Democracy

The development of sociology was born out of two revolutions: the French Revolution of 1789, and the Industrial revolution. Both of these events destroyed all previous social norms and created a new social organization: the modern industrial society. In particular, the French Revolution destroyed not only the political and social foundations of France, but almost every country in Europe and the North Americas. Ideas of liberty and equality were put into practice, setting the stage for a completely new social and political order. These changes also represented the victory for the downtrodden in France, and the beginnings of societies in other countries based on the individual and individualism...

Greece is a beautiful country steeped in a rich tradition of art and culture. It is situated in the southernmost part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is surrounded by the Ionian Sea in the west, the Mediterranean Sea in the south, the Aegean Sea in the east, Turkey and Bulgaria in the northeast, Macedonia in the north, and Albania in the northwest. Athens is the capital of Greece. It is also the largest city in Greece. Greece has a number of small islands as a part of it. A large part of Greece is of a mountainous terrain. It has a temperate climate with mild wet winters and warm dry summers. Greece has a few rivers but none of those can be navigated. Greece has been a democratic republic since1975. It...

Jeremy Kahn, former managing editor at The New Republic, recently wrote an article on Nation Branding for Foreign Policy magazine saying, "In the absence of political transformation, nation branding often amounts to nothing more than misdirection." He claims that, "Transformation of a country's image can only come after the country is transformed." A country and its citizens should not have to wait for massive reform before it starts leveraging and promoting what it has to offer the world. A country needs to identify its strengths (all nations have them,) stay true to their reality, and place themselves on a global platform. South Africa is a prime example of a nation laden with political turmoil...

The right to vote is a privilege not to be taken lightly. Ask any convicted felon who has lost that right. So it irks me tremendously when I hear entitled voters stating that they will not vote for whatever reason. Voting privileges were won for the common citizen with tremendous hardship and those who have inherited this legacy must exercise it responsibly today. This is a sentiment that would undoubtedly hold favor with the survivors of the suffrage movements of the past. To voluntarily refuse to vote in a national election should indeed be viewed as nothing short of betrayal and desertion of your country in its time of need. WHAT'S AT STAKE? Refusing to vote is a sure sign that a citizen is...

In any society there is the illusion of freedom, and if we believe we are free, well then I guess we are. Yet, if we as a society decide to feel trapped, without opportunity or denied the pursuit of happiness, we will not feel free. Nevertheless, some freedom is given up by citizens through laws, taxes, or agreed upon social contract. And just as gravity is a barrier we accept such rules to a large extent in a similar fashion. After all, we call things like gravity, natural "laws" of physics, but they do severely restrict our freedom of movement. In the US we have a sort of economic enslavement brewing, but we should expect this as we have failed to make good on the promises of capitalism, while the...

The American constitution ratified in 1789 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the most successful constitutions in the world since it has remained almost unchanged to this day while at the same time remaining a major source of authority in the United States . However there has been some serious criticism of it over the years. This article will outline and address the main criticisms made to the American constitution by its critics [1]. The strongest criticism made to the American Constitution is that it is an undemocratic constitution. Critics point to the fact that the Federalist movement was explicitly anti-democratic at the time of the drafting and ratification of the American constitution...

For a person as curious as me, I am always out on some sort of discovery. No wonder travel writing appeals so much to me because it gives me the opportunity to explore interesting new places all the time. But of course my inquisitive mind never rests, so when I am not traveling out of town, I venture out locally right here in my chosen home town of Toronto to investigate the nooks and crannies of my city. Over the last few years I have had an opportunity to explore many different cities in many different ways, by walking, through driving tours, sightseeing buses, architectural tours, even boat tours or by taking public transit; but one of my very favourite ways is to discover a city by bicycle. With...

India's soft attitude towards the biggest menace of terrorism has been taken as an advantage by the militants. Ten terrorists could easily board a ship in Pakistan with a huge amounts of arms and ammunition and sail in the Arabian ocean for several days without being caught by the naval security authorities either in Pakistan or in India. In addition to this this small group of terrorists created a sensation in Mumbai as seen in the hollywood horror movies. According to eye witnesses they carried the most modern arms like AK-47 riffles, Pistols, magazines, etc. They are tech-savvy and were drugged as reported in the press. To counter them in Mumbai's railway station the police constables who were...

