O presente trabalho procura demonstrar a evolução do conceito jurídico de cidadania, buscando compreender qual conceito melhor reflete o panorama democrático do século XXI. A democracia atual implica o envolvimento de múltiplos personagens, caminhando para a ampliação das formas de participação e do espaço de compartilhamento do poder entre a população e seus representantes. O conceito jurídico tradicional de cidadania se diferencia do conceito adotado pelas demais áreas do conhecimento, pois a limita aos direitos políticos ativos e passivos. Essa concepção clássica parece não corresponder ao atual estágio democrático, em que os governos passam a sofrer maior influência externa e interna, além da crescente possibilidade de participação dos personagens estranhos. É inegável o desconforto em conferir aos não detentores dos direitos políticos a condição de não-cidadãos, mesmo se esse conceito for considerado estritamente técnico. As ciências não-jurídicas desenvolveram o conceito de cidadania a partir do período pós-guerra, especialmente com a concepção de direito a ter direitos, introduzida por Hannah Arendt, a partir da qual os direitos políticos já não se resumem mais ao direito de votar e de ser votado. A possibilidade de participação e de compartilhamento do poder demonstra ser a cidadania um elemento democrático de significado muito mais amplo, cujo conceito deve ser construído não apenas à luz do direito positivo vigente, mas também considerando a necessária afirmação dos Direitos Humanos. Assim, pode-se dizer que o conceito jurídico de cidadania que fundamenta o Estado Democrático de Direito da República Federativa do Brasil deve ser entendido como o \"princípio da máxima inclusão possível\" dos indivíduos nas esferas política, econômica, cultural e social. / This present work aims at showing the evolution of the citizenship legal concept, seeking to comprehend which concept better reflects the democratic panorama of the 21st Century. Current democracy implicates the involvement of multiple characters walking towards the enhancement of participation forms and power sharing space between population and its representative. The traditional legal concept of citizenship differentiates from the concept adopted by other knowledge areas because it limits active and passive electoral rights. This classic conception seems not to relate to the current democracy stage, in which governments suffer greater external and internal influences, other than the possibility of foreign characters participation. It is undeniable how uneasy it is to grant non-citizen status to those not holding electoral rights, even if this concept is considered strictly technical. Non-legal sciences have developed the concept of citizenship from the post-war period, particularly with the conception of right to have rights introduced by Hannah Arendt, from which political rights are no longer narrowed to the right to vote and to be voted. The possibility of participation and sharing power evidences that citizenship is a democratic element with a much broader meaning, which concept must be built not only at the light of the positive right in force but also considering the required affirmation of Human Rights. Therefore, one can say that the legal concept of citizenship providing grounds to the Democratic State based on the rule of Law of the Federative Republic of Brazil must be understood as principle of maximum possible inclusion of individuals in the political, economical, cultural and social branches.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe analizuojamos el. demokratijos priemonių diegimo galimybės, remiantis pasauline patirtimi. Nagrinėti Estijos, Austrijos, Švedijos el. demokratijos priemonių diegimo atvejai, situacija diegiant el. demokratijos priemones Lietuvoje. Atliktas el. demokratijos priemonių diegimo Panevėžio miesto savivaldybėje empirinis tyrimas, susidedantis iš 2 dalių – kiekybinio tyrimo ir kokybinio tyrimo. Empirinio tyrimo objektas – el. demokratijos priemonių technologinis ir procedūrinis aspektai. Tyrimo problema – nėra nustatytas įdiegtų Panevėžio miesto savivaldybėje el. demokratijos priemonių technologinio ir procedūrinio aspektų tinkamumas ir nenumatytos vystymo galimybės siekiant tobulinti el. demokratijos procesą. Tikslas – išanalizavus Panevėžio miesto savivaldybėje įdiegtas el. demokratijos priemones pasiūlyti būdus ir priemones el. demokratijos proceso Panevėžio miesto savivaldybėje tobulinimui. Tyrimo uždaviniai: kiekybinio tyrimo pagalba nustatyti ar įdiegtos el. demokratijos priemonių galimybės naudojamos pagal priemonių diegimo sąlygose numatytą paskirtį; kokybinio tyrimo uždaviniai – el. demokratijos ekspertų nuomonės tyrimo pagalba įvertinti įdiegtas el. demokratijos paslaugas Panevėžyje, nustatyti kokia sukurtų el. demokratijos priemonių technologinio ir procedūrinio aspektų reikšmė el. demokratijos procese, įvertinti įdiegtų el. demokratijos priemonių tinkamumą šiandienos ir artimiausios ateities el. demokratijos procesui. Išanalizavus el... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The Master’s thesis analyses the possibilities to implement the tools of E-democracy on the basis of global practice. The cases of implementation of E-democracy tools in Estonia, Austria, Sweden and the situation of implementation of E-democracy tools in Lithuania were investigated. The empiric research of implementation of E-democracy tool in Panevėžys City Municipality was implemented. It consists of 2 parts – qualitative and quantitative research. The object of empiric research is the technological and procedural aspects of E-democracy tools. The problem of the research is that there is no determined suitability of installed technological and procedural aspects of E-democracy tool in Panevėžys City Municipality. The aim is to propose ways and tools for the improvement of E-democracy process in Panevėžys after the analysis of the already installed E-democracy tools. The tasks of the research: by the help of quantitative research to determine if the installed E-democracy tools are used in accordance to the foreseen purposes indicated in the terms of installing; the tasks of qualitative research is by the help of the survey of the opinion of E-democracy experts to evaluate the installed services of E-democracy in Panevėžys and to determine the significance of technological and procedural aspects of implemented E-democracy tools in E-democracy process. The evaluation of suitability of implemented E-democracy tools for nowadays and the nearest future for E-democracy process... [to full text]

