"In The Coming of Democracy, Mark R. Cheathem examines the evolution of presidential campaigning from 1824 to 1840. Addressing the roots of early republic cultural politics―from campaign biographies to songs, political cartoons, and public correspondence between candidates and voters―Cheathem asks the reader to consider why such informal political expressions increased so dramatically during the Jacksonian period. What sounded and looked like mere entertainment, he argues, held important political meaning. The extraordinary voter participation rate―over 80 percent―in the 1840 presidential election indicated that both substantive issues and cultural politics drew Americans into the presidential selection process." -- Publisher's description

National governments are proving ill-equipped to manage an increasingly complicated suite of global problems, from infectious diseases to climate change to conflicts over international trade. In The Coming Democracy, leading political analyst Ann Florini sets forth a compelling new paradigm for transnational governance, one based on the concept of “transparency”— the idea that the free flow of information (on topics ranging from corporate and government behavior to nuclear proliferation to biodiversity protection) provides powerful ways to hold decision makers accountable and to give ordinary people meaningful voice in shaping the policies that affect them. Dramatic breakthroughs in information technology of the past decade have made such transparency possible on a global scale. Florini offers a clear and comprehensive assessment of the possibilities for using transparency to develop effective approaches to transnational governance. She shows how this new form of governance promises real hope for managing global problems, and provides a compelling scenario that demonstrates how existing conventions and institutions can lead the way in the evolution of a better system of global governance.

The physicist Neils Bohr allegedly wrote that “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future”. Many academics believe that serious scholars should never attempt to write about the future, but some awareness of the ways in which the future of e-government may evolve is needed if well-grounded long-term decisions about issues such as infrastructures, institutions and educational programs are to be made. In addition, future-oriented research is of the utmost importance for informed public debate about technological developments with far reaching societal implications. This book marks the 25th anniversary of the permanent study group on e-government of the European Group for Public Administration, and the papers here were first presented at their 2012 meeting in Bucharest, Romania. The invited authors were not asked for rigorous analyses based on systematic empirical research or deeply rooted in a theoretical framework; instead they were challenged to write thoughtful and measured, but provocative, essays about ICT and public administration in the coming decade. Their contributions are reflections on the nature of new and emerging technologies in the public sector and their impact on government and on democracy itself. The book is divided into three sections: the past and present as starting point for thinking about the future of e-government, imagining the future of government, and implications for research and practice. The many questions raised by developments in ICT for future public administration are presented in a clear and thought-provoking manner, and merit more debate. This volume represents a departure from the normal run of academic publications. It is intended both to provoke academics and administrators to think about questions which will affect all of our futures and to offer a range of creative ideas about how the opportunities presented by technology can be exploited to provide better government and governance.

This book examines the unique form of democracy that has been taking shape in California since the historic recall of Gray Davis and the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. The authors examine how Governor Schwarzenegger's leadership has encouraged the growth of direct democracy, in which public policy decisions are made by voters at the ballot box rather than by elected representatives in the legislature. Using the Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Surveys, which include interviews with more than 150,000 Californians, Baldassare and Katz detail the transformation in the state's political climate and the public attitudes behind this change. The authors conclude that this transformation will likely take place in other states, perhaps even nationwide, and offer recommendations for ways to improve policymaking in a hybrid democracy. Book jacket.

In this book, top scholars look at the efficacy of trade union and worker protest in overthrowing authoritarian governments in Africa. The analytical introduction and case studies from major African countries argue that unions were often the most important single social force in the democratization process.

This book investigates ‘capitalism and freedom’—the guiding forces of many political systems—in African philosophy. It builds on classical and neoliberal capitalism rooted in private property and freedom, and argues for the presence of these elements in the traditional and modern African political systems. The author argues that while these elements are partly imported from Western capitalists, they are equally traceable in African traditional political systems. Kayange argues that African politics is marred by a conflict between embracing capitalism and freedom (individualism), on the one hand, and socialism founded on African communitarianism and communist ideas, on the other. This conflict has affected policy development and implementation, and has significantly contributed towards the socio-economic and ethical crises that are recurrent in most of the African countries.