- •Государственный университет
- •2. Discussion points.
- •3. Speaking skills.
- •Creativity and the Experts: New Labour, Think Tanks, and the Policy Process
- •1. Before reading the article try to answer the following question: «Is it possible for think tanks to be really independent?»
- •2. Discussion points.
- •II. Action Intellectuals
- •1. While reading the research concentrate on the role of a personality in the historical process.
- •Ivory-Tower Activists
- •2. Discussion points.
- •The Meaning of Democracy
- •A Ruling Elite or Plural Elite?
- •Pluralism and Democracy
- •The Masses in Democratic Society
- •2. Discussion points.
- •IV. Role and Techniques of Pressure Groups
- •1. Reading the survey compare the author’s view with that of the above chapter.
- •Techniques in Group Offense and Defense
- •Manipulating Public Opinion
- •Persuading Legislators
- •Relations with Administration
- •Pressure Groups and the Courts
- •Intergroup Lobbying
- •Interest Groups and the Governing Process
- •Representative Function of Private Groups
- •Legislation as Intergroup Negotiation
- •Group Involvement in Administration
- •2. Discussion points.
- •V. Russian Political Leadership
- •1. Before reading think why the authors of the reviewed books have turned to the mentioned personalities. What do the names of Gorbachev and Yeltsin mean to you?
- •2. Discussion points.
- •VI. Development of Civil Society in Russia
- •Is Russia Going Backward?
- •1. Before reading the essay set general ideas of progressive development. Pay special attention to the editor’s note.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •1. While reading compare the views of the author with the conclusions of the previous article. How might the change of the attitudes be explained?
- •The Soviet Legacy
- •Trying to Reign in the Regions
- •Setbacks to Recentralization
- •Democracy and Enhanced State Capacity
- •Learning from Bankruptcy
- •2. Discussion points.
- •1. What are your associations with the so-called Yukos case? Give particular details you must know from media sources.
- •1. What is your understanding of the notion “oligarchy”? What does the assault on Yukos mean for Russian business, politics and power?
- •Presidents and precedents
- •5) Reading the article try to find the proofs of the author’s position or prove your disagreement.
- •Never felt more like singing the Blues
- •2. Discussion point.
- •VII. Ethics in Public Relations
- •1. Before reading the text find as many definitions of the notion 'ethics' as you can and choose among them the most suitable one, to your mind, and explain your choice.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •VIII. Human Rights Taking the Reasons for Human Rights Seriously
- •1. As the first stage of the work at the survey you are to give a list of human rights.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •Who Cares about Human Rights?
- •2. Discussion points.
- •Do International Human Rights Treaties Improve Respect for Human Rights?
- •1. Before reading the text think the title of it over and share your point of view concerning the problem mentioned.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •IX. Mediating International Crises Cross-national and Experimental Perspectives
- •1. While reading the text pay attention to different models of crisis mediation.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •X. Negative Advertising in Politics Examining the Possible Corrosive Impact of Negative Advertising on Citizens’ Attitudes toward Politics
- •1. Give your own understanding of positive and negative advertising. Substantiate your ideas with examples.
- •The Case against Political Advertisements
- •2. Discussion points.
- •Appendices
- •Organization image: Formation and Management Имидж организации: формирование и управление
The Meaning of Democracy
Ideally, democracy means individual participation in the decisions that affect one's life. John Dewey wrote, "The keynote of democracy as a way of life may be expressed as the necessity for the participation of every mature human being in formation of the values that regulate the living of men together." In other words, democracy means popular participation in the allocation of values in a society.
In traditional democratic theory, popular participation has been valued as an opportunity for individual self-development: Responsibility for the governing of one's own conduct develops one's character, self-reliance, intelligence, and moral judgment – in short, one's dignity. Even if a benevolent despot could govern in the public interest, he would be rejected by the classic democrat. The English political philosopher J. S. Mill asks, "What sort of human beings can be formed under such a regime? What development can either their thinking or active faculties attain under it?" The argument for citizen participation in public affairs is based not upon the policy outcomes it would produce but on the belief that such involvement is essential to the full development of human capacities. Mill argues that man can know truth only by discovering it for himself.
