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In 2017, the European Medicines Agency staged the first effort at democratic innovation within transnational European Union institutions directly influencing the transnational regulation of medicines. Alongside its public consultation on epilepsy drug Valproate, European Medicines Agency included a public hearing involving representatives of patients and testimony from those directly affected by the medicines. Using this critical case study, the article argues from a deliberative democratic perspective that although the hearing in many ways exhibited the traditional shortcomings of elite-driven deliberation, it also demonstrated unexpected and surprising deliberative qualities. Based on new quantitative analysis of the hearing using the Discourse Quality Index, and qualitative observation of over 4 hours of footage, the article argues European Medicines Agency’s hearing facilitated equitable access and influence of patients and members of the public who had previously been excluded from decision making on drug distribution. These findings provide important new evidence of the deliberative democratic value of public hearings.

Building on recent public administration research on service coproduction and cocreation, this article draws out the democratic potential of new forms of collaborative governance between the democratic state and civil society. Within democratic theory, cocreation has many similarities with the concept of deliberative mini-publics, but it goes beyond a “talk-centric” view to emphasize the active role of civil society in creative problem-solving and public innovation. The article argues that combining insights and perspectives from both democratic theory and governance theory can provide stronger foundations for a participatory democracy that complements rather than replaces representative democracy. The article concludes with an exploration of some of the legitimation challenges that democratic cocreation might face in practice.

This study seeks to advance our understanding of policy failures as the nexus of politics and bureaucratic failure. In doing so, it presents a typology to illustrate different types of policy failures by the degree of bureaucratic capacities and politics/political incentives involved in a policy problem, and explores two cases of such failures in South Korea. This study claims that policy failures are joint products of political and bureaucratic failures to varying degrees and that the discussion of both sides helps to enhance accountability and avoid political blame games and bureau-bashing. This study reflects on two Korean cases to demonstrate politically-driven and administratively-driven failures in the high- and low-capacity bureaucracy and their consequences. These cases also reveal the dynamic nature of policy failures moving from one category to another during the policy processes. The first case concerns the failure in emergency response of the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) during and after the sinking of the ferry MV Sewol. A low bureaucratic capacity and lack of motivation to fulfill their function may be the direct cause of the failure, which will be the focus of the discussion of bureaucratic failure. Yet, it also reveals aspects of political failures before and after the accident, where politicians have failed to provide a bureaucratic agency with autonomy and stacked the deck against a less salient agency for political or electoral gains. The second case discusses the politics of preliminary feasibility studies (PFS) required for major public projects. This case explores policy failures uniquely manifested in a highly capable bureaucracy, which shows how politics-laden issues plant the seeds of policy failures driven by the prompt implementation of flawed decisions. The discussion section further discusses key arguments and implications drawn from the case studies. The final section offers concluding thoughts and avenues for future research.

Cooperatives are democratic organizations, governed and controlled by their members, who are actively involved in their policy-making and decision-making process. The aim of this paper is to investigate the correlation between cooperative culture and the way that cooperatives are governed. To this end, a probability sampling method is used in the agricultural cooperatives of the Greek prefecture of Larissa, which is one of the most powerful and dynamic in the agricultural economy. The data collection was carried out to 100 members of agricultural cooperatives through the use of a closed-ended questionnaire. The findings highlighted that agricultural cooperatives are distinguished for their increased level of cooperative culture and commitment, provided that the conditions for the democratic governance of cooperatives are met. The role played by the level of education of the members of the agricultural cooperatives was also important, thus confirming the main purpose of the research, which was none other than to prove this correlation. Finally, this correlation can lead to the improvement of certain elements which contribute to the optimization of agricultural governance.

Average citizens face difficulty evaluating competing expert claims in the public sphere, and the complexity of policy issues threatens citizens’ autonomy in democratic governance. This study exami...

Despite its importance for the sustainability of democratic governance, policy complexity is still an understudied phenomenon. What makes policies complex? Why are some policies more complex than o...

