Expert Knowledge in Democracies: Promises, Limits, and Conflict

The consolidation of the Argentine Federal Government by the 1870s aimed to modernise local society, establish state institutions and reach political stabilisation. Building a modern schooling system articulated both utopia and bureaucracy by establishing the use of knowledge as an instrument of social intervention, vindicating and legitimising the concept of rational control. This approach established the formal and material bases for the constitution of a field of pedagogical knowledge on one hand, and a field of bureaucratic knowledge on the other. These two fields approached the articulation of regulating devices of the educational system in distinctive ways. While normalist pedagogical knowledge involved a set of instructions on schooling, the bureaucratic knowledge of inspectors resulted in regulation of the schooling process.

Reviewed by: An Unfinished Republic: Leading by Word and Deed in Modern China by David Strand Robert J. Culp An Unfinished Republic: Leading by Word and Deed in Modern China BY David Strand. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. Pp. xiv + 387. $65.00. Few scholars' oeuvre has the high degree of coherence that David Strand's does. From Rickshaw Beijing, through his articles on the 1989 Tian'anmen protest movement,1 to the book reviewed here, Strand has explored dynamics of political action in twentieth-century China that continue to animate and inflect Chinese politics today. In particular, Strand has analyzed how Chinese political practice has been a medium of both authority and dissent, contributing to the formation of what could be called the "citizenship studies" subfield in the study of modern China.2 Further, he has tracked with great acuity the fluid interplay between culture and politics that modern China inherited from the late imperial past. Strand's latest book continues to explore these themes, with a particular focus on public speaking and its political implications. An Unfinished Republic analyzes the political dynamics of the first decade and a half of the Chinese Republic, reconstructing how they established many of the parameters of Chinese republicanism. Strand is most concerned with the growth of popular participation in politics during this period and how speech making became a key feature of Chinese public life. Even as highly anticipated new political institutions failed, Chinese republicanism flourished in the form of new modes of popular discourse and civic action. In Strand's words, "Within a few years the Republic became entrenched, not so much as a set of national political institutions, but as a political way of life in which citizens confronted leaders and each other face-to-face in a stance familiar to republics worldwide. Political equality as a value and an everyday practice stood in stark contrast to the inequality and hierarchy that long formed the spine of China's social and cultural order" (p. 1). [End Page 171] Strand portrays these emergent political dynamics through thematic chapters that focus, in turn, on the scope of political inclusion, through women's efforts to gain full citizenship in the new polity (Chapter 1), on the development of new modes of public discourse (Chapter 2), and on the dynamics of citizenship (Chapter 4). This thematically driven discussion is complemented by Chapters 3, 5, and 6, which focus on three individuals—Tang Qunying, Lu Zhengxiang, and Sun Yat-sen—who, Strand convincingly argues, shaped the development of Chinese republicanism through their words and actions. The thematic chapters chart in more systematic terms the parameters of popular participation and the emergent structure of direct address between political leaders and the people. The biographical chapters illustrate the terms under which particular Chinese political actors could enter public life by using new patterns of public discourse, and they evaluate the impact of those figures' speech and actions on the dynamics of Chinese politics. By focusing on political organizing and speech making in the first decade or so after the 1911 Revolution, Strand reveals the fluid and contingent nature of early Republican political action. Tang Qunying and other suffragettes were not immediately given speaking roles in the political system founded by the revolution they helped make. They first needed to take dramatic action—"slapping Song Jiaoren" (p. 13)—to claim any place in party politics and the polity. Lu Zhengxiang, as an elite diplomat with extensive experience in Europe, inherited key posts in Yuan Shikai's cabinets, but he badly flubbed a major speaking role before the Senate, in part because he misread the new political context and its requirements. In contrast, Sun Yat-sen, soon deprived by Yuan Shikai of a meaningful institutional base or audience as an official speaker during the early Republic, turned to address "the people" directly, whenever and wherever he could. In doing so, Sun fostered a form of Chinese populism on which Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, among others, would later build. By tracking the political action of these three figures and their contemporaries, Strand subtly illustrates how contingent acts of public address sedimented into a new culture of public...

