[pt] O debate argumentativo na sociedade antecede e renova o espírito vinculante das cartas constitucionais. A busca por uma fundamentação da normatividade dos princípios constitucionais requer, mais do que o peso que se pretende atribuir ao papel da jurisdição constitucional, que se identifique a relevância da deliberação democrática no processo de formação do sentimento constitucional pelos cidadãos da polis, que são, ao mesmo tempo, destinatários e agentes criadores das diretrizes políticas fundamentais. A maior contribuição dos estudos elaborados em torno da democracia deliberativa reside, pois, na percepção da inestimável relevância das relações intersubjetivas entre os membros da comunidade durante o processo político, o conhecimento de suas dificuldades e limites, assim como a verificação de seus méritos. Neste rumo, é oferecido um vasto campo favorável à aproximação entre as teses contrapostas dos liberais e republicanos, tornando possível a coexistência teórica e prática entre a realização efetiva da soberania popular e a proteção dos direitos fundamentais, tendo sempre em vista a supremacia da dignidade humana, como elemento informador e balizador de todas as atividades ínsitas à vida em sociedade. / [en] The argumentative debate inside society antecedes and renews the bonding force of the constitutional charts. The search for a justification of fundamental rights and principles requires, more than the weight that one might wish to attribute to the role of constitutional jurisdiction, that the relevance of democratic deliberation be taken into account in the process of the formation of a constitutional feeling by the people of the polis, which are at the same time addressees and creators of the fundamental political directives. The most important contribution of recent studies concerning deliberative democracy reside, in fact, in the perception of the utmost relevance of the intersubjective relations between all members of the affected community during the political process, the knowledge of its difficulties and limits, as well as the verification of its merits. In this direction, a vast field is offered for the convergence between opposed theories such as those of liberals and republicans, paving the way for the effective application of popular sovereignty and human rights protection, while considering the supremacy of the value of human dignity as the informative and orientative standard of all activities inherent to life in society.

Cette thèse de sociologie est une monographie du mouvement ATD Quart Monde. Fondée en 1958 par le prêtre Joseph Wresinski dans un camp de sans-logis, cette association porte la voix politique des « personnes en situation d’extrême pauvreté » en France et dans le monde. C’est à partir d’un travail de mobilisation sur le long terme et d’une stratégied’émancipation que cette voix émerge au sein de groupes de réflexion. Il s’agit de rendre audible et d’organiser par l’action collective ce que le politiste James Scott appelle le domaine infrapolitique, c'est-à-dire les formes de résistances quotidiennes à la domination qui s’exercent « sous les radars » de la sphère publique. À travers l’ethnographie culturelle de quelques expérimentations démocratiques, ce travail de recherche analyse le processus d’empowerment par lequel des acteurs affaiblis socialement se renforcent collectivement par la construction d’un engagement militant. Ces personnes incarnent la possibilité de l’inclusion politique des catégories de population marginalisées. Avec différents mouvements sociaux, ATD Quart Monde façonne ainsi une révolution démocratique et culturelle. Pour ce faire, la méthode participative de l’association consiste à construire des revendications et des alliances par la confrontation du savoir expérientiel des plus pauvres avec d’autres formes de savoirs. Ceci vient approfondir les connaissances du mouvement qui a recours au registre de l’expertise dans son mode d’action. Avec quelques points de comparaison, l’exemple d’ATD Quart Monde permet finalement d’explorer trois dimensions de l’action collective : réflexive, culturelle et délibérative. / This doctoral dissertation in sociology is a monograph of ATD Forth World: an « extreme poor people »’s advocacy worldwide organization founded in a French homeless camp in 1958 by the priest Joseph Wresinski. The voice of the poorest is emerging in thinking groups after a long work of mobilization and emancipation process. The shapes of daily resistance against domination existing « under the radar » of the public sphere, which is called infrapolitics, is becoming visible and collectively organised. This research is a cultural ethnography of several democratic experimentations, which analyses the empowermentprocess of socially weakened actors. Poor people are becoming activists and are embodying the possibility of the inclusion of marginalized groups. By this way, ATD Forth World is progressively shaping a cultural and democratic revolution with other social movements. The participative methodology of the organization consists of building demands and alliances from the confrontation between poor people’s knowledge and other forms of knowledge. This work is helping to build an expertise for the organization. With the example of ATD Forth World and several points of comparison, this doctoral dissertation ultimately explores three different dimensions of collective action: cognitive, cultural and deliberative.