The current debate on the vitality of affluent democracies often cites the changing patterns of citizens’ political participation as signs of this malaise. Fewer citizens are voting, and more are turning toward contentious and more direct forms of participation. What are the consequences? I describe the participation patterns in affluent democracies and then consider whether these changes in citizen participation are linked to the quality of democratic performance. Some scholars see a more assertive public as overloading the political system or destroying collective views of politics. Others see contentious politics as giving citizens an additional and more effective method of influencing policymakers. The evidence on citizen participation comes from two waves of the International Social Survey Program. Measures of the functioning of government come from the Economist Intelligence Unit and the World Bank. The analyses show that a more active public is correlated with a better functioning government. Moreover, these relationships are stronger for protest and other forms of direct action than for voting in national elections. The results suggest that an assertive and elite-challenging public is more of a boon than a curse for democratic politics.

The media in Zambia have been in a state of uncertainty since Zambia reinstated democratic governance in the early 1990s. Despite promising initial steps to deregulate the media that started under ...

The judgment in Houngue Eric Noudehouenou v. Republic of Benin adds to the growing body of human rights jurisprudence on national electoral processes in Africa’s international courts. The decision demonstrates the growing importance of Africa’s regional and sub-regional courts as an alternative venue for opposition politicians, activists, and citizens to mobilize and challenge election processes and constitutional amendment processes where the playing field in their state is uneven. In turn, it reinforces the pivotal role of the regional and sub-regional courts in consolidating democratic governance in Africa, and reveals the limits of assessing the performance of Africa’s international courts solely on conventional measures of effectiveness and compliance.

This study investigated the causes and effects of 2002 electoral violence in the Wannune Area of Benue State in Central Nigeria. For the proper investigation of this violent conflict, the researchers carefully analyzed primary (oral sources) and secondary sources (extant literature) to achieve objectivity, while the approach was historical, qualitative, descriptive, and analytic. The research unveils that this electoral violence was caused by the imposition of an unpopular candidate on the electorates. In the final analysis, the paper recommends the Tiv intelligentsia to discourage politics of godfatherism and advocates proper institutionalization of democracy in Tivland, Benue State, and Nigeria on a broader perspective. The work also encourages the youths, civil society groups, stakeholders, and traditional leaders to uplift Nigeria‘s fragile democracy by fighting corruption that has contributed immensely to the failure of the present democratic governance.

State, democracy and good governance are mutually related to each other, and as India is a democratic welfare state, it is the central concern of the government to provide inclusive governance through inclusive policies to its citizen in general, and the disadvantaged people like scheduled tribes/scheduled castes (ST/SCs) in particular. Democracy and inclusive governance are conceptually linked to each other. Democracy and democratic values and practices curb the undemocratic rule, exclusion and discrimination in the society. The study argues that in spite of many legal provisions and pro-state action, the condition of STs/SCs are very vulnerable. They are lag behind in all parameters of human development to other people. Their representation in the public institution is not adequate and fair enough except in legislature. Democratic text of inclusive society could not be made possible and is far from realisation contextually. In this article, attempt has been made to evaluate and examine the democratic ethos of inclusiveness, constitutional provisions for inclusive policies and its achievement to know the status of inclusion of the excluded groups till date in the case of SC/STs in Odisha.

It is usually recognized that satisfaction with democracy is enhanced by clean governments and fair democratic procedures. However, under certain circumstances, some citizens might appreciate the quality of democratic governance more than others. Building on research that underlines the accuracy and norm-inducing functions of education, we argue that the quality of democratic governance conditions the relationship between education and satisfaction with democracy. Analyzing data from 18 Latin American countries, we find that higher-educated citizens are less satisfied with the regime than the less-educated. Among the highly educated, nonetheless, the least satisfied are those who were asked by public officials to pay bribes. Highly educated individuals are more satisfied with the regime if their country’s quality of democracy is robust rather than weak. At the lowest level of education, the conditional influence of being asked for a bribe or the quality of democracy is absent.

This introduction argues that understanding the co-construction of race, language, and nation is essential to understanding liberal democratic governance in today's world. Using the theories and methods of raciolinguistics, we argue that voicing and resemiotization are important discursive processes that people use to reconstitute selves and Others in relation to liberal democratic ideas about national belonging. Specifically, we examine how racialized redefinitions of “the body” are central to how right and left-leaning groups alike (re)define nationhood, albeit for different ends. We foreground an intersectional, international approach to understanding the role of language in constructing race and vice versa as well as the role of social media in how differently positioned groups seek empowerment.

