Czerulf: Is democracy in a crisis? (Part 3 – Political parties)

View at Germany’s parliament: “Reichstag”

I started my little series about democracy in part 1 with some general considerations. In part 2 I spoke about the aim and the importance of the constitution. I then went on to narrate the German constitutional history. We learned that modern Germany is a parliamentary democracy. National, regional and local assemblies are elected by universal suffrage. Now it’s about time to investigate how does the right to vote translate into action?

Czerulf: Is democracy in a crisis? (Part 2 – The constitution)

“Das Grundgesetz” is Germany’s constitution since 1949

Last Wednesday – in part 1 – I kicked off with some general considerations: the origins of democracy and five fundamental conditions that a functioning democratic system needs to meet. First point on the list: The constitution. I will take Germany as an example, which means that I have to cover about 650 years of history. Lots of stuff but I will try to make it as short and crisp as I possibly can.

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via NachDenkenSeiten: Arme SPD – 150 Jahre, beachtliche Erfolge und seit 40 Jahren Abstieg. Wie kommt das?

Und was kommt jetzt?

Der Abstieg der einst stolzen deutschen Sozialdemokratie ist ein Befund der niemandem gleichgültig sein kann, bedroht er doch die Demokratie als Ganzes. Auch ich werde mich in der nächsten Zeit der siechenden Jubilarin ausführlich widmen.

Czerulf: Is democracy in a crisis? (Part 1 – General considerations)

Voting – essential part of democracy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I came across recently few articles that identified a crisis of democracy. Some commentators argue that democracy is already a thing of the past and that the Chinese model (which combines an authoritarian political structure with a 19th-century-type capitalism) is the way forward. I will discuss here in the following weeks a number of different aspects to this question. I will take Germany as an example. We start off today with some general considerations.

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via Telepolis: Die Antiquiertheit der Demokratie

Ist die Demokratie ein Auslaufmodell? Hat es sie je gegeben, wenn ja, wo und in welcher Form? Wie steht es um die Freiheit und die Menschenrechte? Welche Rolle spielt der Kapitalismus? Ist “einbischen” Totalitarismus hinnehmbar oder gar wünschenswert? Führt er möglicherweise zu höheren Wachstumsraten (siehe China)? Tomasz Konicz sucht angesichts der gegenwärtigen Diskussion (Michael Spence, Daniel A. Bell) nach Antworten.