This thesis empirically examines how lobby groups and activists respond to innovative forms of public participation. The study centres on processes that foster a particular kind of deliberative governance including citizens’ juries, consensus conferences and planning cells. These deliberative designs bring together a panel of randomly selected lay citizens to deliberate on a specific policy issue for a few days, with the aim of providing decision makers with a set of recommendations. While policy makers worldwide are attracted to these novel participatory processes, little consideration has been given to how well they work alongside more adversarial and interest-based politics. This doctoral research project examines this interface by studying what these processes mean to different kinds of policy actors such as corporations, advocacy groups, government agencies, experts and professionals. These entities are collectively referred to in this thesis as ‘interest organisations’ because in some way they are seeking a specific policy outcome from the state – even government-based groups.¶ The empirical research in this thesis is based on comparative case studies of four deliberative design projects in Australia and Germany. The Australian cases include a citizens’ jury on waste management legislation and a consensus conference on gene technology in the food chain. The German case studies include a planning cells project on consumer protection in Bavaria, and a national consensus conference on genetic diagnostics. Together the cases capture a diversity of complex and contested policy issues facing post-industrialised societies. In each case study, I examine how relevant interest organisations responded to the deliberative forum, and then interpret these responses in view of the context and features of the case.¶ The picture emerging from the in-depth case studies is that interest organisations respond to deliberative designs in a variety of ways. Some choose to participate actively, others passively decline, and a few resort to strategic tactics to undermine citizens’ deliberations. The empirical research reveals that though responses are variable, most interest organisations are challenged by several features of the deliberative design model including: 1) that deliberators are citizens with no knowledge or association with the issue; 2) that experts and interest representatives are required to present their arguments before a citizens’ panel; and 3) that policy discussions occur under deliberative conditions which can expose the illegitimate use of power.¶ Despite these challenges, the paradox is that many interest organisations do decide to engage in lay citizen deliberations. The empirical research indicates that groups and experts value deliberative designs if they present an opportunity for public relations, customer feedback, or advocacy. Moreover, the research finds that when policy actors intensively engage with ‘ordinary’ citizens, their technocratic and elite ideas about public participation can shift in a more inclusive and deliberative direction.¶ The thesis finds that, on the whole, weaker interest organisations are more willing to engage with lay citizens than stronger organisations because they welcome the chance to influence public debate and decision makers. It appears that powerful groups will only engage in a deliberative forum under certain policy conditions, for example, when the dominant policy paradigm is unstable and contested, when public discussion on the issue is emerging, when policy networks are interdependent and heterogeneous, and when the broader social and political system supports public accountability, consensus and deliberation. Given that these kinds of policy conditions do not always exist, I conclude that tensions between interest organisations and deliberative governance will be common. In order to create more cooperative and productive interfaces, I recommend that interest organisations be better supported and integrated into citizens’ deliberations, and that steps be taken to safeguard forums from strategic attempts to undermine their legitimacy.¶ The thesis also sends out three key messages to democratic theorists. First, the empirical research shows that different kinds of groups and actors in civil society vary in their willingness and capacity to participate to public deliberation. Second, the deliberative design model demonstrates that partisan actors, such as interest organisations, will engage in public deliberation when they can participate as strategic deliberators. In this role partisans are not expected to relinquish their agendas, but present them as testimonies before a group of deliberators. Third, the empirical research in this thesis should bring home to theorists that deliberative forums are closely linked to the discursive context within which they operate.