The fall of Communism in 1989 presented a unique opportunity for social psychology to contribute to the understanding of these historic events. Through the framework of the theory of social representations, lay meanings and understanding of terms such as ‘democracy’, ‘the individual’ and ‘the community’ were examined in Slovakia and in Scotland. Lay representations of complex concepts are likely to be formed, maintained and changed by both implicit and explicit processes. Some features of representations may be deep-seated and transmitted across generations and across cultures, relatively resistant to change. Others are shaped by already existing thinking schemata and reflect more current social practices. Questions asked where, what were the effects of 40 years of Soviet totalitarianism on the meaning of these terms in Slovakia compared to Scotland, a stable democracy. What aspects of meaning are shared, what aspects vary and reflect the specific political, economic and social histories of these two nations. Data were collected over various phases from 1992 to 1996. The primary methods used were word associations and the rating of single terms through the use of various rating scales. Some interview data were also used. Results indicate that aspects of the meaning of democracy was relatively stable and shared between Slovaks and Scots. For both samples, democracy was conceived primarily in relation to freedom and to value terms such as rights, justice and equality. Compared to the Scottish sample, the meaning of democracy in the Slovaks revealed a highly emotive aspect which reflected the inter-relationship between the current political and social climate with that of their more recent past. For meanings attached to the terms ‘the individual’ and ‘the community’, results varied depending on the method. Conceived of as separate terms, the overall content of meaning of both ‘the individual’ and ‘the community’ were not largely shared by the Slovaks and Scots, lending some support to the dominant view that Soviet totalitarianism destroyed or distorted naturally occurring communities. Taking a more holistic approach and viewing the individual/community as a relational whole, shared aspects of meaning could be identified which were more deep-seated and enduring over histories and cultures, other aspects, in Slovaks, reflected more their recent past. These results are discussed in terms of a structural approach to social representations, which emphasis both stability and change in how meaning is formed, maintained and changed, as well as the multi-layered nature of meaning.

Thesis (doctoral) - Universität, Duisburg-Essen, 2004. / Includes bibliographies.

