United States versus democracy
Dissertation - 10 pages - Political science
Throughout history individuals have discussed the term democracy, which has its origins in ancient Greece, and is derived from the words demos and kratos. The literal definition of this term is “rule by the people.” However, this definition is ambiguous and has allowed scholars...
How can corruption occur in a democracy as France? Analysis through the ELF scandal - publié le 17/05/2009
Dissertation - 9 pages - Journalism
The Elf scandal started in 1994 with an ordinary trial of the dubious conditions in which Elf oil company and the Crédit Lyonais funded Bidermann's textile firm. This financial bail-out turned out to be a tremendous embezzlement scandal. ELF's executive officers misused their company assets for...
Democracy for the few (chap. 15), Michael Parenti - publié le 15/01/2009
Book review - 4 pages - Political science
Michael Parenti is a professor of political science at several American universities. He has a PhD in political science from Yale University. He is known for being a progressive activist and a provocative thinker. As such, he wrote numerous books that focused on the American nation, the role of...
How can corruption occur in a democracy as France? Analysis through the ELF scandal
Case study - 9 pages - Political science
The Elf scandal started in 1994 with an ordinary trial of the dubious conditions in which Elf oil company and the Crédit Lyonais funded Bidermann's textile firm. This financial bail-out turned out to be a tremendous embezzlement scandal. ELF's executive officers misused their company assets for...
The business lobby in government and the threat to democracy
Dissertation - 4 pages - Social, moral & civic education
In political discourse, the term lobbying is often thought of in a negative way. This is because lobbyists have earned themselves a reputation of being untrustworthy and even corrupt. Lobbying in itself is certainly not bad though. When a citizen bumps into their elected official on the street...
How and why has the adoption of free market economic policies affected the consolidation of democracy? - publié le 13/01/2009
Essay - 6 pages - Economy general
“Economic factors have significant impact on democratization but they are not determinative.” (Huntington 1991: 59). To Huntington, there is a clear link between economy and democracy as a form of regime, bond that few people could deny nowadays. Actually, this bond can be shown...
What's wrong with the elite theory of democracy?
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
The elite theory of democracy has emerged out of two major concerns of its precursors: no theory of democracy until now has given leadership the importance it ought to have, and none has really settled the issue of whether the common man is up to the task of governing a modern and...
Jürgen Habermas overemphasises the role of the public sphere in his theory of law and democracy - publié le 15/01/2009
Essay - 7 pages - Other law subjects
Jürgen Habermas (born June 18, 1929 in Düsseldorf) is a German philosopher, political scientist and sociologist in the tradition of critical theory. His work focuses on the analysis of advanced capitalist industrial society and of democracy and the rule of law in a critical...
Democracy: the Swedish Way
Case study - 6 pages - Political science
For years, Sweden has been considered as a well being country, with a high quality of living, safe, environmentalist, peaceful and very democratic where citizens take part in the development of their society. Swedish society, however seems to be in mutation for some decades, due to globalization,...
Democracy in Nigeria at the dawn of the 21st century - publié le 12/01/2009
Dissertation - 6 pages - Political science
“« Democracy is good, » says Godwin Eweye, a video-store owner, « but Nigeria is not yet fully democratic. »” A few days only after Nigeria's 2003 parliamentary elections, this local comment illustrates the enduring difficulties that the country faces in its attempt to...
Bulgaria: Transition towards democracy - publié le 21/01/2009
Essay - 22 pages - Political science
Bulgaria is due for accession to the European Union in 2007. According to most international reporting mechanisms the country has reached the final stages of democracy, and is ready to proceed with accession. While on many levels, such as economically and politically, Bulgaria may have...
Pluralism, democracy, and citizenship - publié le 13/01/2009
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
‘Most people think that democratic decisions have special moral force - which we have good reasons to obey laws that are democratically chosen. If this is true, why is it true? If it's not true, why is it not?' Democracy is commonly regarded as the best, or the least bad, political...
Freedom, Liberty and Democracy
Dissertation - 5 pages - Political science
Democracy is considered by many to be the best type of political system possible, and among this group many believe the system of democracy in the United States is also the best of the best. This notion is one worth examining, and one that in some way has become more relevant in the...
Euro communism: Linking democracy and socialism
Dissertation - 8 pages - Political science
Simply speaking, Euro communism was a political trend that developed in the 1970s and 1980s in many of the Western European communist parties as a way of applying their political agenda in a way that would be more acceptable in a Western European democracy as it would have less affiliation...
The emergence of democracy in sub-saharan Africa
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
"A nation is [therefore] a large-scale solidarity, constituted by the feeling of the sacrifices that one has made in the past and of those that one is prepared to make in the future. It presupposes a past; it is summarized, however, in the present by a tangible fact, namely, consent, the clearly...