面對高度科技化、工業化及專業化的社會，風險溝通已是政府面對環境爭議時難以規避的課題。回顧台灣近年來各項環境政策所遭遇的激烈抗爭，顯現政府風險溝通的不足。近年來興起的審議式民主，強調在理性與互惠的前提下，讓公民針對議題發表不同意見，成為政府替代傳統風險溝通的另一選項。尤其對於亟需完善風險溝通的高科技議題-「核廢料處置」而言，審議式民主似乎為其帶來契機。本研究透過分析「核廢何從電視公民討論會」審議活動過程政府與民眾的風險溝通關係，以及會議參與者的深度訪談資料，探討審議式會議如何落實風險溝通理念，藉此瞭解並反思審議式民主在台灣的實踐及其能否成為有效的風險溝通機制。 研究發現，在理論層面，審議式民主與風險溝通理論有許多相通之處；而在實踐層面，審議式民主得以落實風險溝通四項核心要素：「雙向互動」、「資訊公開、即時及更新」、「轉譯為常民語言」及「利害關係人參與」；除此之外，與會者及相關人員亦受到審議機制正向的影響；但在此會議中民眾與政府間信任關係的改善程度有限。本研究建議政府未來進行風險溝通時，應健全溝通管道、有效連結「會議結論」與「政策制定」、整合資訊公開管道並縮短數位落差、及處理與核能政策連動問題，方能有助於低放射性廢棄物的風險溝通。 / Risk communication is an unavoidable task when the government faces a highly industrialized and professionalized society. In the past years, environmental policies the government proposed and the protests these policies triggered show the deficiency of the government on risk communication. Recently, the rising deliberative democracy that emphasizes citizen dialogue on the basis of equality, rationality and reciprocity, could become an alternative to traditional risk communication for the government. Especially for the high-tech issue--disposal of nuclear waste-- which is desperate for comprehensive risk communication, deliberative democracy seems to bring the window of opportunity. Through examining the case of “Where Would the Nuclear Waste Go?” TV forum, this study explores risk communication between the government and citizens, and discusses how deliberative forum realizes the idea of risk communication in practice and delivers risk knowledge. Furthermore, this study rethinks the practice of deliberative democracy in Taiwan and accesses whether it could be an effective risk communication mechanism. This study discovers that there is no contradiction between the practice of deliberative forum and the theory of risk communication. Deliberative democracy facilitates four core elements of risk communication: “two-way communication,” “information disclosure, in time and update,” “transfer into the language of ordinary people” and “the participation of stakeholders.” In addition, the participants and staffs were empowered positively by the deliberative mechanism. However, the improvement of trust between the government and citizens is very limited. This study suggests that when conducting risk communication for the low-level radioactive waste issue, the government should enhance risk communication channels, link the conclusions of citizen forums to policy making, integrate various information disclosure mechanisms, bridge the digital divide, and deal with the problem related to the nuclear energy policy.