A referendum is undemocratic. I hear you say, no, surely you have that the wrong way round? Surely a referendum is democratic, isn't it? Everybody gets a chance to vote on an issue. So that's about as democratic as could possibly be? No, you read it right. A referendum is NOT democratic. The focus of this article is on the European Union (EU) but I would suppose the conclusion reached is probably applicable to all countries. Anyway, in the EU it has been found that there is an increasing tendency for member states to turn to the referendum to give legitimacy to their policy decisions. Democracy is primarily about the constitution of a nation. In a democratic constitution, there are government...

I write this plea to the People of America, the rightful wielders of the most powerful weapon bestowed upon the human race... freedom. Freedom was not a gift OF man, but TO man. Over the two-plus centuries, since the Founders penned the documents, that we should hold dear second only to the Book from which they were inspired, our freedoms have been whittled and threatened by the very people that should be protecting it. The Founders, however optimistic that the People would never let this happen, warned about the possibility and provided guidance in how to avoid it. There may be those that say "we're still free" or "times have changed"... I subscribe that these same people are of the ilk that have...

The Soviet Union or Union of Soviet Socialist Republic is existed from 1922 to 1991. As an offshoot of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Union grew to a union of fifteen republics. The Soviet was the foremost communist country during those times. It came to rival the United States as superpowers. The collapse of the Soviet Union began when it failed to invade Afghanistan during the 1980s. The Afghan invasion was an attempt by the Union to have a significant and strategic influence in the Middle East which was the major oil supplier in the world. The Afghan War lasted until the Soviet pullout in 1988. This led to the decline of Soviet's influence in world politics. Also, in late 1980s, the...

england expects Many newspapers accurately pinpoint the powerful public mood onimmigration and asylum, yet all are seemingly puzzled as to why New Labour seem hell bent on allowing so many in with so few checksin place, if any at all. It seems palpably clear to me that this is simply so they will all VOTE New Labour, and the Superstate will come further into being on the backof it, as no one will ever be able again in the future to vote it out, if indeedvoting is to be allowed in the future envisaged by our supremos. Several years, and many eons ago, New Labour flourished in a political  vacuum. We were all tired of politics, sleaze, stagnation and a somewhatone horse race. However, the British...

The strict Salutary Neglect policy arose from Great Britain's endeavor to promote prosperity within the Colonies. This act was endorsed by St. Andrews Episcopal, and existed from 1607-1763. It was enacted in an attempt to limit English control over the American Colonies by permitting more freedoms to the pilgrims. This policy imperatively developed American society in legislative assemblies, commerce, and religion. Salutary Neglect led to the formation of legislative assemblies within the colonies due to the lack of governing influence in North America. Citizens exercised their newfound freedom and formed legislative assemblies leading to the establishment of their own government. The movement...

The 2004 presidential election recorded one of the largest turnouts in recent American politics, as incumbent President George W. Bush defeated challenger Senator John Kerry. That year, 63.8% of registered voters turned out to cast their votes. So, where were the other 36.2% of registered voters? Millions of Americans readily take for granted their suffrage, their right to vote. I find this disturbing especially for blacks and women who had to wait for so long and fight so hard to win suffrage -- the 13th Amendment for blacks; the 19th Amendment for women. There must be reasons why too many Americans don't vote. What could it be that keeps eligible American voters from taking part in the biggest...

Government is perceived by increasing numbers of people to be sliding into a dark in which the final vestiges of our democracy are abandoned. Bodies such as Congress are considered to have become rubber stamps to laws that are passed over our heads in service of a ruling oligarchy of corporate moguls. More and more people are becoming aware that this or something like it are actually happening and that we are, as once-free people, in serious trouble. There are those among us who would argue that in fact we have never really HAD a democracy, merely a con-game masquerading as democracy, and that the ruling oligarchy has become confident enough in its power to drop the pretence. One cannot even say...

Six months before the 1979 Nicaragua presidential election, the shelves in Managua stores began to empty. People ran out of some fairly basic supplies. Business and foreign investment all but dried up. International organizations closed their doors as the perceived presence of Daniel Ortega's Sandinistas loomed large on the political horizon. During the Sandinista Revolution of 1979, many private properties were confiscated by the government. Armel Gonzalez, then 17, remembers that his family and friends lost everything. His memories, and those of a generation of Nicaraguans, still are vivid. "So many of us were broken, lost, homesick," Gonzalez said. "Going through what we did then, there's no way...

