Hard Questions for Democracy

The recent financial and economic crisis has raised fundamental questions about how democracy has evolved. Bringing together some of the most prominent social scientists from around the globe, this book addresses these questions.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

The recent financial and economic crisis has forced governments and people from around the globe to ask some hard questions about how democracy has evolved. Some of these are old questions; others are new. Is democracy really the most desirable form of government? How democratic is policy-making during the financial and economic crisis? Why do vote-seeking parties in modern democracies actually make voters miserable? Can women's under-representation in politics be explained because of voter bias? Why are some citizens still excluded from voting in their country? And can terrorist organizations that promote violence one day, really become democratic the next?

This represents the first book of its kind to ask and answer a broad range of hard questions that need to be addressed in times of both flux and calls for democratic change throughout the world. It does so by bringing together leading social scientists and rising stars from around the globe. Interdisciplinary in its analysis, it is essential reading for students of comparative and international politics, political philosophy, gender studies and economics.

The book's website can be found at: www.democracyquestions.com and it was originally published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

Autorentext

Raj Chari is Associate Professor in Political Science at Trinity College Dublin.

Inhalt

1. Introduction - Introducing Hard Questions for Democracy **Section I Democracy and Legitimacy 2. Democracy and Moral Autonomy 3. The Values of Democratic Proceduralism Section II Democracy and The Markets 4. Financial and Economic Crisis: Theoretical Explanations of the Global Sunset 5. Financial and Economic Crisis: Explaining the Sunset Over the Celtic Tiger Section III Democracy, Political Parties and Voters 6. Why Vote-Seeking Parties May Make Voters Miserable 7. What Gives Politics Such a Bad Name 8. Can Compactness Constrain the Gerrymander 9. Electing Women to the Dáil: Gender Cues and the Irish Voter 10. Parties and Referendums in Ireland, 1937-2011 Section IV Democracy and Participation 11. Should Irish Emigrants Have Votes? External Voting in Ireland 12. Can the Internet Reinvent Democracy? **Section V Democracy, Violence and Conflict 13. Are the Citizens of a Democracy a Just Target for Terrorists? 14. Bombings to Ballots: The Evolution of the Irish Republican Movement's Conceptualization of Democracy