隨著資訊通訊技術日漸進步與普及，政府亦開始發展各種線上溝通工具，作為與民眾互動的方式之一，在諸多的電腦中介傳播形式中，線上論壇即為一種值得重視的應用型態。本研究由理性公共論述的角度出發，主要為調查中央政府機關網路論壇的版面運作與討論情形，以及兩者之間的關連。首先檢閱相關文獻以找出本研究定位，再從相關理論中，整理出理性公共論述的內涵和要件，建構出理想網路論壇版面和公共論述的模式，共有五面向，三十五個項目。實證資料蒐集分為兩階段，第一階段採線上檢閱法，檢視所有的中央政府網路論壇版面；第二階段採內容分析法，檢視由第一階段篩選出的部分網路論壇之主題言論，最後彙整兩者的資料結果，並衍生出三個命題，以瞭解兩者之間的關連。 / 研究結果發現，我國目前共有42個中央政府行政機關於網站上設有網路論壇，提供民眾自由發表言論和詢問問題。以網路論壇的版面設計而言，這些論壇都沒有太大的差異。而在政府主動回應上則稍顯不足，目前政府對於論壇言論多是採取選擇性回應或不回應居多。在公眾參與情形方面，整體而言參與討論的熱絡情況差異很大，依據論壇所屬機關涉及的業務和公共議題而有所差別。以主題討論內容來說，雖然討論的質與量，目前仍未形成一真正理想的公共論述空間，但是在幾個專門討論特定公共議題的論壇中，可以看到參與者提出各種不同觀點，以及彼此之間互相溝通辯論的情形。證明網路論壇若作為特定公眾議題的討論園地，它可以是一個辯論空間、傳達意見的場域，讓一個議題很快擴散開來，並使論壇參與者可以從不同的角度去討論它，這就是網路論壇最重要的價值。 / 本研究結果說明了現階段中央政府網路論壇其實仍有值得改進的空間，網路論壇作為政府與民眾的溝通管道，其在公民參與上的效用是不容忽視的，隨著網路通訊科技日漸普及，越來越多人選擇用網路作為陳述意見的管道，故政府實應妥善運用現有的網路論壇機制，作為線上互動的公眾領域，最後，本研究也整理了若干實務建議，提供給政府作為網路論壇經營管理上的參考。 / As the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been progressed and widespread, government agencies begin to develop various kinds of online communicational tools for interacting with people. In many kinds of computer-mediated communications (CMC), the most noteworthy is a network or Internet forum. This study, based on rational theory of public discourse, attempts to investigate the constitution and the discussion on the network forums in Taiwan’s central government, and to explore the relation between the two. After the literature review positioning the study, the author extracted the components of rational theories of public discourse and constructed the indicators for evaluating Internet forums, including 5 dimensions and 35 items. The first stage of data collection is an online review inspecting the Internet forums of the central government agencies. The second stage is analyzing the content of the themes posted on the forums chosen from the first stage. Finally, three propositions were derived to realize the relation between the design and content of the forums as indicated above. / 42 forums of administrative agencies were located to offer the citizens to publish opinions and inquire questions. The reviewed forums show little difference in their design and mechanism. Concerning their management, the agencies reply on a selection basis or even seldom reply. Nevertheless, substantial difference is found on the degree of participation of the forum. Although the quality and quantity on these network forums does not suffice to develop an ideal public argumentation, several forums dedicated to specific public issues have shown plural views from the participants. In sum, the Internet forums of public agencies can carry and diffuse the citizen’s opinion and debate from dierse perspectives. / Accordingly, the results suggest that the Internet forums of government deserve further improvement. As a communicative channel between government and citizens, the benefit of citizen participation is significant. Government should utilize their mechanism properly as the online consultation platform. Finally, this reaerch provides suggestion on management and administration of the public Internet forums.

Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT:In a system of representative government, the media is assumed as an important institution to reflect public concerns and holding government accountable for the way in which it addresses these public concerns. Not only is this role imposed by a paradigm which views the media as one of the institutions that sustain and consolidate liberal democracy – the so-called fourth estate alongside the legislative, executive and judicial pillars – but the media itself has conceptualised its identity around the notion that journalists are a “vital part of political life” (Sparks, 1991:58). This study explores the validity of this authority. It suggests that the authority of the media to frame public concerns in a way that is useful for ordinary citizens to “bridge the gap between the private, domestic world and the concerns and activities of the wider society (McQuail, 2005:432)” has been eroded because citizens feel that their concerns and priorities have become secondary to the priorities of powerful state, economic and other “experts” who determine the news agenda. At the same time, there is a general sense that representative government or what is generally known as liberal democracy is losing its currency because citizens have developed a “habit of seeing the political system as indifferent and unresponsive” to their problems and their circumstances (Mathews, 1999:33). This study explores the potential of a more productive relationship between the media and citizens to rekindle and energise the role of citizens to contribute to the public work of solving common problems that face the wider society. This study proposes three theoretical frameworks – democratic professionalism, public journalism and deliberative democracy – with the potential to re-conceptualise the way journalists consider their professional role. This re-conceptualisation raises the possibility for reassessing the political work of journalists and the political work of citizens and build new habits of participation and discussion in the political process of communities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In 'n stelsel van verteenwoordigende regering, word die media veronderstel as 'n belangrike instelling om publieke kwessies te weërspieël en die regering verantwoordelik te hou vir die wyse waarop dit hierdie publieke kwessies aanspreek. Hierdie rol word veronderstel in 'n denkraamwerk wat die media beskou as een van die instellings wat liberale demokrasie konsolideer as die sogenaamde “vierde pilaar” neffens die wetgewende, uitvoerende en geregtelike gesag. Die role word verder deur die media self gekonseptualiseer as ‘n identiteit rondom die idee dat joernaliste 'n "belangrike deel is van die politieke lewe" (Sparks, 1991:58). Hierdie studie ondersoek die geldigheid van hierdie gesag. Die studie dui daarop dat die media gesag het wat die moontlikheid bied om publieke kwessies aan te spreek op 'n manier wat van nut kan wees vir gewone burgers om die kloof tussen die private, huishoudelike wêreld en die sorg en die aktiwiteite van die breër gemeenskap te oorbrug (McQuail, 2005:432). Die gesag word ondermyn omdat gewone burgers voel hulle belange en prioriteite word sekondêr geag aan die magsbelang van die staat en ander "kenners" wat die nuus agenda bepaal. Terselfdertyd is daar 'n algemene persepsie dat verteenwoordigende die regering, of wat algemeen bekend staan as liberale demokrasie, geldigheid verloor omdat burgers voel dat die politieke stelsel onverskillig reageer op die probleme wat hulle ervaar. Hierdie studie ondersoek die potensiaal van 'n meer werkbare verhouding tussen die media en die burgery om die energie wat burgers in die openbare sfeer kan bydra te ontgin. Hierdie studie stel drie teoretiese raamwerke voor – demokratiese professionaliteit, openbare joernalistiek en beraadslagende demokrasie – wat moontlikhede bied om opnuut oor die professionele rol van joernaliste te besin. Hierdie “besinning” bied weer nuwe moontlikhede vir die politieke werk van joernaliste en die politieke werk van die burgery. Dit veronderstel nuwe gewoontes van deelname en gesprek in openbare politieke proses.

The dominant construction of democracy on a global scale is in the liberal tradition. It is evident in the criteria which constitute democratic barometers in organisations like Freedom House, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. This study seeks to provide a third-order analysis of liberal democratic consolidation theory in order to highlight that its theoretical discourse and underlying structure is not necessarily compatible with the cultural values of the non-Western world using a critical discourse analysis. Democratic consolidation in the non-Western world may not necessarily mirror the theoretical model of liberal democratic consolidation. Given the hegemonic position of liberal democracy‘s criteria and its dominant discourse and role as a barometer of democracy, this study focuses on democratic consolidation in this tradition. It is primarily due to the perceived inability of non-Western states to consolidate their democracies in the liberal democratic tradition and by default, construct