Panchayati Raj Institutions: Participatory Democracy or Participants’ Democracy? Case Study of Balekoppa Gram Panchayat in Shimoga District of Karnataka

This article analyses the role of knowledge in the production of new social relations and institutional configurations in the context of a water crisis in Sierras Chicas, Cordoba, Argentina. Based on an ethnographic approach; it analyses the way in which factual information of scientific and non-scientific origin, operates as knowledge in two different but complementary ways: on the one hand, it is appropriated and used as the basis of visibility strategies by different groups and non-governmental organizations; on the other hand, it works as the ground for active interventions on the water crisis, generating both cohesive and conflictual relations. The article shows how these relations become embedded in the process of creation of knew institutional arrangements, in which an electoral campaign, the concerns and actions of the inhabitants regarding environmental problems, and the knowledge about «natural processes», among other dynamics, are considered part of a more general process of production of society.

This compilation reflects the recent historiographic trends of revisiting old questions with a sociopolitical approach and focusing on local roots of national developments. The volume explores why and how Mexicans opted for a federal model in 1823 and 1824. The authors of the book’s 20 chapters focus on local developments using widely varying approaches. Some opt for analytical frameworks, while others are more descriptive. Collectively, they detail how early national political actors in every region throughout Mexico decided that joining the federalist coalition would be in their regions’ best interests. Any lecturer who continues to mention that Mexicans simply copied the U.S. constitution from a poorly translated version offered by Stephen F. Austin in 1823 should read these authors. And any student of Mexican history curious about the amazingly complex dynamics of regional and national politics will appreciate the authors’ efforts to explain the local roots of the postindependence political options.The background chapters offer sophisticated interpretations of the roots and processes that led to the creation of a federal republic in Mexico. Josefina Zoraida Vázquez offers a substantial overview of the topic and the period. Hira de Gortari Rabiela admirably explores the significance of the politico-spatial dimensions of the Bourbon and constitutional eras, emphasizing that the territorial boundaries of the intendancy system established the fundamental political territoriality for the nation. Manuel Chust Calero reviews the significance of representative politics, constitutionalism, and the tremendous conflict between proponents of representative government versus absolute monarchy in Spain, which contributed to the formation of the Mexican coalition that favored political autonomy. Finally, Reynaldo Sordo Cedeño assesses the political vacuum generated in 1823 by the collapse of Agustín de Iturbide’s short-lived empire. He carefully analyzes the issues addressed by the constituent congresses, as well as those that remained unaddressed, such as the boundaries of the federal district.The subsequent chapters use regional surveys to explore the historical roots, local issues, and concerns that political actors faced throughout the country. While not organized by region or any other discernable common denominator, these chapters never theless paint a portrait of diverse local dynamics in an increasingly complex emergent federal republic. Significantly, all these chapters are based on documentation in state executive and legislative archives. While some chapters might be too descriptive, all succeed in establishing the local bases of support for the federalist coalition. Most of the authors stress the significance of the provincial deputations as precursors of the state constituent congresses and subsequent state legislatures. Most also point out the role of the most significant local corporation—the ayuntamiento—as one of the organic roots of support for federalism throughout Mexico.These chapters cover developments in Yucatán, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Oaxaca, Guanajuato, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, the State of Mexico, Puebla, Veracruz, Tlaxcala, Sonora y Sinaloa, Chiapas, and Tabasco. Concerning Guanajuato and Veracruz, José Antonio Serrano Ortega and Juan Ortiz Escamilla point out that strong elite concerns about avoiding social disorder, regional preferences for local autonomy, municipal dynamics, and economic dislocation were the most fundamental reasons those states joined the federalist coalition. Those two chapters, in particular, offer first-rate analyses of regional issues, concerns, and actions. Raymond Buve provides a fine discussion about how extreme localism in Tlaxcala resulted in it becoming a federal territory, rather than a region within the state of Puebla or a sovereign state in its own right. María Isabel Monroy Dastillo and Tomás Calvillo Unna, in their chapter on San Luis Potosí, effectively illustrate that during the summer of 1823—in spite of doubts, lack of trust, regional differences, and political uncertainty—political actors decided it would be to their benefit to constitute a unified nation. Finally, Mario Vázquez Olivera’s chapter on Chiapas points out Chiapan exceptionalism. Long part of the administrative and judicial districts seated in Guatemala, Chiapanecos acted autonomously when Iturbide’s empire collapsed. They announced that they would decide their own fate, choosing between joining with Mexico or becoming part of the Central Amer-ican Republic. Leaving their historical and territorial connections with Guatemala in the past, Chiapanecos decided to join the Mexican federal republic.Collectively, this work substantiates the significance and role of local political actors in the formation of the federalist coalition and the first federal republic. By integrating elite concerns, the attitudes and actions of municipal corporations, and economic dynamics, as well as the actions and activities of the regional provincial deputations and jefes políticos, the authors have deepened our understanding of the roots of the federalist system in independent Mexico.