O presente trabalho procura demonstrar a evolução do conceito jurídico de cidadania, buscando compreender qual conceito melhor reflete o panorama democrático do século XXI. A democracia atual implica o envolvimento de múltiplos personagens, caminhando para a ampliação das formas de participação e do espaço de compartilhamento do poder entre a população e seus representantes. O conceito jurídico tradicional de cidadania se diferencia do conceito adotado pelas demais áreas do conhecimento, pois a limita aos direitos políticos ativos e passivos. Essa concepção clássica parece não corresponder ao atual estágio democrático, em que os governos passam a sofrer maior influência externa e interna, além da crescente possibilidade de participação dos personagens estranhos. É inegável o desconforto em conferir aos não detentores dos direitos políticos a condição de não-cidadãos, mesmo se esse conceito for considerado estritamente técnico. As ciências não-jurídicas desenvolveram o conceito de cidadania a partir do período pós-guerra, especialmente com a concepção de direito a ter direitos, introduzida por Hannah Arendt, a partir da qual os direitos políticos já não se resumem mais ao direito de votar e de ser votado. A possibilidade de participação e de compartilhamento do poder demonstra ser a cidadania um elemento democrático de significado muito mais amplo, cujo conceito deve ser construído não apenas à luz do direito positivo vigente, mas também considerando a necessária afirmação dos Direitos Humanos. Assim, pode-se dizer que o conceito jurídico de cidadania que fundamenta o Estado Democrático de Direito da República Federativa do Brasil deve ser entendido como o \"princípio da máxima inclusão possível\" dos indivíduos nas esferas política, econômica, cultural e social. / This present work aims at showing the evolution of the citizenship legal concept, seeking to comprehend which concept better reflects the democratic panorama of the 21st Century. Current democracy implicates the involvement of multiple characters walking towards the enhancement of participation forms and power sharing space between population and its representative. The traditional legal concept of citizenship differentiates from the concept adopted by other knowledge areas because it limits active and passive electoral rights. This classic conception seems not to relate to the current democracy stage, in which governments suffer greater external and internal influences, other than the possibility of foreign characters participation. It is undeniable how uneasy it is to grant non-citizen status to those not holding electoral rights, even if this concept is considered strictly technical. Non-legal sciences have developed the concept of citizenship from the post-war period, particularly with the conception of right to have rights introduced by Hannah Arendt, from which political rights are no longer narrowed to the right to vote and to be voted. The possibility of participation and sharing power evidences that citizenship is a democratic element with a much broader meaning, which concept must be built not only at the light of the positive right in force but also considering the required affirmation of Human Rights. Therefore, one can say that the legal concept of citizenship providing grounds to the Democratic State based on the rule of Law of the Federative Republic of Brazil must be understood as principle of maximum possible inclusion of individuals in the political, economical, cultural and social branches.

Research into the citizen political participation via social media is dominated by two grand narratives. In the first, new media are seen as empowering society, while the second portrays the Internet as the State’s ultimate tool for manipulating citizens. This research employed content analysis, critical discourse analysis and interview to compare and contrast the nature of political participation and deliberation on Weibo in [Hong Kong and mainland] and by [VIPs and causal users] on 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election, and how the online censorship shaped their political participation and deliberation regarding this case. Mixed methods used with theoretical framework (e.g. democracy, digital democracy, deliberative democracy, e-participation and citizenship) in this research has demonstrated the role of Weibo both ‘tool’ ‘forum’ and ‘object’ to understand deliberative democracy while citizens used for political participation and deliberation. Dynamic forms of self-censorship demonstrated how the online censorship shaped the citizens’ political participation and deliberation through dynamic explicit or implicit ways on Weibo in this case.