Approaching Alexis de Tocqueville's Democratic Poetry: The French strenuous perusing of Democracy in America
Essay - 14 pages - Politic philosophy
"Mr. de Tocqueville, let us have a chat", King Louis-Philippe would say, "I want you to tell me a bit about America". This conversation between the French with Alexis de Tocqueville about America and Democracy is more than 170 years old but still seems to whet the interest of French...
The will for democracy in Hong Kong: does it dismiss the modernization theory model?
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
According to the modernization theory, the better the economical situation of a country is, the more likely a country is to adopt a democratic political regime. Indeed, according to Samuel Huntington, the economical growth may lead to the rise of the importance of middle-class and of their...
What were the main factors of the collapse of " Social Democracy " in Britain?
Essay - 11 pages - Modern history
After the Second World War, the British political and economic landscape underwent a radical transformation in its own foundations. Indeed, the previous economic orthodoxy that had characterized the governing of Britain was substituted by a Keynesian form of welfare state. It was the beginning of...
Democracy and totalitarism - publié le 11/05/2009
Dissertation - 6 pages - Philosophy
Nowadays the term ‘democracy ‘has become a widespread reality which is practically accepted everywhere. Even China's leaders argue that their country is on the path to democracy but “it needs time” (Wen Jiabao, China's Prime Minister). Nevertheless many...
How can "the democratic deficit" of the Swedish representative democracy be bridged over ?
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
The opening article of the Swedish constitution states that "All public power in Sweden derives from the population". However, in a representative democracy, who ends up holding the power? Actually, direct democracy can't be implemented in a large country. This form of...
Shortcomings of democracy
Dissertation - 5 pages - Political science
Most people in North America revel in the fact that they live in countries that are ruled by the best type of political system available: democracy. People who advocate for the use of democracy will argue that all of the other systems are flawed and democracy is the best...
A critical examination of the European Union's commitment and approach to promoting democracy and Human Rights in accession candidate countries and elsewhere in the world - publié le 17/05/2009
Dissertation - 10 pages - European union
The current image of European Union's democracy promotion is marred by the discrepancies of member states' attitude vis-à-vis the Chinese violation of the Human Rights. In contrast to most European countries, Great Britain and Germany have already claimed that they will not assist to the...
Democracy in Africa
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
In the sphere of comparative politics, and more specifically, African politics, many notable changes have taken place over the last two decades. In this time, considerable research on African politics has centered on democracy and its implementation is different African nations. It was...
Democracy, globalization and emerging/declining media
Dissertation - 5 pages - Social, moral & civic education
An important question, right now, according to a recent Globe and Mail article, as well as chatter heard recently while riding the grid-lock streets listening to a taxi driver's radio, is if daily newspapers collapse, is this a sign that democracy is in trouble? Is the increasingly...
Critical summary and reflective analysis of Gerard Alexander's essay, "Making Democracy Stick." - publié le 16/01/2009
Essay - 2 pages - Political science
Published in the issue of December 2005 & January 2006, the article “Making Democracy Stick” written by Gerard Alexander is part of a wider movement distancing itself from the American muscled intervention in Iraq and its lack of preparation for democratic consolidation. The...
Former Soviet Republics of Central Asia and democracy - publié le 13/01/2009
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
Nowadays, Central Asia can be considered as the “Heartland”, that is to say the center of geopolitical positioning, given the abundance of natural resources in the region. Indeed this area, particularly Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, benefits from oil and natural gas reserves among the...
Organised groups and democracy
Essay - 2 pages - Political science
The shift from government to governance has had an impact on the way politics are viewed by the people, and power seems to be decentralized and dispersed. This means that the institutional structures traditionally in charge of policy-making now have to share these skills with organized groups and...
Democracy deficit in Canada
Dissertation - 6 pages - Political science
Canadians have always loved the fact that their nation is a democracy, and arguable one of the most developed democracies in the world. However, now more than ever before, there is a call from many Canadians to reinvigorate and revitalize democratic institutions in the country. One only...
The United States: A "theodemocracy"? The ambiguous relationship between religion and politics - publié le 16/01/2009
Essay - 9 pages - Political science
As Julia Gronnevet said, “comparing the United States to the Roman Empire is a popular pastime” . For instance, in his book entitled Are we Rome?: the Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America (2007), Cullen Murphy established some parallels between these two political entities both...
The United States: A "theodemocracy"? The ambiguous relationship between religion and politics
Essay - 10 pages - Culture, religion & civilization
As Julia Gronnevet said, “comparing the United States to the Roman Empire is a popular pastime” . For instance, in his book entitled Are we Rome?: the Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America (2007), Cullen Murphy established some parallels between these two political entities both...
