited populations were qualified to govern a democracy and provide efficient public administration to the masses."

Article: Jihad Against Infidels and Democracy: A Frame Analysis of Jihadist Ideology and Jurisprudence for Martyrdom and Violent Jihad

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Article: Jihad Against Infidels and Democracy: A Frame Analysis of Jihadist Ideology and Jurisprudence for Martyrdom and Violent Jihad

An article on the more obvious enemies of democracy (and the new leader of al-Qaeda): Randall G. Rogan (Wake Forest University), "Jihad Against Infidels and Democracy: A Frame Analysis of Jihadist Ideology and Jurisprudence for Martyrdom and Violent Jihad" ("Communication Monographs", 77 [3], September 2010: pp. 393-413).

Quote: "Of significant noteworthiness is the visible absence of scholarly research investigating the writings, pronouncements, or communiqués of the proponents of jihadism. This study sought to address this gap by exploring two written documents with authorship attributed to Ayman al-Zawahiri that focused on Islam's relationship with democracy and the jurisprudence for jihad. ... The findings indicate that Zawahiri tended to frame democracy as an apostate religion that competes with Islam and therefore, must be destroyed".

Book: The Civic Foundations of Fascism in Europe: Italy, Spain, and Romania, 1870-1945

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Book: The Civic Foundations of Fascism in Europe: Italy, Spain, and Romania, 1870-1945

Dylan Riley (Berkeley) is the author of "The Civic Foundations of Fascism in Europe: Italy, Spain, and Romania, 1870-1945" (Johns Hopkins University Press, January 2010).

Quote: "From the late nineteenth century to World War I, voluntary associations exploded across Europe, especially among rural non-elites. But the development of this 'civil society' did not produce liberal democracy in Italy, Spain, and Romania. Instead, Riley finds that it undermined the nascent liberal regimes in these countries and was a central cause of the rise of fascism. ... Riley credibly challenges the notion that a strong civil society necessarily leads to the development of liberal democracy."

Article: Social Capital Worldwide: Potential for Democratization or Stabilizer of Authoritarian Rule?

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Article: Social Capital Worldwide: Potential for Democratization or Stabilizer of Authoritarian Rule?

Going to make two posts today introducing resources on how civic associations may promote anti-democracy. My earlier post on the subject can be found here: http://anti-democracy-agenda.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-civic-associations-promote-anti.html

First I came across a recent article by Sigrid Rossteutscher (Goethe University Frankfurt), "Social Capital Worldwide: Potential for Democratization or Stabilizer of Authoritarian Rule?" ("American Behavioral Scientist", 53 [5], January 2010: pp. 737-57).

Quote: "The notion of social capital has gained enthusiastic support from nongovernmental organizations, intergovernmental confederations, and supranational bodies such as the European Union, the World Bank, and the United Nations. They all believe that social capital might be a potent aid for democratization, for repairing defective democracies, and for undermining authoritarian regimes. ... This article examines whether social capital has such positive effects in countries where democracy is not yet established. ... The results are clear: Social capital functions as a stabilizer of authoritarian rule. Its effects are mainly negative. ... Social participation and trust, specifically, increase the stability of nondemocratic leadership by generating popular support, by suppressing regime-threatening forms of protest activity, and by nourishing undemocratic ideals of governance."

The article was published in a special issue of the journal on the "dark side" of social capital.

Book: Constitutional Theocracy

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Book: Constitutional Theocracy

Here is a book that shows why it makes sense that I blog about political theology and anti-democracy in the same place now: Ran Hirschl (University of Toronto), "Constitutional Theocracy" (Cambridge University Press, November 2010).

Quote: "At the intersection of two sweeping global trends - the rise of popular support for principles of theocratic governance and the spread of constitutionalism and judicial review - a new legal order has emerged: constitutional theocracy. ... In this book, Ran Hirschl undertakes a rigorous comparative analysis of religion-and-state jurisprudence from dozens of countries worldwide to explore the evolving role of constitutional law and courts in a non-secularist world."