<p>Under the COP Paris Agreement, countries need to prepare their GHG inventories with emissions by source and removals by sinks. In order to meet the UNFCCC quality standards, those inventories should be transparent, accurate, comparable, consistent and complete. For the LULUCF sector, emissions are a result from a change in one of the five IPCC carbon pools (e.g. aboveground biomass, etc.). The change in the carbon stock is not easily directly measured, but usually estimated using proxies of land area and area change and the average carbon stocks in the area. Countries encounter several challenges when collecting forestry and land use data information on land related to the inherent complexity of the measurement and monitoring of LULUCF sector and limited by their institutional arrangements. The REDD+ program of the United Nations has a long history of supporting developing countries on setting up the forest (and land use) monitoring system which has supported several countries to produce regular data and make it publicly available, even using web-geoportals. In this paper, we list the challenges of forestry and land data collection and demonstrate the potential leading role of REDD+ countries in the context of reporting regular GHG estimates for the LULUCF sector and the preparation of GHG baselines for the NDC progress reporting under the Paris Agreement, also in light with the recent developments in the COP25.</p><p>Key terms: Institutional arrangements, institutional memory, data management systems, legal instruments, sustainability, national forest monitoring system, LULUCF reporting, regular monitoring of land use data, preparation of land use change data. Data portals for increased transparency and stakeholder involvement. Targeted finance for data measurements at different agencies involved in the GHG inventory</p>

The higher institutions are known for where ideologies are formed. They also serve as instruments of motivating students. Tertiary education in particular is fundamental to the construction of knowledge and knowledge itself has become a vital factor for political education. Nigerian students are politically active and have in no small measure influenced policies within their universities and in the nation as a whole. Nigerian universities have produced a lot of activists that are presently influencing the Nigerian political landscape. These activists have been known to have developed their political ideologies and activism while in the university. The major objective of this study is to determine whether in reality universities play a role in political education of students. A number of factors, such as, curriculum, media, peer influence and lecturers’ influence are also used to determine the agents of political socialization of the students within the university. The study also highlighted which of the agents seem to have the greatest impact on the students’ political education within the university. The study design is survey research using a questionnaire tagged “Political Education of Students in the University” (PESUQ). The study population is Obafemi Awolowo University. The university is selected because it is deemed to be one of the most politically active among Nigerian universities. The study sample is 1,000 students. 536 new students and 464 old students were selected through a disproportionate stratified random sampling. The questionnaire is divided into two sections. The first section is the personal data of students while the second section addresses students’ agents of political education.The study was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics; such as mean, frequency, T-test and chi-square to test relationships, using the SPSS package. Findings revealed that the students are politically influenced in the university system. However, more old than new are influenced. In the same to the male students are more politically socialised than female. It was also found that the main agents of students’ political education are the curriculum, the students union and the lecturers. Key words: Political education, political socialisation, ideologies, international politics, campaign for democracy, official curriculum, political agents.

DUALIST POPULAR CONSTITUTIONALISM A Reply to Michelman

Implementation Implementation of Electronic Parking System Policy in Bandung: Response to Public Demand This study examines the application of strategic planning in managing the electronic parking system in Bandung, focusing on the influence of local political dynamics on policy implementation. A qualitative approach and case study method were used to analyze strategic planning and political dynamics in the context of the electronic parking system. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews and field observations, while secondary data was sourced from media documentation and previous research.The findings reveal that the strategic planning of the electronic parking system aims to improve urban mobility and optimize parking space utilization. However, challenges such as resource limitations and the influence of local political dynamics hinder effective implementation. Based on the Powercube theory, which includes the dimensions of level, space, and form, this study emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive approach to strategic planning. Local political dynamics significantly impact organizational capacity, particularly in terms of policy stability and resource allocation. Dependence on certain political actors and the lack of consensus among stakeholders weaken the effectiveness of policy implementation. Local governments, parking attendants, and public users play key roles in the success of this system’s management. This study highlights the importance of cross-stakeholder collaboration to enhance traffic management, create sustainable parking solutions, and improve urban quality of life. Effective coordination is required to address political and operational challenges in implementing the electronic parking system in Bandung.