The present research debates the role of the State in the face of the pandemic derived from the Covid-19, focusing on the case of Mexico and its consequences for democratic governance. In this sense, and previously presenting a historical context about the incremental role of the State in the last centuries, it is analyzed how the expected role of State protagonist due to the multidimensional crisis of the Covid-19 is not being produced in the North American country. On the contrary, the lack of solid and decisive action on the part of the federal executive seems to be leading to a notable increase in poverty and in the number of those who have died from the virus, which could even condition the democratic quality of the country.

This paper develops a theory of how democratic governance is possible. It analyses democracy as a laminated system consisting of three interdependent levels – the political/institutional, the socia...

Changes in political, social, and economic structures in South Africa during the transition from apartheid to democratic governance in 1994 have put men and masculinity/ies under public and scholarly scrutiny. Attention has generally focused on the links between masculinity and violence, particularly among black men from low-income backgrounds, in attempts to understand the widespread levels of sexual violence throughout the country. Together, but in tension with the focus on men and violence, has been a literature that documents gender change in South Africa. This literature argues, for example, that men are embracing fatherhood and becoming more engaged in childcare. Nevertheless, such scholarship is overshadowed by a focus on men and violence. In this article, I reflect on the lives of a group of men living in contemporary Alexandra township, Johannesburg, South Africa, who are exploring what it means to be a man and the issues and challenges they face in their attempts to transition their masculine identities.

In a representative democracy, the judiciary—the “third pillar of the state”—performs a dual function that acknowledges the importance of the separation of powers to democratic governance: to act a...

PurposeThe purpose of this research was to determine the extent to which American school board members faced electoral competition, as well as the factors influencing the likelihood of competition.Design/methodology/approachThe authors utilized original national survey data of American school board members linked with school district demographic data obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics. Several hypotheses were tested using three state-level fixed-effects logistic regression models predicting electoral competition.FindingsThe authors found that 39.6% of American school board members reported not having an opponent in their most recent election. School board members serving larger urban school districts with higher percentages of special needs students and racial minorities were more likely to have faced electoral competition.Originality/valueThe authors highlighted potential flaws in the traditional model of local democratic governance and helped expand understanding of the dissatisfaction theory of American democracy and continuous participation theory. The authors concluded with several suggestions on how the results can be used to inform future local governance reforms that increase electoral competition and/or create more effective governance models.

The meaning and nature of athlete representation in sport governance is broad and goes beyond formalistic delegate models and voting rights accounts. This article explores the meaning and nature of representation in the context of intercollegiate sport governance. Interviews were conducted with intercollegiate athlete representatives and athlete representative administrative advisors to gain an understanding of how and why athlete representatives carried out their roles. Findings revealed that the meaning and motivations of athlete representation were based on the institutionalized deliberative democratic governance system. Representation meant standing and acting for the power of the athlete voice and having the capacity to generate the athlete voice into legislation and decision making. The performative role of representatives involved self-accountability, where they accepted responsibility to engage in a deliberative process of collective decision making. Implications for practice and future research on athlete representation in a deliberative democratic sport governance system are presented.

The sweep of democratisation across the world has produced a vast literature debating both the importance and fundamental features of democratic governance. The role of constitutional courts remain...

This essay makes the case for combining the study of official integrity with consideration of governance integrity based on democratic values. Our focus is on the relatively unexplored administrati...

This article focuses on the political implications of behavioural public policy for democratic governance and participation. It is being argued that it is an influential case illuminating the way post-democratic practices gain global authority and redefine democracy and citizenship. The article is based on two assumptions: First, the rise and spread of behavioural public policy can only be understood as the result of global interactions. Second, behavioural experts manage to combine both political and epistemic authority. Based on randomized controlled trials as seemingly unquestionable evidence, behavioural insights are already feeding into the debate on the reasoning failures of citizens and the replacement of democracy by an epistocracy, i.e. a government of experts. While the behavioural discourse has informed critical reflections on deliberative democracy, proponents should be well aware of the post-democratic biases it has mobilized.

Ethiopia has embarked upon an ambitious project of revising a number of laws with a view to entrench human rights and democratic governance. Part of this legal reform program has been the revision of Computer Crime Proclamation No 958/2016. This article examines key aspects of the Draft Computer Crime Proclamation prepared by the Media Law Working Group from a human rights perspective. As it shall be shown in this article, making the cybercrime legal regime human rights friendly has been the overarching objective of the revision project. Most human rights concerns associated with the current cybercrime legislation are, as a result, rectified in the cybercrime Bill. However, the Bill goes overboard in embracing themes that go well beyond the scope of cybercrime legislation. With respect to the overall revision process, the article submits that the process has not been sufficiently inclusive.