Article: Barry Hindess and the Critique of Democracy

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Article: Barry Hindess and the Critique of Democracy

An article on a critic of democracy I had, admittedly, never heard of: Baogang He (Deakin University), "Barry Hindess and the Critique of Democracy" ("Alternatives: Global, Local, Political", 36 [1], February 2011: pp. 17-24).

Quote: "In the wake of the collapse of the Communist regime in the Soviet Union, liberal democracy was triumphantly celebrated as the 'end of history.' Against this backdrop, Hindess wrote a number of critical essays launching his intellectual critique of liberal democracy. His approach was primarily conceptual, highlighting the problems and weaknesses of the conceptualization of democracy and democratization."

Hindess is now Adjunct Professor at the Australian National University.

The full text of the article is available at this link: http://www.chinesedemocratization.com/Baogang-English%20articles/2010-11/HindessOnDemocracy.pdf

Report: Democracy Index 2010: Democracy in retreat

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Report: Democracy Index 2010: Democracy in retreat

Published already in December 2010, but still worth a note, is the Economist Intelligence Unit's "Democracy Index 2010", titled "Democracy in retreat".

Excerpt: "The dominant pattern in all regions over the past two years has been backsliding on previously attained progress in democratisation. The global financial crisis that started in 2008 accentuated some existing negative trends in political development."

It's always interesting to see just how much more realistic reports of this kind are in their assessment of democratic failure than most academics are willing to be (i.e. France was here relegated from a "full democracy" to a "flawed democracy"). In academia, we observe a frequent urge to defend every last aspect of democracy, often at the expense of facts.

The full text is available at the link.

Article: Our Country Right or Wrong: A Pragmatic Response to Anti-Democratic Cultural Nationalism in China

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Article: Our Country Right or Wrong: A Pragmatic Response to Anti-Democratic Cultural Nationalism in China

Sor-hoon Tan (National University of Singapore) wrote the article, "Our Country Right or Wrong: A Pragmatic Response to Anti-Democratic Cultural Nationalism in China" ("Contemporary Pragmatism", 7 [2], December 2010: pp. 45-69).

Quote: "This essay will examine anti-democratic tendencies in the rising cultural nationalism in China and, through a philosophical exploration of John Dewey's views about tradition, it will suggest how Chinese pragmatists today might defend democracy against attacks by cultural nationalists who reject the democratic path as alien and therefore wrong for China."

Book: Islamism and Democracy in Indonesia: Piety and Pragmatism / Article: Manufacturing the 'Ontological Enemy'

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Book: Islamism and Democracy in Indonesia: Piety and Pragmatism / Article: Manufacturing the 'Ontological Enemy': Socio-Political Construction of anti-Democracy Discourses among HTI Activists in Post-New Order Indonesia

Masdar Hilmy (State Institute for Islamic Studies [IANA] Sunan Ampel Surabaya) is the author of a book, "Islamism and Democracy in Indonesia: Piety and Pragmatism" (ISEAS, April 2010).

Quote: "Most scholarly works conducted within the period of post-New Order Indonesia have underlined the fact that Indonesian Islamists reject the notion of democracy; no adequate explanation nonetheless has been attempted thus far as to how and to what extent democracy is being rejected. This book is dedicated to filling the gap by examining the complex reality behind the Islamists rejection of democracy. It focuses its analysis on two streams of Islamism: the two Islamist groups that seek extra-parliamentary means to achieve their goals, that is, MMI and HTI, and the PKS Islamists who choose the existing political party system as a means of their power struggle."

The book is available from Amazon and other online bookstores.

Presumably the book incorporates much of Helmy's earlier article, "Manufacturing the 'Ontological Enemy': Socio-Political Construction of anti-Democracy Discourses among HTI Activists in Post-New Order Indonesia", published in the "Journal of Indonesian Islam" (3 [2], December 2009: pp. 341-69).

