Through an ethnographic study of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) - an organisation renowned for its persistent fight against corruption in India - this thesis explores the aspirations and tensions of anti-corruption activists. In their commitment to improving governance structures by means of campaigning for transparency and accountability laws and policies, these activists ultimately aspire to strengthen democratic practice and to improve statecraft. By studying in detail the forms of actions, dynamics, politics and relationships among anti-corruption activists, the thesis explores how ideas of the state and democracy come to be internalised and addressed by civil society actors. The context is the nation-wide anti-corruption agitation that swept the country through most of 2011. This agitation gave rise to friction between civil society actors otherwise working for similar ends, leading to tension and competition on what constitutes democratic process and procedure. Based on extensive fieldwork, the thesis examines the ways in which MKSS responded to the shifting political landscape of anti-corruption activism. Drawing on the notion of relationality, I argue that political positions and identities are shaped and consolidated circumstantially through an oppositional stance and through processes of 'othering'. In considering the diverging understandings of democracy among civil society actors, this thesis seeks to expand ethnographically the theoretical concept of 'agonistic pluralism' (Mouffe 1999), that postulates that political conflict and disagreement is not only integral, but, moreover, crucial to democratic debate. Based on this conceptualisation, the conflict over the meaning of democracy among the anti-corruption activists is considered here as creating space for the expansion and enrichment of democratic debate. The very essence of democracy in India, as will be concluded, is constituted by such a productive tension.

Maintaining the essential features of local democracy, representation and contestation, my theory allows for the representation of the interest of subpopulations in the global community by actors such as nongovernmental organization and intergovernmental organizations. I will begin by outlining what features are necessary for a theory’s consideration as democratic in nature. Then, relying upon democracy in a broad sense, it will be my aim to demonstrate that the right to democracy is universal human right. The following stage will provide the backing, by way of the moral progress of human rights, that the right to democracy is expressible by “importantly affected” subgroups in the global arena. The final stage of my conceptual defense will focus on the validation of representatives who have no institutional connection with the populations they represent. With such established, the paper will proceed into a practical defense, discussing how claims made by actors can be accepted or rejected by represented subpopulations. It will then become necessary to demonstrate that the paternalistic claims made by representatives are incorporable into a democratic theory without forgoing the essence of democracy. To show this is feasible, methods of appealing paternalistic claims by way of international human rights courts will be explained. Finally, possibilities to mediate general feasibility issues will be explored.

Within the parameters of western ideology the concept of democracy is frequently upheld as a corner stone to which our moral, social, political and educational practices are anchored. The term has become a powerful instrument of persuasion in the public forums as the innate goodness of democracy has become more unquestionably ingrained in the historical imaginations of its citizens. As the logic surrounding the value placed on democracy is entwined with the virtues of freedom and self-determination for all, this is hardly surprising. What remains often unexplored in these public forums, however, is whether this logic is in fact justified. To situate the investigation into the current political arena is to acknowledge the dichotomy by which the philosophies of democracy and capitalism are publicly claimed to exist side by side. Such an acknowledgement forcefully yields one to the questions of to what extent our current ideologies of democracy, and the perpetuation of this dogma through our education system, can successfully result in producing an authentic democratic society within capitalist constructs. This thesis has been written in an attempt to expose the contradiction present between our current political claims of democracy and our capitalist directed practices of education through the critical philosophy of Paulo Freire. Freire has firmly established himself as a respected democratic educator, however, my intention has not been to reduce his educational pedagogy by adapting it to attempt to improve the current system of schooling, as I argue is frequently found within educational literature, but rather to differentiate his democratic philosophy of education as the practice of freedom from the capitalist concept of education as a tool of domination and domestication. I argue that the logic of transnational capitalism, which dictates the policies and practices of our education system, is detrimental to the development of the peoples' critical thinking facilities and thus negates their individual and collective empowerment. Such a system of banking education actively denies people the right to participate in history as subjects and inhibits the possibility of an authentic democracy. In this way the capitalist education system is in fact a system of oppression. Through Freire's critical pedagogy I argue that the transference ofknowledge through an authoritarian system does not constitute as education but is instead a training ground for workers set up in the interests of capitalist employers. Social class divisions are maintained and enforced by means of a paternalistic apparatus of hierarchy. In supporting Freire's philosophy, and acknowledging the entirely political nature of education, I argue that an education system that would support an authentic democracy would have to practice authentic democracy. Through the concepts of 'promblematization', dialogue, critical transitivity and praxis I have attempted to refute the fatalistic assumptions that such an education system is unconceivable or unexplainable. Indeed, I argue that if our goal is to live in a democracy then such concepts are unavoidable. The historical case study from the history of the New Zealand education system is included to illustrate the theory in practice. Here I argue that the intentions, practices and policies of the legislators were anti-democratic and anti-educational in that they constructed a compulsory system that is detrimental to the development of critical thought, self determination and dialogical knowing that is necessary to allow each member of society to be part of the governing system. By examining the consequences and legacy of this system it is possible to expose its influences in the larger educational realm in society. It is not my intention to simply present New Zealand education as an isolated case which requires examination but rather as a prominent example of how Freire's philosophy applies to traditional education in the west. This thesis is therefore aimed at re-defining the concepts of democracy and education through critically examining the socio-economic conditions necessary for effective and equal participation in democratic forums. By critiquing the current system via the vehicle of Freire's philosophy, a prominent democratic educator, the divide between democracy as an illusion and as a reality becomes clearer.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept of Political Science, December 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 20uu. Graduate Programme in Social and Political Thought. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 419-434). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ99144

