Bøger af Stephen L. Elkin

Bringing together new work from many of the leading experts on democratic citizenship, this volume presents both normative argument and empirical analysis to help deepen our understanding of the various competences that citizens require if there is to be a flourishing democratic political order in our present age.The essays explore the following themes: (1) the essential components of democratic citizenship and how these can be fostered; (2) the state of citizen competence in various democratic regimes; (3) civil society as a crucial site for the exercise and development of democratic citizenship; (4) new findings that show democratic citizens to have more political information and behave more rationally than hitherto supposed; and (5) the theory and practice of new institutional forms for democratic deliberation and democratic control.The final section of the book explores new and revitalized forms of democratic participation as well as the kind of participation that is likely to foster a wide variety of citizen competences. The discussion runs from what we know and can expect from town meetings, to the value of public work in fostering a democratic citizenry, to entirely new forms for expressing citizen judgment.

A consideration of the power of institutions to shape politics and political life. Believing that constitutionalism needs to go beyond the arbitrary exercise of political power, the contributors argue that it should be designed to achieve economic efficiency, informed democratic control, and other valued political ends.

Originally published in 1974, this book seeks to analyze the way in which political patterns impede planning efforts. The principal focus is on political patterns and planning in London as they appeared in the post-war period up to the mid-1960s.