Resume In the first part of the graduation thesis Limits of Democracy qualifies the term of democ- racy, the return to democracy sources, especially to the archaic Greece, where democracy began and then developed thanks to the philosophers were like Socrates, Plato or Aristotle. At that time, democracy had strong competition and was created various ideologies and forms of government. Democracy was not made at that time and was standing in the shad- ows of history. In the next part of the graduation thesis author deals with return of democratic thinking in the French Revolution, their thinkers were like Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu and Jean-Jeacques Rousseau who became the inspiration for a revolutionary campaign. In France after the revolution started to emerge riots, wars with neighbors and followed terror. In this part of the graduation thesis author defines the term totalitarian democracy and points to the "democratic" process in 2011 during the Arab Spring. Then the author focuses on today's modern democracy and analyzes the United States as a state, as a bearer of democracy. State that this ideology spreads and becomes uncompro- misingly authority that considers what is democratic and what is not. In this part of thesis is reminded the origin of USA and related issues...

This thesis explores the influence of far-right parties on constitutional democracies in Europe, focusing on their adherence to human rights standards and state obligations within the European legal framework. Against the backdrop of rising electoral support for far-right parties across Europe, this thesis aims to examine the common features of far-right party programs and assess the potential consequences of their actions on human rights and democratic values. The concept of militant democracy serves as a theoretical framework, examining the tension between democratic self-preservation and the exercise of individual human rights. Using the doctrinal method, the thesis presents a systematic analysis of existing legal materials, with anemphasis on the European legislative framework developed after World War II and its impact on European constitutional democracies. By grounding the study in the theoretical framework, it seeks to identify safeguards for the efficient functioning of democracy within contemporary legal settings.

Is it possible to achieve ecological sustainability with our current democratic system? This question constitutes the democracy-environment nexus which has been a core theme in both the public debate as well as in research ever since the climate issue gained status of being a social problem in the 1970s. We are constantly presented with increasingly alarming science about the consequences of global warming. Yet, the coordinated political responses for effective measures against such consequences, are still missing. The question therefore remains highly relevant. One actor in society that certainly raises frustration about the neglected climate change responses, are the social movements. With a new wave of climate movements, we have seen key figures like Greta Thunberg take a seat at the tables during UN Climate summits. Fridays for Future among many other climate movements are criticizing the current democratic system’s lack of effective environmental policies. It is important to analyze their critique to understand if we need to change the current democratic system in order to tackle climate change. This paper aims to make a contribution to this debate by analyzing statements made by the new Swedish climate movement Återställ Våtmarker. For my analysis I use an analytical chart of the ideal types “ecological democracy” and “environmental democracy”, constructed by Jonathan Pickering, Karin Bäckstrand and David Schlosberg. These ideal types are used as a systematic concept of the democracy-environment nexus. The statements are found in my in-depth interview with one of the organization’s press contacts, on their website as well as in media. By categorizing the statements as either ecological democratic or environmental democratic I intend to conclude whether Återställ Våtmarker has an idea of democracy that poses systemic criticism towards our current system. The findings of this study support that Återställ Våtmarker’s view of democracy has more tendencies towards ecological democracy. In this paper, I have therefore found empirical evidence suggesting that Återställ Våtmarker pose systemic criticism towards our current democratic system.

The imbizo was introduced in the light of the problems associated with indirect democracy, as well as attempts to bring democracy closer to the people in ways with which they are more familiar. The problem of the study was approached by putting the imbizo in perspective. Hence, a cybernetics model was used with the two information systems, namely the GCIS and the spider-web. They were used to describe the workings of the imbizo in the political system. A mixed method using both the quantitative and qualitative approaches investigated the problem by surveying students‟ understanding of the imbizo. A case study regarding service delivery and public participation was conducted at villages where the imbizo had been held. Generally, findings confirm the imbizo’s role as an instrument to enhance service delivery. The findings have some far-reaching implications for democracy: Unlike indirect democracy, the imbizo “takes the government closer to the people” through unmediated engagement of the people in order to realise direct democracy and accountability. / M.A. (Politics) / Political Science