Three additions are suggested to the study of interest groups and their role in a democracy. First, different types of interest groups are recognized; in particular, special interest groups, which have a narrow social base, concentrate on limited issues, and benefit mainly their own members, are distinguished from constituencyrepresenting organizations. which have a broad social base, address a...

ing from specificities, we can break down pendulum democracy at the local level into ten general characteristics as well:14 Practices

Virtues, or habituated excellences of character, have been understood as having important roles in political regimes since the very beginnings of Western political thought. Across remarkable variation in theorists’ contexts and perspectives, the virtues are considered central to the flourishing of regimes beyond otherwise abstract norms and formal institutions. In Greek thought, for example, et...

Fransız Devrimi’nden bu yana güçlenen halk egemenliği ve cumhuriyet kavramlarının demokrasiyle birleşmesi, modern siyasal düşüncenin genel hattı olmuştur. Monarşilerden parlamenter demokrasiye geçişte sosyal demokrasi belirleyici rol üstlenmiştir. 20. yüzyıl başında Marksizm ile yolları ayrılan 1945 sonrası dönemde refah devleti kavramıyla düşünce, değişen kapitalizme uyum sağlama adına yeni Üç...

The EU represents a new and complex political system which, according to numerous social scholars, suffers from the so-called democratic deficit. The basic argument behind this claim is that citizens lack control of the EU because, within its political system, national parliaments of member states possess only limited powers which have not been adequately compensated through steady empowerment ...

We provide evidence that democracy has a significant and robust positive effect on GDP. Our empirical strategy relies on a dichotomous measure of democracy coded from several sources to reduce measurement error and controls for country fixed effects and the rich dynamics of GDP, which otherwise confound the effect of democracy on economic growth. Our baseline results use a linear model for GDP ...

[1] It has long been believed that there is a relationship between a society‟s culture and its ability to produce and sustain democratic forms of government. The ancient Athenians maintained that their democracy depended, in part, on the fostering of “civic virtue” or democratic culture. Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and J. S. Mill also maintained that culture and democracy were related, ...