According to the experience of western developed countries, besides the center government plays a role in the welfare policy, the charity organizations act as the third distribution in adjusting the income gap, and smoothing the wealth polarization. In China, with the background of political democracy and social diversification, charity is regarded as an important element of social security and developed as a functional career which exists in a basic constructional system. Non-profitable organizations are the social communities which do not make profit and aim to achieve the public interests. As a organizational form, it has existed in early human history, but as a social phenomenon which affected a...

are tough. We all know that…even corporate boards and the federal government are feeling the not-so-subtle pinch. This economic crisis is of epic proportions, and the catastrophic fall of several high-profile corporations has many wondering not only how this all happened, but who is to blame for it? Accusations of short-term planning, poor judgment, and individual greed have brought corporate accountability into the spotlight. In particular, concerns have been raised as to whether corporate boards of directors are properly focused on shareholder interests, exercising proper oversight of management, and whether they are appropriately held accountable for their decisions. Recently, the...

"And Man became the God that he had created and with his miracles did rule over all the earth." It is pure co-incidence that the topic of today's article is a direct progression that started with James Michener's first farmer. Today I speak of governance and the current ANC conference in Polokwane. For many thousands of years, humans lived in small relatively non-hierarchical communities. However, as humans became more effective at agriculture, ever increasing population densities was a natural progression. With this came the issues of ownership of land in order to protect individual, communal or tribal crops. It soon became necessary to formulate a governance of some sort to ensure the maintenance...

In high schools and in some middle schools, most education models have students elect class presidents. In my high school, the class president got involved in decisions like where the prom would be held. I actually remember one of our first meetings with the entire freshman class, about 135 of us, most of them new to me, and I asked our advisor what it was the president actually did. She replied, "If you were presidential material, you'd know what to do." And the entire class roared. In unison. So not only was there going to be no real power for the president, but the job would include working beside an advisor who chose to dodge a sensible question and humiliate a student to get a cheap laugh. Very...

One of the prominent features of the American political system is the presence of a competitive two-party system. Parties were formed in the U.S. polity while the founding fathers were against the formation of parties and George Washington in his farewell speech warned the nation against parties. The reason for that might have been the fear of parties splitting the country in parts once they had just managed to make a union. Contrary to Washington's idea, the United States experienced a short period of partyless politics. During the presidency of Washington's successor, John Adams, the Federalists consisting of Adams and his allies supported a strong central government while the Democratic...

I recently discussed the facts and figures and the geography of Great Britain in my article 'Information on England Part 1'. I'm now going to discuss the history and parliament information. I hope you find the following article informative. History of England Places like the Stonehenge are great examples of the prehistoric culture in Britain. In the 1st century B.C Britain was bought into contact with the continental Europe by the Romans. In the 5th century AD Britain was invaded by Angles, Saxons and Jutes Scandinavia when the Romans withdrew. Although this invasion took effect in England the Celtic people of Wales and Scotland where not really affected. England was divided into seven kingdoms from...

ity of Berne is the Bundesstadt (ie. federal city, de facto capital) of Switzerland. It is the fifth most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich, Geneva, Basel and Lausanne) with over 128,000 people. German is the official language of Berne. Bernese German, spoken by most of the inhabitants, is the local Swiss German dialect. Several national languages can be heard in the community due to the existence of the large part of the federal government, several embassies, and average number of immigrants. The city of Berne also operates as capital of the Canton of Berne, Switzerland’s second most populous cantons. Albert Einstein, a German-born physicist, was employed as a clerk at the Berne...

UN experts investigating the Ampatuan Massacre in Maguindanao said today that the Philippines should have a major reform in the country and reflect "on the elite family-dominated manipulation of the political processes and the need to eliminate such practices in order to assure the future of democracy in the Philippines." They blame this bourgeoisie form of politics as one of the reasons why an incident like the Ampatuan Massacre could even happen. I say, easier said than done. To be able to achieve this, the very culture of the Philippines will have to change. The problem of the elite ruling and dominating the political process has so many levels that go deep into the very psyche of the people. The...

The Shining Path Movement represented the Communist Party in Peru and reached its peak in the 1980s as a formidable rebel movement, waging a brutal war with the Peruvian state. Its leader was Abimael Guzman, who formed the movement in the 1970s and was inspired by Mao's Cultural Revolution in China. Dramatic Beginnings When the Shining Path movement first launched itself in 1980, it burned the ballot boxes the night before the first democratic election in twelve years. Its goal was to replace the existing democracy in Peru which it considered bourgeois with its own "New Democracy". The Shining Path would arrive at pure communism by instituting a dictatorship of the proletariat and bringing on a...