Some studies claim that democracy is in crisis during the current pandemic while authoritarian countries better combat COVID-19 because they face no tradeoff between freedom and health. These claims, however, are usually supported by unreliable reported data; furthermore, they often overlook an important variation in government effectiveness that is likely to interact with different political regimes. In this paper, I use as the dependent variable more reliable data, excess mortality, which is available for 152 countries, and analyze the interaction effect between regime type and government effectiveness. The results reveal that democratic countries with higher government effectiveness are likely to reduce excess mortality. Democratic countries thus need not give up freedom; they need to improve government effectiveness to combat COVID-19.

Democratic governance is under increasing scrutiny as a result of waning trust in political institutions, and a widening gap between public aspirations and government performance. The purpose of th...

The aim of the presentation is to focus on the differences between two scientific contexts: the genetic engineering context of the 1970s, with specific attention paid to the use of the recombinant DNA technique to generate genetically modified molecules, and the current genome editing context, with specific attention paid to the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to modify human germ line cells genetically. In both events, scientists have been involved in discussions that have gone beyond mere professional deontology touching on specific policy issues such as freedom of research, responsibility for the consequences of research, the right of the public to participate in the evaluation of the goals of research methods, the relationship between cost and benefit and possible social consequences. The comparison between these two scientific contexts suggests the need of handling such issues by defining procedures that meet the criteria of democracy and responsibility towards society. The underlying objective should be to effectively launch actions and interventions based not on a hierarchical approach but rather a reticular conception of knowledge.

Human security should not be considered as a mere academic rhetoric―it is, in fact, a political tool aimed at transforming individuals from conditions of exploitation and domination to that of political participation and accountability. This paper adopts political governance perspectives to analyze human security in Africa. It argues that without accountable democratic governance, the expressed objectives of human security would be difficult to achieve in Africa. By this focus, the paper adopts a broader view of human security, satisfying both the governance and development prerequisites of the concept, which has underpinned [in] security in Africa. The overall estimation of human security in Africa is that only a marginal improvement has been made in the region, especially over the last decade.

Bureaucratic reforms worldwide seek to improve the quality of governance. In this article, we argue that the major governance failures are political, not bureaucratic, and the first step to better governance is to recognize the underlying political causes. Using illustrations from throughout the world, we contend that political institutions fail to provide clear policy goals, rarely allocate adequate resources to deal with the scope of the problems, and do not allow the bureaucracy sufficient autonomy in implementation. Rational bureaucratic responses to these problems, in turn, create additional governance problems that could have been avoided if political institutions perform their primary functions.

En este trabajo se reflexiona sobre algunos problemas institucionales de la gobernanza democrática y sobre cuál es el tipo de democracia deseable. En el artículo se evalúa la validez del diagnóstico pesimista de algunos autores –Caplan, Brennan, van Reybrouck, Mounk– basado en causas institucionales y disfunciones sociales. Desde perspectivas distintas señalan el debilitamiento de las democracias y la desconexión de las acciones políticas partidarias de los ideales democráticos, como expresión de una pérdida de legitimidad política puesta de manifiesto por los neopopulismos, This paper reflects on some institutional problems of democratic governance and on what kind of democracy is desirable. The article assesses the validity of the pessimistic diagnosis of some authors –Caplan, Brennan, van Reybrouck, Mounk– based on institutional causes and social dysfunctions. From different perspectives they point to the weakening of democracies and the disconnection of political actions in favour of democratic ideals, as an expression of a loss of political legitimacy manifested by neo-populisms

This article examines whether the public holds biased perceptions of public organizations (in this case, hospitals) in the United States and whether organizations get credit for positive results from program evaluations. Using an experimental design that replicates Hvidman and Andersen's 2016 Danish study, the study finds no negative public sector biases in the United States, but organizations are not given any credit for positive program evaluations. These results hold in two experimental replications. The implications of the findings for the measurement of public perceptions of government programs and for effective democratic governance are discussed.