thriving liberal democracies. Present theories of liberal democratic consolidation theory deal with governmental, political organisational and societal aspects of liberal democracy. The level of change these theories propagate is all encompassing, and consequently one cannot merely study one aspect of liberal democratic consolidation theory, but needs to analyse the paradigm as a whole in order to explore its metatheoretical structure. It is in this light that the study conducts an appraisal of liberal democratic consolidation theory. The critique developed in this study is aimed at addressing a disparity that currently exists within contemporary consolidation of liberal democracy theory, namely a failure of producers of liberal democratic discourse to understand the philosophical and ideological undertone of liberal democratic consolidation‘s understructure. The study does not seek to conceptualise alternative criteria of democratic consolidation in the non-Western context, but focuses on liberal democratic consolidation theory, to demonstrate that its criteria is not necessarily an appropriate barometer to measure democracy in the non-Western world. / Political Sciences / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Politics)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:35:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2004-11-24Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:46:21Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 martins_lhs_dr_fran.pdf: 968697 bytes, checksum: 05db506ab2b831ebb9abc3b430466b7d (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) / O estudo enfoca a possibilidade da ação política no tempo presente. Entende-se por política a capacidade de governo sobre o mundo comum, entre homens livres e iguais, dotados da capacidade de ação e diálogo, solitárias armas contra a política exercida como força, arbítrio e violência. Trata-se também de problematizar as condições históricas de conformação da subjetividade necessária para se opor à insensibilidade sistêmica. O recurso à sociedade como local de resolução de problemas sociais fez-nos buscar compreender a inflexão no modelo desenvolvimentista centrado no Estado. Eis que o caminho das ONGs se abre. A mudança do modelo desenvolvimentista focado no Estado dá mostras de dois processos históricos: faz parte das lutas sociais por justiça, sendo a encarnação prática de valores como solidariedade e justiça, liberdade e igualdade; por outro lado, participa de um processo talvez mais abrangente de desmanche dos direitos sociais, na medida em que o Estado transfere para a sociedade responsabilidades que a Carta Constitucional lhe incumbiu assegurar a todos, assim o fazendo bem aos moldes do estado mínimo, com cortes de investimentos sociais. Daí, mais necessário se faz a auto-organização dos cidadãos, e uma das formas de auto-organização são as Organizações não governamentais. Algumas ONGs podem auxiliar na auto-organização dos povos, sendo a própria expressão dela. Em termos de um lento e delicado processo político e pedagógico, estariam também participando do aparecimento de uma rede de sujeitos políticos contrários à insensibilidade sistêmica. Chamadas ONGs cívicas ou da democratização, estas ONGs poderiam tornar-se balizas para o universo das instituições sem-fins lucrativos. De toda forma, a participa-ção de novos atores sociais no campo da chamada... / This study focuses the possibility of a political action in the present times. Taking politics as the capacity for governing over a common world, amongst free and equal men, equipped with the capacity for action and dialogue, solitary weapons against that politics practiced through force and violence. We also aim at questioning the historical conditions for confronting the subjectivity needed for opposing systemic insensibility. The recourse to envisioning society as the place for solving social problems made us search for an understanding of the inflexion within the development pattern centered on the State. the NGOs present themselves as a way. This change in the development pattern focused on the State could be understood in two ways, or two historical processes; on one hand it could be part of a social struggle for justice, embodying practicing values like solidarity and justice, freedom and equality; or on the other hand be part of a process, maybe more comprehensive, of dismantling social rights, while the State, transfers to society those responsibilities that the Constitutional Chart assigns that the State assures to all, very much like the pattern of the minimal state, with courts of social investment. Thus, self-organizing amongst the citizens becomes more necessary, and the NGOs is one of the ways to self-organizing . Some NGOs can help self-organizing of peoples, being an expression of their own. In terms of a slow and delicate political and learning process, it would also be making possible the appearance of a network of political subjects. Called civic or democratizing NGOs, the latter could become landmarks for the universe of non-lucrative institutions. In any case, the inclusion of new social actors in the field of the so called social question broadens the debate, so far considered endogenous, for being...(Complete abstract, click electronic access below)