Caste system in modern India has divided the nation into different communities with different perceptions and the most divisive factor. While the majority adheres to Hinduism as their faith, caste divides them for wrong reasons often. We have to have a re look at the failed social engineering experiment of reservations, since even after 50 years the number of people under privileged and disadvantaged keeps growing only due to faulty delivery mechanisms. There is a theory that the caste system has denied equality to many and gave opportunities to a few. Caste system has been perceived as being practiced by the front line castes to the disadvantage of the other communities. It is also said that caste...

Technology makes the instantaneous and virtually ubiquitous observation of world events possible, but evidence of bias in the news media can make you wonder whether you can believe what you see and hear. World news is being transmitted by a global media, through a prism of sometimes deliberate and sometimes inadvertent bias. The most timely and blatant example of bias in the media continues to be the coverage of President Obama, which began in earnest during his presidential campaign and has gathered momentum ever since. The mainstream media's favoritism for Barack Obama during the general election was even more egregious than that alleged by the Hillary Clinton campaign during the democratic...

The other day it occurred to me that during Ronald Reagan's run for the Presidency he created a "Misery Index". This index represented a total of the rate of inflation, plus the prime rate, as an indicator of how the American people felt about how they were doing. No one has suggested resurrecting this index in recent years. My thought was to create a "Happiness Index". How happy are you with the leadership of the country. The problem is that other than taking an outright poll, how do you determine happiness? Could you merely ask people if they are happy, or not with the way things are going? Think about it for a moment, and try to objectively look at what's been going on the last couple of years...

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature. It is the Legislative Branch, which is the law-making branch of the three branches of the federal government. Our representatives act in certain ways and the houses act in certain ways- creating legislation that, in turn, may or may not become the law of tomorrow. The term "congress" just seems to comfortably sum up the two units that make it up. Many just think of the congress being a "whole" unit. Historically, the House of Representatives has been more of the "people's" house of congress. It was the only part of the three branches of government to be elected by a direct election of the people. The Senate, which had constitutionally been...

QUESTION: what do North-American real property owners have to do with the Middle East conflict? ANSWER: everything and anything they can possibly imagine. Fluctuations in the world economy are largely driven by confidence. A changing level of public confidence is the ultimate driver behind much of the variation in individual and national incomes, in employment rates, in corporate earnings, in interest rates and in many other measures of the world economy. All the more so when nations, and indeed entire continents, are as economically intertwined as nowadays. In these times of globalization, the political-economic policies of the European Union, for good or bad, are exported to North America. Unrest...

Much has been said in disparate quarters of late of the possibility and indeed the desirability of returning the world's economies to a basis of real, tangible value which governments cannot counterfeit and print at will. Is this a good idea? Of course it is, but mark my words well: governments will confiscate every last ounce of gold and silver from you before they permit such a thing to happen. Their jobs and credibility depend on the illusion of power through the medium of worthless paper. As do the livelihoods of millions of financial manipulators who grow no food, mine no coal or metal, manufacture no goods. They are parasites and should be discarded along with their political cronies...

Twilight of the Elites: an important new offering by Professor David Flint, chair of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and Convener of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM), is sure to be one of the more influential texts of 2003. What the book lacks in terms of the breadth of its readership base, it makes up for in that base's strategic value: the conservative intellectual elite which has captured the Liberal Party, and now determines the nation's policy agenda. Twilight of the Elites is worth reading if only to gain a glimpse of the kind of thinking that is going on in government circles today. The canvass employed by Flint is wide-ranging. From Indigenous affairs to foreign policy...

Pulitzer Prize winning foreign affairs columnist, and author of The Lexus and the Olive Tee, Thomas L. Friedman, gives insight into the international system in the world today that has come about as a result of what he calls the Democratization of Technology, Finance and Information. This new worldwide system is referred to as Globalization. In understanding the new Global system Friedman explains that "Globalization has replaced the Cold War system with the integration of capital, technology, and information across national borders--uniting Brazilian peasants, Indonesian entrepreneurs, Chinese villagers, and Silicon Valley technocrats in a single global village." Friedman uses the metaphor of...