The ‘gentrification’ of Niccolo Machiavelli There is an ongoing debate on the nature and relevance of the political work of Niccolo Machiavelli. This debate has always been deeply influenced by the ideological spirit of the time. In our time Machiavelli is reinterpreted again. His ideas seem to be being cleaned up, sanitized from the unpleasant and objectionable aspects that for a long time were considered almost proverbial. In current historiography Machiavelli is widely seen as a precursor of republican, even democratic governance. On the basis of a review of prominent recent studies into his life and work, this literature essay concludes that the gentrification of Machiavelli is in full swing.

The question, ‘which kind of democratic governance people prefer’, has moved to the forefront in current democracy research. This article uses existing hypotheses on democratic preferences as an input and employs an advanced research design to find out what citizens want if they had engaged in deliberation and reflection. We conducted an online-experiment with a deliberative treatment asking 256 German citizens in 2016. Our findings show that deliberation does not lead to more informed or differential preferences for governance models compared with getting informed or ‘thinking twice’. One reason are high levels of consistency between basic democratic values and governance choices already before the experiment, contradicting our initial assumption that preferences about democracy are generally ill-formed. Overall, our experiment shows that post-deliberative democratic preferences are mainly driven by issue salience and disenchantment with the actual shape of representative democracy. We detect a sort of a ‘populist’ impulse where disenchantment conduces to calls for a stronger voice of the ‘people’ and participatory governance models, irrespective of their concrete design.

This article investigates democratic innovations of a plebiscitary and action-oriented type that diverge from a predominantly transformative and reflective definition of democratic innovation. Conceptually, the article offers a balanced, extended framework that serves to recognize and understand a range of democratic innovations that includes non-deliberative besides deliberative models and methods. Empirically, the article offers a closer look at three exemplary cases focusing on the rebound of aggregative democracy through the (quasi-)referendum, the advent of collaborative democratic governance through concerted action, and of do-it-ourselves democracy through pragmatic activism. Ultimately, the article calls for a practice and theory of democratic innovation aware of and sensitive to the reality of democratic hybridization.

Our lives are increasingly mediated by information technologies (IT). Concurrently, technological mediation has changed our epistemic circumstances. In particular, some technologies have a negative epistemic impact on online news consumers. Such change threatens forms of democracy that require minimal competence on the part of citizenry. Here I consider the possible democratic governance of these technologies.

Some scholars argue that democratic countries are in crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic and authoritarian countries tend to combat COVID-19. However, these studies are usually based on reported data susceptible to manipulation and often overlook successful cases such as New Zealand and Taiwan, which are considered to have higher levels of government effectiveness. Using excess mortality data from 78 countries, this study analyzed the impact of government effectiveness and its relationship with political regimes. The results revealed that democratic countries with higher government effectiveness can reduce COVID-19 excess mortality. This study suggests that democratic countries need not give up freedom and need to improve government effectiveness to combat COVID-19.

This article aimed to identify and understand how the formation process of qualified groups is structured to act in the monitoring of public purchases in a municipality in Minas Gerais under the perspective of the concept of mini-public. The methodology used is qualitative, exploratory and descriptive in nature, represented by the development of bibliographic, documentary research, on-site visits and interviews. For data analysis, the content analysis technique was used. The analyzed mini-public is characterized as a democratic space for participation and deliberation with significant consequences for the quality of democratic governance, such as the increased accountability of public agents and entities, the expansion of citizenship, the improvement of public policies and the widening of participation of citizens in public decisions. Este artículo tuvo como objetivo identificar y comprender cómo se estructura el proceso de formación de grupos calificados para actuar en el monitoreo de las compras públicas en una ciudad de Minas Gerais bajo la perspectiva del concepto de mini-público. La metodología utilizada es de naturaleza cualitativa, exploratoria y descriptiva, representada por el desarrollo de investigación bibliográfica, documental, visitas in situ y entrevistas. Para el análisis de datos, se utilizó la técnica de análisis de contenido. El minipúblico analizado se caracteriza por ser un espacio democrático para la participación y la deliberación con consecuencias significativas para la calidad de la gobernanza democrática, como la mayor responsabilidad de los agentes y entidades públicas, la expansión de la ciudadanía, la mejora de las políticas públicas y la ampliación de la participación. de ciudadanos en decisiones públicas. O presente artigo teve como objetivo identificar e compreender como se estrutura o processo de formação de grupos qualificados para atuar no monitoramento das compras públicas de um município mineiro sob a ótica do conceito de minipúblico. A metodologia utilizada é de natureza qualitativa, de caráter exploratório e descritivo, representada pelo desenvolvimento de pesquisa bibliográfica, documental, visita in loco e entrevista. Para análise dos dados foi utilizada a técnica de análise de conteúdo. O minipúblico analisado caracteriza-se como um espaço democrático de participação e deliberação com consequências significativas para a qualidade da governança democrática, como o aumento da accountability de agentes e entidades públicas, a ampliação da cidadania, o aperfeiçoamento das políticas públicas e o alargamento da participação de cidadãos nas decisões públicas.

