Suchergebnisse

The subject of the present paper is the state of linkage between society and politics in the European Union (EU). In this field, political science is a science of democracy: the democratization of the EU is a ubiquitous issue. We therefore begin with a clarification of the notion of a "democratic deficit" in the European Union. In the second and third parts, we address questions of interest intermediation and opinion formation. In doing so, we try to substantiate the view that the democratic deficit of the EU is caused by a defective process of opinion formation much more than by problems of interest intermediation. We end with a proposal for EU constitutional reform that suggests itself as an appropriate means to more effectively shape the process of opinion formation.

Few scholars have taught us more about African voters, legislators, and legislatures than Joel Barkan. Drawing on Barkan's analysis, the first part of this article argues that the African one-party state can be usefully viewed as a competitiveauthoritarian system underpinned by a form of political linkage that allows for elements of coercion and competition. Building on this framework, the second part demonstrates that the political linkage structures that emerged in singleparty systems such as those of Kenya, Senegal, and Tanzania have played an important role in shaping the dynamics of multiparty politics and the prospects for democratic reform

Few scholars have taught us more about African voters, legislators and legislatures than Joel Barkan. Drawing on Barkan's analysis, the first part of this article argues that the African one-party state can be usefully viewed as a form of competitiveauthoritarian system, underpinned by a form of political linkage that allowed for elements of coercion and competition. Building on this framework, the second part of the paper demonstrates that the political linkage structures that emerged in singleparty systems such as Kenya and Tanzania played an important role in shaping the dynamics of multi-party politics and the prospects for democratic reform.

Strengthening democracy in Indonesia provides an opportunity for women to involve informal politics. This condition is not only to show women's abilities but also to mainstream gender issues in public policy. This article explores cases of Rita Widyasari as Regent in Kutai Kartanegara and Yasti Soepredjo Mokoagow as Regent of Bolaang Mongondow to understand how they build political linkage in a local context. In this research, we use a qualitative method to gather deep information about women leaders and their linkage. The research shows that their success can not be separated from their ability to build and maintain the networks with various actors in the region, such as economic actors, civil society, and political actors. Although Rita and Yasti use a different pattern to build a local network, this research indicates that political linkage becomes one of the important points to establish women political career.

It is argued that Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, & Venezuela are political systems suffering from an acute deficit of democratic authenticity, ie, a loss of substance in democratic processes, as a result of malfunctions in the mechanisms of political linkage & multiple barriers that inhibit effective citizen participation in public life. Rather than acceding to minimalist interpretations of democracy that deemphasize the importance of active citizen participation, emphasized is the importance of maintaining a rigorous normative definition of democracy as the standard by which to assess the state of democratic political development. 1 Table, 28 References. Adapted from the source document.