Abstract: "The Indonesian Islamists' rejection of democracy, as this paper will demonstrate, is not monolithic; it is complex and multifaceted that is accompanied by a long process of argument building. This paper focuses its scope of analysis on Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a Middle Eastern-derived 'transnational' Islamist movement that seeks to unite all Muslim nations all over the world under a Caliphate system. This paper argues that, in developing counter-discourses on democracy, the HTI activists employ both theological approach [sic] and modern socio-political narratives. It is also argued that the concept of enemy constructed by the HTI activists serves only as an ontological venture, and not existential one, for the purpose of self-fulfilling prophecy [sic]. The process of construction of the enemy follows the mode of binary opposition between the 'authentic self' and the 'corrupted other.' This paper borrows much of its theoretical framework from Saphiro, Foucault, Berger and Luckmann, and still many others."

Although the journal is supposed to be open access, I can't find a full version of the article, and the link to the abstract seems broken. The relevant journal issue's table of contents should be accessible from this link: http://ejournal.sunan-ampel.ac.id/index.php/JIIS/issue/view/77

Chapters: Beyond Conspiracy Theory: Patterns of High Crime in American Government / Building What?: How State Crimes Against Democracy (SADCs) Can Be

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Chapters: Beyond Conspiracy Theory: Patterns of High Crime in American Government / Building What?: How State Crimes Against Democracy (SADCs) Can Be Hidden in Plain Sight

In February 2010, the journal "American Behavioral Scientist" ran a special issue on the fledgling field of research into "state crimes against democracy": http://anti-democracy-agenda.blogspot.com/search/label/conspiracy%20theories

One of the articles, "Beyond Conspiracy Theory: Patterns of High Crime in American Government" by Lance deHaven-Smith (Florida State University), has since been republished as a chapter in the book "Censored 2011: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2009-10" (Seven Stories Press, October 2010; pp. 231-66).

In addition, the book includes a chapter by David Ray Griffin (Claremont School of Theology) titled "Building What?: How State Crimes Against Democracy (SADCs) Can Be Hidden in Plain Sight" (pp. 267-91).

Panel: Leader Democracy, Post-democracy, Inverted Totalitarianism: Democratic Theory beyond Crisis Diagnoses and Reform Optimism

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Panel: Leader Democracy, Post-democracy, Inverted Totalitarianism: Democratic Theory beyond Crisis Diagnoses and Reform Optimism

If you should happen to attend the General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) in Reykjavik later this month and are interested in the concept of "post-democracy", a panel on "Leader Democracy, Post-democracy, Inverted Totalitarianism: Democratic Theory beyond Crisis Diagnoses and Reform Optimism" might be of interest to you.

Click on "Papers: 7 - View" (bottom right) to see abstracts of all papers (both presented orally and tabled) in the panel.

Research: Centro di studi e iniziativa per la riforma dello Stato

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Research: Centro di studi e iniziativa per la riforma dello Stato

Last year, I made a post on an extremely insightful text by the influential Italian left-wing philosopher Mario Tronti, "Towards a Critique of Political Democracy": http://anti-democracy-agenda.blogspot.com/2010/01/article-towards-critique-of-political.html

Today, I found out that the research centre Tronti is heading these days, the Centro di studi e iniziativa per la riforma dello Stato (CRS) in Rome, also takes an interest in political theology and has organized events in that area in the recent past.

Unfortunately, I've been told Tronti does not speak English. But if you speak Italian and seek collaboration, why not check it out?

Book: The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom

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Book: The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom

Journalist and scholar Evgeny Morozov (Stanford) wrote "The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom", published by PublicAffairs in January 2011.

According to the publisher, it is Morozov's contention that "authoritarian governments are effectively using the Internet to suppress free speech, hone their surveillance techniques, disseminate cutting-edge propaganda, and pacify their populations with digital entertainment. ... [B]y falling for the supposedly democratizing nature of the Internet, Western do-gooders may have missed how it also entrenches dictators, threatens dissidents, and makes it harder - not easier - to promote democracy. ... Morozov shows why ... 'Internet freedom' might have disastrous implications for the future of democracy as a whole."

Notwithstanding the Arab Spring ...

Article: When Democracies Fail

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Article: When Democracies Fail

Mark Chou (University of Melbourne) just published an article titled "When Democracies Fail" ("Political Studies Review", 9 [3], September 2011: pp. 344-56) that draws on my own edited volume on "Anti-Democratic Thought" (Imprint Academic, 2008).