Orientador: Paulo de Tarso Oliveira / Banca: Josué Pereira da Silva / Banca: Nanci Soares / Banca: Ana Maria Ramos Estêvão / Banca: Eliana Amábile Dancini / Resumo: O estudo enfoca a possibilidade da ação política no tempo presente. Entende-se por política a capacidade de governo sobre o mundo comum, entre homens livres e iguais, dotados da capacidade de ação e diálogo, solitárias armas contra a política exercida como força, arbítrio e violência. Trata-se também de problematizar as condições históricas de conformação da subjetividade necessária para se opor à insensibilidade sistêmica. O recurso à sociedade como local de resolução de problemas sociais fez-nos buscar compreender a inflexão no modelo desenvolvimentista centrado no Estado. Eis que o caminho das ONGs se abre. A mudança do modelo desenvolvimentista focado no Estado dá mostras de dois processos históricos: faz parte das lutas sociais por justiça, sendo a encarnação prática de valores como solidariedade e justiça, liberdade e igualdade; por outro lado, participa de um processo talvez mais abrangente de desmanche dos direitos sociais, na medida em que o Estado transfere para a sociedade responsabilidades que a Carta Constitucional lhe incumbiu assegurar a todos, assim o fazendo bem aos moldes do estado mínimo, com cortes de investimentos sociais. Daí, mais necessário se faz a auto-organização dos cidadãos, e uma das formas de auto-organização são as Organizações não governamentais. Algumas ONGs podem auxiliar na auto-organização dos povos, sendo a própria expressão dela. Em termos de um lento e delicado processo político e pedagógico, estariam também participando do aparecimento de uma rede de sujeitos políticos contrários à insensibilidade sistêmica. Chamadas ONGs cívicas ou da democratização, estas ONGs poderiam tornar-se balizas para o universo das instituições sem-fins lucrativos. De toda forma, a participa-ção de novos atores sociais no campo da chamada...(Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This study focuses the possibility of a political action in the present times. Taking politics as the capacity for governing over a common world, amongst free and equal men, equipped with the capacity for action and dialogue, solitary weapons against that politics practiced through force and violence. We also aim at questioning the historical conditions for confronting the subjectivity needed for opposing systemic insensibility. The recourse to envisioning society as the place for solving social problems made us search for an understanding of the inflexion within the development pattern centered on the State. the NGOs present themselves as a way. This change in the development pattern focused on the State could be understood in two ways, or two historical processes; on one hand it could be part of a social struggle for justice, embodying practicing values like solidarity and justice, freedom and equality; or on the other hand be part of a process, maybe more comprehensive, of dismantling social rights, while the State, transfers to society those responsibilities that the Constitutional Chart assigns that the State assures to all, very much like the pattern of the minimal state, with courts of social investment. Thus, self-organizing amongst the citizens becomes more necessary, and the NGOs is one of the ways to self-organizing . Some NGOs can help self-organizing of peoples, being an expression of their own. In terms of a slow and delicate political and learning process, it would also be making possible the appearance of a network of political subjects. Called civic or democratizing NGOs, the latter could become landmarks for the universe of non-lucrative institutions. In any case, the inclusion of new social actors in the field of the so called social question broadens the debate, so far considered endogenous, for being...(Complete abstract, click electronic access below) / Doutor

The aim of this inquiry is to investigate which ideals of democracy that three proposals for strengtening the democracy in the European Union consists of and to judge if the desired effects of the proposals are reachable. The method that is used is an analysis of ideas and contents. Theories that are used are deliberative and particiapatory ideals of democracy. The theories are used to investigate if the ideas in the proposals correspond to the ideals of deliberative and participatory democracy. The major result is that the proposals fail to fulfil the ideas of the theories. The reason is that the proposals are lacking ideas of how to make the citizens more aware and active in politics. The point of departure in the proposals is that the European Union will be more democratic if the people are brought in to the politics, but they do not suggest how people should form opinions through communication and become conscious and competent in political issues through participation. It is also likely that the effects of the proposals not are reachable to all the citizens. Only the ones who have an interest in communicating and participating in European politics will be gained by the proposals.