The proof of this content has been the response to the attacks on our democracy; whether it be at our civil servants, our freedom of speech, and especially at our parliamentary system itself (prorogation comes to mind). What do all of these events have in common? They are all triggered by the stubborn and bull-headed policies of one Stephen Harper and his tyrannical attacks on Canada's democratic system to reshape our country in his image on the far right. Take for example the prorogation issue; it's over yes...for now but if we look back to CBC's Peter Mansbridge's interview with the PM, Harper explicitly stated he would like to prorogue every year if he needed to. That was just days after the PM...

e only French speaking area in North America, the Province of Quebec is most certainly unique. Home to the separate native tribes of the Abenakis, Algonquian, Attikameks, Cree, Huron-Wendats, Innuu, Inuit, Malecites, Micmacs, Mohawks and Naskapis the first western settlers arrived in 1534. Jacques Cartier was the first westerner to set foot on the Quebec peninsula and claimed the area for France. Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec in 1608 with King Louis XIV of France granting the status of Royal Province in 1663. By the early 1700’s the British were a powerful force in the “Upper Canada” region and eventually General Wolfe defeated the French forces defending Quebec...

ign="center"> Barcelona is a town with a history that like a good Catalan red wine is both rich and dark. Its foundations stretch back to at least the 15th century BC, if not earlier. Like so much of ancient Europe the Romans founded the first semblance of the town we know today as Barcelona. In the centuries that followed Barcelona was invaded by many powerful groups of people including the Visigoths, the Moors and the Muslim ruler Al Mansur. Plundered, conquered, nearly destroyed and under siege for much of its life, it comes as no surprise that Barcelona is also a city with a particular penchant for civil rights and freedom. Where the fight for liberty, and some evidence of both local and...

The only solution to the present problem of instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan is in the Union of these two countries based on principles of Democracy and Federalism. In history, Durani Empire was composed of all the areas in which today's Pakistan and Afghanistan are located, and during the Mughal Empire together they were a single country. In the initial period of the British Empire, they were also the same country. Later, some forces that had vested interests kept a distance between these lands. Consequently, border areas between these two countries became hiding places for criminals of both countries, thieves of automobiles and other stolen goods. They are stored in this region. This large...

Bastille Day is much like Independence Day in the United States - It is the celebration of a new form of government. Bastille Day symbolizes the overthrow of the old monarchy and the beginning of the French republic. The Bastille The Bastille was built in 1382 and was originally used to defend the east side of Paris from attack. The Bastille had walls more than 80 feet high and was surrounded by a moat. Hundreds of years later, the French monarchy converted The Bastille into a prison to lock up people who didn't agree with their decisions. People were jailed by arbitrary decision of the King. The Bastille was, in particular, known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the...

"India is not a poor country. It is a poorly managed country." ~ William Nanda Bissell William Nanda Bissell is an interesting guy with interesting ideas. He is the CEO of Fabindia - a company that sources and markets the products of 40,000 craftspeople across India - potters, weavers, carpenters and many others who live by the ingenuity and skill of their heads and their hands. He has written an immensely readable book, called "Making India work", that wowed me with its originality, and the breadth and depth of his ideas for India. Taking India's poverty head-on, Bissell makes the point that we cannot consider ourselves a superpower while 60% of our population lives in miserable conditions. His...

The basis of the economy percolates through all levels of human activity to become the basis of the character of the people in the economy, which then becomes the character of the societies and policies that the people create. In the same way as the Roman Empire built itself on slave labor - and made the basis of Roman character cruelty, brutality, conquest, predation, short-sightedness, laziness and oppression - so the oil economy fosters in people a character that mimics in its mentality the character of oil industry itself. This character is toxic, extractive, destructive, short-sighted, polluting, and ensnaring. And its poisonous influence can only be significantly reduced through a greater use...

Here it is: 1. Give the people of Iraq a direct ownership stake in the oil that's being pumped out of their land. 2. Form a corporation and give all Iraqi citizens equal shares. 3. As owners of the corporation they can contract with Shell, Exxon, or others to develop and market the oil. 4. Start pumping and selling oil on the free market, generate billions in revenue. 5. Then start writing out monthly dividend checks to each new shareholder, starting immediately, today! 6. The effect will be to make the people of Iraq partners in the corporation, and it will give them a reason to defend the oil fields from terrorists because they will be defending something they own and benefit from. In other words...