Abstract: "Despite democracy's universal appeal, democracies have frequently suffered from debilitating crises, often of their own making. Sometimes, they have even self-destructed. Why is this the case and how might we respond to democracies that fail? In this article, I review five recent works which provide new answers as well as new provocations to these questions.

"In particular, I argue that there are three interrelated categories of reasons and responses prevalent in the literature on democratic failure. The first category intimates that democracies fail for reasons that have to do with unresolved institutional, socio-economic or political problems and that, as such, the best response is to seek to remove these impediments to democratic consolidation.

"The second category of literature, however, argues that there are certain conditions and characteristics intrinsic to democracy that make it prone to fail and self-destruct. Democracies that seek to guard against this possibility are those that are paradoxically the least democratic.

"This leads to the third category: studies that acknowledge democracy's inherent weaknesses and seek to overcome them through a call for anti-democratic alternatives. Foregrounding these categories is, I argue, crucial not only for improving our understanding of how and why democracies decline and then perish. It also provides us with a better glimpse into the very nature of democracy itself."

I had no access to the full text of the article yet.

CONF: Democracy on Trial: Religion, Civil Society, and Democratic Theory

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CONF: Democracy on Trial: Religion, Civil Society, and Democratic Theory

The University of Chicago's Divinity School is organizing a conference, "Democracy on Trial: Religion, Civil Society, and Democratic Theory", based on a theme drawn from the 1993 book of the same title by its faculty member, Jean Bethke Elshtain. The conference will take place on 13-14 October 2011.

Quote: "What is the state of our democracy? Is democracy good for the world? How does religion support or hinder democratic practice? Throughout her career, Jean Bethke Elshtain has ... identified the forces that oppose democracy: identity politics, utopianism, and an elitism that denies ordinary people the prerogatives of citizenship. ... [S]enior scholars, public intellectuals, and public figures ... will present new work on the topics under consideration ... [T]he conference is designed to create opportunities for new ideas to emerge".

Confirmed participants include Elshtain, Francis Fukuyama, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and Carl Gershman.

Free and open to the public. Advance registration strongly recommended.

Article: Threat from the antidemocrats

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Article: Threat from the antidemocrats

Hugh Cortazzi, scholar and former British ambassador to Japan, worries in an op-ed in "The Japan Times" of 9 August 2011 about a perceived "Threat from the antidemocrats".

Excerpts: "The recent massacre perpetrated by a lone gunman in Norway has made leaders in democratic countries review the threat to their societies from extremist anti-democratic elements. ... The terms left and right are no longer valid in any analysis of the forces which threaten our democracy. Those on the extreme left and those on the extreme right are often indistinguishable. Many disgruntled elements have little or no ideology. ... There are neo-Fascist, neo-Nazi and other anti-democratic parties in almost all European countries."

Too short to be of much substance.

Book: Nobilitas: A Study of European Aristocratic Philosophy from Ancient Greece to the Early Twentieth Century

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Book: Nobilitas: A Study of European Aristocratic Philosophy from Ancient Greece to the Early Twentieth Century

I just chanced upon this book by Alexander Jacob, apparently an Indian-born independent right-wing(?) scholar with a PhD from Pennsylvania State University: "Nobilitas: A Study of European Aristocratic Philosophy from Ancient Greece to the Early Twentieth Century" (University Press of America, 2000).

Quote: "Nobilitas ... aims at providing an alternative to the liberal democratic norms, which are propagated today as the only viable socio-political system for the world community. Jacob reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the social and cultural development of European civilization has, for twenty-five centuries, been based not on democratic or communist notions but, rather on aristocratic and nationalist notions. ... As such, the study includes a survey of the philosophical bases of racism and anti-Semitism."

With an appendix titled "The Spiritual Defects of Democracy".

(Update 31 August 2011: While transferring my Google+ posts for archiving purposes to my earlier blog, I noticed that the link I provided was for some reason cut short in Google+. Here's the full link: http://www.univpress.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0761818871)

Article: Our debased democracies

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Article: Our debased democracies

In the British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph", senior conservative(!) journalist Charles Moore wrote on 22 July:

"What with the the phone-hacking scandal, the eurozone crisis and the US economic woes, the greedy few have left people disillusioned with our debased democracies. [...]

