Politics Archives - Page 64 of 143

Democracy

The Soviet Roots of Democratic Crisis in Latvia

As the country falls under populist rule is it a change — or an old story?

November 20, 2018 • by Maija Spurina

A New York Times article by Andrew Higgins paints a troubling picture of Latvia falling under populist rule. Higgins' concern is based on the results of the recent elections that makes possible a coalition between what he calls a "pro-Russian" and anti-establishment parties. Although his summary of the election results is accurate, ...

The Soviet Roots of Democratic Crisis in Latvia

Feature

No Shortage of Competition

Challenging Pelosi for leadership in the House

November 17, 2018 • by John Lawrence

A week after recapturing the majority, Democrats have a healthy competition for key leadership positions among a younger generation of House members. That election also quashed the major premise of malcontents insisting on the replacement of Nancy Pelosi as speaker: Democrats won despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent by ...

Democracy

Further Thoughts on Putting Liberal Democracy First

Why we need consensus on the democratic left to defend liberal institutions

November 16, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

I’ve been obsessively writing about the dangers of Trump and Trumpism for the past two years. This obsession has taken over my Facebook feed, originally intended as a way to showcase my band; has completely hijacked my first sabbatical leave in 20 years; has transformed me into a very active ...

Further Thoughts on Putting Liberal Democracy First

Feature

Franz Kafka, Sociologist of Domination

A Review of “Kafka, Angry Poet”

November 16, 2018 • by Richard Lachmann

Kafka, Angry Poet ([2011] 2015), Pascale Casanova’s final book (she died in September 2018), offers an innovative and insightful reading of Kafka’s literary work and of his place in early twentieth century Czech, German, and Jewish intellectual debates. However, Casanova does more, and what she does deserves attention from sociologists concerned ...

Democracy

Politics, Pessimism, and Populism

We have lost the sense of the possible that social democracy injected into postwar liberal democracy

November 15, 2018 • by Sheri Berman

The rise of right-wing populism is probably the most pressing problem facing Europe today. Many analysts, including myself, have linked the rise of populism to the decline of the social democratic or center-left. Many traditional social democratic voters now vote populist; social democracy’s embrace of a “kinder, gentler” neoliberalism opened a policy “space” ...

Democracy

Not Knowing What We’ve Got Til It’s Gone

We need to both defend liberal democratic norms and institutions and address their fault lines

November 14, 2018 • by Leo Casey

In my contribution to the Dissent Magazine discussion of the “Crisis of Democracy” which provided the inspiration for our reflections in this symposium, I put forward the argument that attacks on the citizenship rights of racialized ‘others’ are central to Trumpism and other variants of the populist authoritarianism of the far right that have taken ...

Not Knowing What We’ve Got Til It’s Gone

Feature

Protect Mueller

Demonstrations in Washington show unwavering support for Special Counsel Robert Mueller

November 14, 2018 • by Jo Freeman

Progressive groups called for protests throughout the nation to demand that President Trump not interfere with the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian attempts to affect US elections. The effort to SAVE MUELLER was prompted by the forced resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on November 7, the day ...

Democracy

The Crisis of Democracy is a Crisis of the Left

A capitalism transformed by a strong version of social democracy should be our political goal

November 13, 2018 • by Michael Walzer

It is a crisis for democracy when the left is weak and unable to mobilize its natural constituency. All I want to do today is to unpack that sentence. Why is this a crisis? Democracy requires some degree of equality, but capitalism and neo-liberal economic policies produce inequality: a steady pressure ...

The Crisis of Democracy is a Crisis of the Left

Feature

Gender Ideology and the Brazilian Elections

Bolsonaro represents a hegemonic, masculine, and violent form of inhabiting the world

November 13, 2018 • by Mariana Prandini Assis and Ana Carolina Ogando

Jair Bolsonaro, the recently elected Brazilian president, is now well known, both nationally and internationally, for his misogynistic and homophobic declarations. During a parliamentary debate in 2014, Bolsonaro told one of the few women members of Parliament, Deputy Maria do Rosário, that he would not rape her because she was too ugly ...

Gender Ideology and the Brazilian Elections

Blue Monday

Help! Being #AgainstTrump is Not Easy

Charting the future of democratic politics in light of Tuesday’s elections

November 12, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

Even by the frenetic standards of our extremely high speed society, the past week has been an eventful one in U.S. politics. On Tuesday a historic election broke records for voter turnout in a midterm election, returned the Democrats to control of the House and to the governorships of seven important states, ...

Democracy

Arrows into the Heart of Democracy

Attacks on Gender Studies and the conquest of democracy

November 12, 2018 • by Sabine Hark

The history of women’s suffrage taught us that democratic rights and institutions must be fought for and can never be taken for granted. They are fragile. Today, in the face of worldwide attacks on democratic rights and the neo-reactionary conquest of democracy, we desperately need to remember this. In countries such ...

Feature

Constructing the Neoliberal-Neoconservative Alliance in Israel

The Role of American-funded Think Tanks

November 12, 2018 • by Ben Weinberg

On October 15, 2010 Roger Hertog, Chairman of the New York based Tikvah Fund, gave a remarkably revealing speech. The occasion was his acceptance of the William E. Simon Prize, an award granted annually to prominent philanthropists who invest heavily in promoting free enterprise, and in the speech he laid bare the principles ...