This article explores strategic conceptions within the alter-globalisation movement in Ireland. Based on action research carried out within the left-libertarian (“Grassroots’) wing of the movement, it notes imbalances in participation in a very intensive form of political activity, and asks how activists understand winning. It finds substantial congruence between organisational practice and lon...

This paper reports on results of the final phase of a four-year study called CASCADE-IMEI. The project aims at designing, evaluating and implementing a learning environment (LE) which intends to introduce Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) to (prospective) mathematics teachers in Indonesia. This paper, first, describes mathematics education reform in Indonesia since Soeharto's regime was des...

The aim of this presentation is to highlight the common problems disabled voters have during elections and to emphasize the importance of mobile voting in creating a more inclusive, participatory democracy. Results of a qualitative textual analysis of a web-based forum about the experiences of disabled citizens during the 2009 local government elections are used to identify the legal, physical,...

In his famous dichotomy of consensual versus majoritarian democracies, Lijphart ~1984! claims that “consensual” means are more applicable in heterogeneous societies, while “majoritarian” means are more adequate in homogenous societies. While discussing at length many features of both consensual and majoritarian democracy, Lijphart refrains from reaching a conclusion concerning the desirability ...

Democracy as a system of government has been restored in Nigeria for over a decade now, and for it to be stabilized and entrenched, all the stakeholders must be involved. Youths represent a very important stakeholder in any society. They are not only the future of Nigeria, but also a major stakeholder and useful resource in the nation building. For the youths to become useful resource in the Ni...

Utopian thought has been discredited because attempts to re-engineer society using Utopian formulae have invariably produced violence and despotism. But the apparent eclipse of Utopia has left a yawning gap, for economic and social conditions across the globe suggest a need for alternatives to the reigning social order – and thus for Utopian thinking which avoids the pitfalls of ‘classical’ Uto...

can be found at: Comparative Political Studies Additional services and information for http://cps.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts: http://cps.sagepub.com/subscriptions Subscriptions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Permissions: http://cps.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/36/1-2/125 SAGE Journals Online and HighWire Press pla...

This article joins the debate on political aspects in participatory design (PD) in Scandinavia. The article argues that the political aspect is not missing but rather inherent in current Scandinavian PD research. Democracy is brought forward as a core political ideal. It is discussed whether democracy is an outmoded political ideal and how to reach democracy. Finally, the article touches upon t...

In order to analyze what can plausibly be said about the relationship between dignity, human rights, and democracy, I will propose a basic assumption about human dignity (I) and then formulate five theses concerning the justification of democracy (II) which will allow me to conclude (III) that only when human rights are constitutionally established and effectively implemented democracy can be t...

In this paper, we compare how two different types of political regimes—direct versus representative democracy—redistribute income towards the relatively poor segments of society after the introduction of universal and equal suffrage. Swedish local governments are used as a testing ground since this setting offers a number of attractive features for a credible impact evaluation. Most importantly...