Procedurally, popular participation was to be achieved through majority rule and respect for the rights of minorities. Self-development means self-government, and self-government can be accomplished only by encouraging each individual to contribute to the development of public policy and by resolving conflicts over public policy through majority rule. Minorities who have had the opportunity to influence policy but whose views have not succeeded in winning majority support would accept the decisions of majorities. In return, majorities would permit minorities to openly attempt to win majority support for their views. Freedom of speech and press, freedom to dissent, and freedom to form opposition parties and organizations are essential to insure meaningful individual participation. This freedom of expression is also necessary for ascertaining what the majority views really are.
The procedural requirements and the underlying ethics of democracy are linked. Carl Becker writes about democracy:
Its fundamental assumption is the worth and dignity and creative capacity of the individual, so that the chief aim of government is the maximum or individual self-direction, the chief means to that end, the minimum of compulsion by the state. ... Means and ends are conjoined in the concept of freedom: freedom of thought so that the truth may prevail; freedom of occupation, so that careers may be open to talent, freedom of self-government, so that none may be compelled against his will.
The underlying value of democracy is, as we have noted, individual dignity. Man, by virtue of his existence, is entitled to life, liberty, and property. A "natural law," or moral tenet, guarantees both liberty and the right to property to every man; and this natural law is morally superior to man-made law. John Locke, the English political philosopher whose writings most influenced America's founding elites, argues that even in a "state of nature" that is, a world in which there were no governments – an individual possesses inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property. Locke meant that these rights were antecedent to government, that these rights are not given to the individual by governments and that no governments may legitimately take them away.
Locke believed that the very purpose of government was to protect individual liberty. Men form a "social contract" with each other in establishing a government to help protect their rights; they tacitly agree to accept governmental activity in order to better protect life, liberty, and property. Implicit in the social contract and the democratic notion of freedom is the belief that governmental activity and social control over the individual be kept to a minimum. This involves the removal of as many external restrictions, controls, and regulations on the individual as is consistent with the freedom of his fellow citizens.
Moreover, since government is formed by the consent of the governed to protect individual liberty, it logically follows that government cannot violate the rights it was established to protect. Its authority is limited. Locke's ultimate weapon to protect individual dignity against abuse by government was the right of revolution. According to Locke, whenever governments violate the natural rights of the governed, they forfeit the authority placed in them under the social contract.
Another vital aspect of classic democracy is a belief in the equality of all men. The Declaration of Independence expresses the conviction that "all men are created equal." Even the Founding Fathers believed in equality for all men before the law, notwithstanding the circumstances of the accused. A man was not to be judged by social position, economic class, creed, or race. Many early democrats also believed in political equality – equal access of individuals to political influence, that is, equal opportunity to influence public policy. Political equality is expressed in the concept of "one man, one vote.”
Over time, the notion of equality has also come to include equality of opportunity in all aspects of American life - social, educational, and economic, as well as political. Roland Pennock writes:
The objective of equality is not merely the recognition of a certain dignity of the human being as such, but it is also to provide him with the opportunity – equal to that guaranteed to others – for protecting and advancing his interests and developing his powers and personality.
Thus, the notion of equality of opportunity has been extended beyond political life to encompass equality of opportunity in education, employment, housing, recreation, and public accommodations. Each man has an equal opportunity to develop his individual capacities to their natural limits.
It is important to remember, however, that the traditional democratic creed has always stressed equality of opportunity to education, wealth, and status and not absolute equality. Thomas Jefferson recognized a "natural aristocracy" of talent, ambition, and industry, and liberal democrats since Jefferson have always accepted inequalities that are a product of individual merit and hard work. Absolute equality, or "leveling," is not a part of liberal democratic theory.
In summary, democratic thinking involves the following ideas:
popular participation in the decisions that shape the lives of individuals in a society;
government by majority rule, with recognition of the rights of minorities to try to become majorities. These rights include the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petition and the freedom to dissent, to form opposition parties, and to run for public office;
a commitment to individual dignity and the preservation of the liberal values of life, liberty, and property;
a commitment to equal opportunity for all men to develop their individual capacities.