Purpose Information systems (IS) play an important role in contemporary society, but critical questions remain on their potential use and impact on democracy. This study aims to contribute to the discussion on which technology can be adequate to which major challenge of democratic governance, through the identification and pairing of challenges of democratic governance with specific information technologies with the potential to be used in applications related to this challenge. This perspective can be considered positioned in the confluence between IS, political science and public administration. Design/methodology/approach Design science research, a research approach in IS, was used. The suggestion of a conceptual framework with pairs of challenges in democratic governance and information technologies was initially developed. In a subsequent phase, this framework was discussed and assessed through interviews with a panel of selected experts in e-government and IS, reaching a revised conceptual framework. Findings Results suggest that the conceptual pairing of challenges in democratic governance with IS’s solutions such as artificial intelligence, systems integration or blockchain technologies, for instance, if used in a critical, transparent and accountable way, can play a role in capacitating the delivery of better public services and contribute to encouraging citizen trust and political participation. These results may contribute to open a methodological agenda dedicated to the selection of adequate IS resources to address specific challenges of democratic governance, as well as to help in the development of public policies in the area. Originality/value Previous studies on digital government offer important insights on the impact of information and communication technologies-enabled public governance tools for government openness, public service efficiency and user-friendliness, and for citizen political participation and societal mobilization. But the literature still lacks a systematic conceptual framework mapping and assessing the role of distinctive IS instruments in democratic challenge-solving and specifying functional relationships between specific technology and democratic outcomes. This paper aims to contribute to filling this analytical gap.

This paper broadly examines the continued nuancing of the practice of democracy in Africa with a focus on how Africa’s democratic governance is increasingly getting influenced by new actors in the international system, who are driving the formation of a new world order that challenges the current unipolar liberal global order. The paper traces the origins and rationale of the democratization project in Africa and uses this as a basis to delve into some issues around which many African countries have increasingly been engaging with new actors. These broad aspects include: Africa’s international relations, peace and security; civil liberties as well as investments and trade. This paper contends that some states in Africa are charting middle grounds that increasingly, specifically align with their national/elite interests, and broadly, is in tune with the consolidating discourse on Africa Rising.

Democracy assistance is targeted and with the limited capacities of the individual Visegrad states, the governments need to prioritize where to send aid and where to engage in terms of helping the formation of democratic governance. In this chapter, the geographical priorities of the four states in their democracy assistance agendas are observed. The chapter seeks to clarify the differentiated geographical focuses and also the historical evolution of prioritizing target states in the context of the geo-strategic goals of the Visegrad states. Statistics related to democracy assistance directed to selected countries are also presented.

Decentralization policy in English education since 2010 has resulted in the creation of large groupings of schools as Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), governed and led by central leadership teams and trustees. However, research illustrates that many of these organisations are failing to connect with school communities and as a result are growing too distant from those they purport to serve. This paper uses documentary analysis and interviews with 30 MAT Board Members to examine this key area. The paper reveals that although there are some strategies in place to overcome this issue, that failure to implement fundamental processes such as communication strategies are leading to fragmentation and feelings of disconnect, particularly amongst trustees, and this raises questions as to the extent to which MATs are in touch with and serving their school communities.

Since the post-Suharto era in 1998, decentralization has been established as the major institutional reform in Indonesia. It has been implemented as the policy framework which aims not only to generate development but also to promote democratization through the establishment of direct elections for local executive leaders. In fact, promoting democracy by establishing local executive elections in Indonesia is challenging. The inability of national policy to adapt to the local customary practice creates a barrier in implementing the ideal concept of democracy, namely free and fair elections. This chapter addresses the problems of free and fair elections by examining the practice of the “noken” system in Papua, the name of a traditional bag which evolved as an election mechanism in several districts in Papua’s central highland area. This research utilizes eight indicators of free and fair elections to analyze the problems in every stage of election: before the election, on the election, and after the election. Based on the literature, policy-study, and data from newspaper articles, this research argues that the practice of noken system contravenes with the principles of democracy. The absence of law and regulation to standardize this customary practice becomes a major drawback in promoting democratic governance at the periphery region.