This study deals with the issue of democratization in Latin America during the 20th century, and in particular the role of the left in this process. The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the role of the left as a political actor in the process of democratization toward the deepening of the democratic rule in Latin America. The research questions are: what role did the left have in the transitions to electoral democracies during the 20th century in Latin America? Why did the left have the role it had in the transitions? How does the left’s view of democracy affect the transition to electoral democracy, and the further democratization to deepen democratic rule? What structural constraints affect the left’s ability to deepen democratic rule? A comparative qualitative method and different theoretical concepts of democracy, democratization, elite perspective, mobilization and organizations have been used, and examples from different Latin American cases are given. One empirical conclusion is that the role of the left in the transitions to electoral democracies varies from participation with active left leaders, collective left actions, to not have any significant role at all. A second empirical conclusion is that in cases where left wing governments have tried to enforce a model of participatory democracy, the result has been “ coup d’état” or rebellions conducted by military forces and supported by the economic elite and the United States of America. In other cases when left parties in government instead have remained within the framework of an elite democracy, the result has rather been stabilization of the liberal democratic rule. The main theoretical conclusions are as follows: the theoretical discussion about democratic consolidation and the deepening of democracy have to consider that different actors’ (in this study the left) preferences for various models of democracy differ; the actors’ view of democracy matter in the game of democratic development and democratic consolidation; and the relations between the elite actors’ preferences for different models of democracy determine the outcome of a specific form of democratic model (in this study electoral democracy, liberal democracy or participatory democracy).

Over the past 30 years, the Chinese policy of village self-governance has promoted a system of democratically elected autonomous committees to wield authority at the village level. Particularly in the period since 1998, the village committee system has made impressive achievements in most areas of electoral rules and procedures. Relatively free and fair elections have become commonplace throughout much of the Chinese countryside, and the level of competition and openness has gradually increased. Nonetheless, village self-governance has had only a modest impact on the actual political configuration of most villages, as Communist Party influence and state-imposed constraints have limited the ability of elected officials to exercise authority independently. It is hoped that future Chinese leaders will continue to strengthen the institutional framework of democratic village governance, and take steps to restrain the influence of non-democratic actors.

Over the past 30 years, the Chinese policy of village self-governance has promoted a system of democratically elected autonomous committees to wield authority at the village level. Particularly in the period since 1998, the village committee system has made impressive achievements in most areas of electoral rules and procedures. Relatively free and fair elections have become commonplace throughout much of the Chinese countryside, and the level of competition and openness has gradually increased. Nonetheless, village self-governance has had only a modest impact on the actual political configuration of most villages, as Communist Party influence and state-imposed constraints have limited the ability of elected officials to exercise authority independently. It is hoped that future Chinese leaders will continue to strengthen the institutional framework of democratic village governance, and take steps to restrain the influence of non-democratic actors.

Throughout Latin America the conservative terms established at the outset of democratization, which often limited the scope of democracy for the preservation of stability, have been exhausted. Coinciding with the emergence of the Latin American left, the initial terms of democracy are being redefined through the reconstitution of the state and the renegotiation of the role of the state in the economy. These phenomena are presently and precipitously unfolding in Bolivia. Bolivia’s failure to establish substantively democratic institutions resulted in a political-economy orientation incongruent to the preferences of the electorate. The electorate was forced to push their interests by means of increasingly assertive social movements, which coalesced, forming viable leftist party alternatives. Seeking to redefine the parameters of the state, the actualization of the left’s nationalization agenda reversed decades-old policies of privatization that had been maintained through pacted executive legislative relations. In redefining Bolivian democracy, the left has confronted a resistant opposition, which has thrust the country into a political impasse, the outcome of which has yet to be determined.

In an effort to strengthen democracy in the union, the EU in 2005 took a new approach to communications policy to reach out to the citizens. The strategic document "Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate" was accompanied by two other documents, and the three of them were the core of this policy. Both democracy and communications work means at EU level a higher complexity than in the nation-state arena. Objective of this study is to examine how the implementation of Plan D has turned out in a democracy renewal perspective. To achieve that answers are sought to questions concerning the goals of Plan D, how they are still present today, what happened in practice regarding the efforts that are highlighted, and how the substance of the activities can be judged from a democratic theory perspective. Implementation theory, communication theory and democratic theory are central elements in answering these questions. The study is divided into three analytical levels: European, national, regional and local level. The method used is thoroughly qualitative text analysis. At regional and local level, a comparative case study concentrates in two organizations involved in the implementation work. The empirical material used consists of documents related to Plan D, and partly the result of interviews with officials who work practically with communication. The study shows that the focus of communications work is not on citizen participation in decision-making, much of the work is all about information and that it is characterized with a classic view of communication. Given that it is considered that the studied implementation of Plan D is not about a European civil dialogue where participation in the decision making is a central part.