We no longer can trust Congress to impeach and remove a terrible president. The Washington Post has published an op-ed piece by Robert Dallek that proposes a constitutional amendment to allow "ouster by the people" for removing a president other than by impeachment or because of incapacity. Considering the dismal performance of George W. Bush and his administration and the difficulty in obtaining impeachment, this is a fine idea. Here are the main features of the amendment: The recall procedure would begin by obtaining a 60 percent vote in the Senate and House. Public pressure on Congress could help it shift decision making to the electorate. Congressional support would initiate a national...

Imagine you open your Sunday issue of your favorite newspaper and in the Finance and Investing section you found the following advertisement: "For sale by Owner: Democratic Republic of Somsierraswangolaongo (DRS), Serious Inquiries Only By way of background a national public referendum of the citizens of the Democratic Republic of Somsierraswangolaongo (DRS) have agreed to offer the state for 50 year lease. The bidding process will be closed at on the last working day of this calendar year. All qualified bidders are encouraged to submit their proposals to the Finance Minister's office where all reasonable offers will be considered. In principle our offer is as follows: In exchange for the terms...

bin Laden and his followers subscribe to a deviant, radical form of Islam that threatens not only America, but also much of the Western world. The goal of radical Islam is world domination through global jihad. This jihad operates on many levels: financially, culturally, and through acts of terrorism, like 9/11. The majority of the world’s 1-billion Muslims adhere to more peaceful forms of Islam. Islam, the religion, deals with piety, ethics, and beliefs, and can be compatible with secular liberal democracy and basic civil liberties right along with the basic tenets in Christianity and the Eastern religions, as well as Judaism. Islamists, however, believe Islam is the only basis for the legal...

Now that we the American citizens have made it through another year of fighting for our Constitutional Rights and to be protected by our Bill of Rights; I just want to say thank you Lord Jesus Christ for sitting on the Right had of God our Heavenly Father interceding for us all! (Luke 22 verse 69) I say this prayer for all of the citizens of America. Since the last Presidential election American citizens have been ruled with an iron fist like the communist nations. Since 9/11, the American citizens are treated like terrorist by our elected public servants. Our elected public servants claimed they had to pass the Patriot Act in order to protect our American way of life. Well freedom is our way...

During his recent interview with pastor Rick Warren, Senator John McCain described General David Petraeus as a "great leader. . .who took us from defeat to victory in Iraq." Obviously, General Petraeus deserves all the acclaim he is usually afforded by citizens and politicians alike for making the Surge an effective strategy. The Surge, together with the Sunni Awakening and the stand-down by Shiite militias, have successfully reduced violence in Iraq. But what must have surprised some is McCain's claim to have achieved "victory" in Iraq. Previously, the Senator has repeatedly stated that he will never leave Iraq until US and Coalition forces had achieved "victory." McCain has chided Senator Obama...

Nigel Lawson - Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson was of course the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time of Margaret Thatcher's office as Prime Minister. He rose quickly through the political ranks, eventually becoming a key and visible figure alongside the Prime Minister and shaping the economic and fiscal policies of the United Kingdom, often with controversial results. He was also responsible for the energy sector's privatisation in his role as secretary of Stage for Energy, holding this role until he became chancellor. Lord Lawson was a huge media character during his tenure as Chancellor, a role he held for most of the Thatcher years. He later wrote a hugely acclaimed and...

Using wireframe or prototypes to create E-government applications would help engaging more citizens in the business of politics. According to UN's last E-Government survey 2010, governments all over the world have made significant efforts to increase citizen participation and access to political affairs through the internet. The survey states that during the last 2 years (the last survey dating back to 2008), E-participation has increased everywhere, even in least developed countries. Authors further argue that in the current context of world financial and economic crisis, governments can take advantage of new technologies like the internet to gain transparency by sharing freely their data bases...

Promoting a system that is met with widespread refutation in todays democratic world, Leviathan was met with almost universal acclaim when it was published in 1651. It endorsed strong government as the most reliable and effective form of government; in effect, it was legitimizing the right of monarchs not through the then-accepted reason of their 'divine right', but through reason itself. It is quite infamous today for both rejecting the separation of power doctrine (that there should be 2 or 3 sections of government so they keep each other in check to prevent abuses of power) and for advocating the right of the state to censor whatever publications they see fit. "I put for a general inclination of...