Scholars regard the proliferation of omnibus legislative packages as an important institutional change with various implications for democratic governance. After first considering the reasons why omnibus packages are employed in the U.S. Congress and the best way to measure omnibus legislating, this paper examines the aggregate trends in omnibus usage from 1948–2018 and the effect of omnibus usage on presidential-congressional relations. The trend data show an explosion of omnibus use in the U.S. national legislature from 1979–1996, followed by a contraction in omnibus use since that time. However, large bill usage continues and is especially robust around the annual budget reconciliation bill in Congress and there is a persistent incentive to use the technique to package many of the 12–14 U.S. appropriations bills together in larger measures. Unlike the apparent trend in other democratic systems, wherein the executive benefits disproportionately from omnibus usage to the detriment of the legislature, omnibus bills by and large benefit Congress more than the president. Within Congress, majority party members benefit more from their use than do minority party members. The discussion section explores the good and bad of the omnibus technique for American governance.

This chapter brings out the findings and analysis of the journey of various actors towards implementation of UNSCR 1325. The chapter reflects on two decades of progress and challenges since the establishment of the resolution in 2000. Evaluation of the journey is framed within the “3Ps plus 1” pillars: prevention, protection, participation, and relief and recovery. The documentary review and content analysis reveal a number of insights. Key among these are: the number of women participating in peace negotiations in official roles as negotiators, mediators, signatories or witnesses remains low globally; data from a study undertaken in 2008, which scanned 33 peace negotiations, found that only 11 out of 280 (4%) of participants were women; and a study by UN Women of 31 major peace processes between 1992 and 2011 revealed that only 4% of signatories, 2.4% of chief mediators, 3.7% of witnesses and 9% of negotiators were women. This grim situation on the implementation status of UNSCR 1325 does not necessarily paint the full picture of the status of women. There are some success stories about the benefits that UNSCR 1325 has brought for women in Africa. This chapter, and indeed the entire book, recognizes such lessons and documents evidence from around the world and across cultures showing the positive outcomes of integrating women and gender considerations into peacebuilding and peacekeeping processes. Moreover, gender considerations across sectors of society tend to promote democratic governance, reinforcing a culture of inclusivity and long-term stability for states.

In recent years, a plethora of well-known data scandals has led to calls for alternative forms of social media governance. What challenges of institutional design would have to be met for developing meaningful democratic governance structures for a social media platform? Intertwining philosophical and technological considerations, this article explores the possibility and feasibility of democratically governed social media. We focus on the necessary technological requirements that guarantee secure voting for social media user participation. While we provide several arguments in favor of democratically governed social media from within, we argue that it should not be considered as an alternative to social media regulation from the outside.

Democratic governance has been seen as a catalyst for inclusive growth and meaningful development in many countries. Shifting from authoritarian rule to more democratic rule has also been seen as essential for many governments worldwide. Democratic governance is often a problem for developing countries, including most African countries and particularly The Gambia. This paper analyses the shift towards a more democratic governance style that is heated debated in The Gambia. The debate started when one of the coalition government members asserted that they could achieve regime change; however, a democratic system change remains lacking. This paper has sought to analyze whether the shift toward a more democratic leadership style in The Gambia is one of system change or regime change and ascertain what has democratically changed and bad governance in the new government. This article’s main objective is to create political awareness and enlighten the readers on the change’s misconceptions towards democratic governance. The discussion focuses on democratic governance and the collective action theory of governance to explain the democratic process in New Gambia. This study adopts qualitative case study research methods; the research employed a systematic review of the existing scholarly journal articles, books, newspapers, and television interview recordings. The observation used to identify, understand, and interpret the democratic governance situation in The Gambia from 2017 to 2019. The findings show that the coalition government has succeeded in achieving a democratic regime change; however, the democratic system change itself is too slow, or it is not happening. For the first time in The Gambia’s history, a seating president defeat through the ballot box. In conclusion, the democratic governance system change is far-fetched. It is vital to state that there is little or no difference between Jammeh’s regime and the current regime under President Barrow’s leadership. The same problems continue to persist. Finally, the transparency and accountability mechanisms must be enhanced to address the endemic problem of corruption.