"Democratic politics, which purports to enrich the many, is actually in the pocket of those bankers, media barons and other moguls who run and own everything. [...]

"[P]eople in general have lost faith in the free-market, Western, democratic order. They have not yet, thank God, transferred their faith, as they did in the 1930s, to totalitarianism. They merely feel gloomy and suspicious. [...]

"The greatest capitalist country in history is now dependent on other people’s capital to survive. In such circumstances, Western democracy starts to feel like a threatened luxury. We can wave banners about 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', but they tend to say, in smaller print, 'Made in China'."

16 August 2011

CFP: Anti-Democracy Agenda Symposium 2011

Please circulate widely!

CALL FOR PAPERS

Anti-Democracy Agenda Symposium 2011

Organized by: Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS)

Mode: Online by Google+ video conference

Date: 15-16 November 2011

The "Anti-Democracy Agenda" is the premier resource on the net for the study of anti-democratic thought and practice across the boundaries of various traditions and academic disciplines. First introduced by the Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS) as a blog in January 2010, it has since been reconstituted as a circle (with associated public posts, much like a blog) on the new social network Google+. An archive of the blog is to be found here: http://anti-democracy-agenda.blogspot.com

For the new circle, see here:
https://plus.google.com/109507108125539761871/posts

The Anti-Democracy Agenda Symposium 2011 will be the third event we organize to advance the research agenda on anti-democratic thought and practice as well as old and new criticisms of democracy. It will build up on a highly successful workshop on anti-democratic thought SCIS organized at the Annual Conference Workshops in Political Theory in Manchester, England, in September 2007, as well as the Anti-Democracy Agenda Symposium 2010, taking place at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich in November last year. Both events drew participants from the world over. The Manchester workshop led to the publication of an edited volume on "Anti-Democratic Thought" (Imprint Academic, 2008).

The Anti-Democracy Agenda Symposium 2011 is set to be equally international and interdisciplinary in scope. We invite affiliated academics, independent scholars, and doctoral students and candidates from a wide range of disciplines, such as Philosophy, Political Theory, Political Science, International Relations, Development Studies, Security Studies, Law, Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Literature, History, Classics, Theology, Religious Studies, Education, and so on. Papers may not only cover any and all aspects of criticisms of democracy and anti-democratic thought and practice, from perspectives including anarchism, libertarianism, conservatism, communism, Islamism, the extreme right, and others, but also related concepts such as authoritarianism, dictatorship, military rule, monarchy, chieftaincy, mixed constitution, the backlash against democracy promotion, terrorism, post-democracy, voter apathy, voter ignorance, etc. Have a look at the blog to see what might be of interest and falls within our remit. Papers may be theoretical and/or empirical in nature. Work in progress is welcome too.

This symposium may be the first academic conference to make use of the “Hangouts” video conference facility that is an integral part of Google+. Due to technical restrictions, the number of participants in the Anti-Democracy Agenda Symposium 2011 is limited to 10. All accepted participants will be required to create a profile on Google+ in order to be able to participate in the event. While we encourage the participation of scholars from developing countries, please only apply if you have access to a stable Internet connection. As in our previous physical events, over the course of two days, each presenter will have 60 minutes to present his or her paper and discuss it with all others. Due to the small size of the symposium, all participants are expected to attend both days fully.

As with all SCIS events, no fees will be charged from participants, and no funding is available to cover participants' expenses (if any). We will be glad to issue letters of acceptance on request to assist participants in securing leave from work. Detailed instructions on how to set up a Google+ profile and join the video conference will be provided to confirmed participants.

Please send your proposal to: erichkofmel@gmail.com

Deadline: 15 October 2011

Later submissions may still be accepted, but early submission is strongly advised and proposals may be accepted as they come in.

Cordially,

Erich Kofmel
Managing Director / Research Professor of Political Theory
Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS)
https://plus.google.com/109507108125539761871
E-mail: erichkofmel@gmail.com

Postal address:
Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society
1200 Geneva
Switzerland

SCIS is an international association under Swiss law.
Founded 2006 at the University of Sussex.