Local Political Dynamics in the Implementation of the Program for Innovation in Regional Development and Empowerment (PIPPK) in Bandung City examines how local political dynamics influence the implementation of the PIPPK policy. This study focuses on analyzing the interactions among stakeholders, including the Regional Governance Section of Bandung City, subdistrict heads, community leaders, and local political actors, as well as the challenges arising from these dynamics. The research qualitative primary data from in-depth interviews and field observations with secondary data from media documentation and previous studies. The findings indicate that local political dynamics affect decision-making processes, resource allocation, and the effectiveness of PIPPK implementation. Consistent support from the city government and synergy among stakeholders are key to the successful implementation of this policy. The study also emphasizes the importance of strategic approaches to enhancing transparency, decentralizing authority, and actively involving the community to address existing challenges. The findings of this study reveal that the interactions between local government, subdistrict heads, community leaders, and local political actors in the implementation of PIPPK in Bandung City are often shaped by political interests and power dynamics. Local government officials and subdistrict heads coordinate the program, while community leaders help facilitate its implementation. However, political actors sometimes influence decision-making, prioritizing political gains over program objectives. The main challenges include political fragmentation, limited community involvement, and the dominance of patronage networks, all of which can hinder effective collaboration and the achievement of the program’s goals in community empowerment and regional development..

Purpose: Suburban school districts have undergone significant demographic shifts over the past several decades. The research literature to date, however, has yet to explore how suburban district leaders are responding to such changes, or examine the factors that shape response. In this article, we apply a “zone of mediation” framework to examine how the leaders of one large and rapidly changing suburban school district in Texas responded to its changing student population. In our analysis, we consider the technical, normative, and political dimensions of this district’s response to demographic shifts. Research Methods/Approach: We conducted an in-depth qualitative case study of a large and rapidly changing district in the San Antonio Metropolitan area, which we named “Southern Independent School District.” Our data included interviews with 28 district-level and community actors and interviews with 26 educators across three “focus” schools that were undergoing particularly rapid demographic shifts. Findings and Implications: We found that Southern Independent School District’s response to demographic change focused intensely on technical changes in curriculum and instruction. Such technical changes we found were explicitly adopted to address the needs of the increasing proportion of low-income students and students of color within the district. At the same time, we illustrate how the district failed to address the more challenging normative and political dynamics within the district. This failure, we show, placed significant limits upon the technical reforms that were adopted.

The purpose of this research is to examine criticism of the President from the perspective of freedom of expression. One of the main ways of realizing the fundamental democratic ideals of freedom of expression in a democratic system is through criticism of political leaders. This study investigates how public opinion, government policies, and political dynamics are affected by presidential criticism. Document analysis, surveys, and interviews with members of different social groups activists, political party members, and the general public are part of the methodology of this study. The data collected was analyzed to determine the trend of public criticism of the President and how these views are shaped by their opinions on freedom of expression. Some respondents felt that the President's right to freedom of expression was upheld, while others felt there were considerable limitations. Public opinion is heavily influenced by criticism of the president, and policy changes may be brought about by such criticism. The study also emphasizes the difficulties and dangers of the right to freedom of expression when the President is criticized. The study also emphasized the importance of traditional and social media to enable the President to take action and convey different viewpoints. The findings of this study highlight the importance of maintaining free speech to preserve the democratic process and provide insights into how democracy works. The findings have important consequences for our understanding of how, in contemporary democracies, criticism of political leaders and free speech interact. The findings of this study add to the body of knowledge on democracy and freedom of expression while providing a useful framework for policymakers and advocates of change.

The Anglo-American law have a considerable amount of accomplishments, which have become a worldwide asset. In terms of globalization and interaction, to use these achievements would be beneficial for further development of Ukrainian legal system. However, the very philosophy and reasoning behind the precedent-based common law is different from that in the civil law tradition of which the Ukrainian law is a part. This paper is intended to contribute to the examination how the mechanism of Anglo-American law operates in view of the expediency to introduce some of its elements into the Ukrainian jurisdiction. The initial part devoted to the emergence of, and formation of, the common law. It is noted that in the case of common law the influence of Roman law should not be denied. Relying mostly on praetorium ius experience, it has manifested itself in other directions and forms compare to civil law system. Therefore, the both, common law and civil law, despite their differences have been formed on the common ground – the Roman legal tradition. Taking into consideration that throughout their history they exchanged fruitful ideas, there is no irreconcilable, "genetic" incompatibility between them. Thus, it would allow to successfully implant certain common law elements, first of all precedent as a source of law, in the body of Ukrainian law, a part of civil law system. The paper notes that issues of common law mechanism have never been a priority for scholarly research in Ukraine as in a country of civil law tradition. The inertial influence of the Soviet law has also contributed to this situation. According to the communist ideology and the positivist visions on which the Soviet law was based, the precedent has not been considered as an acceptable legal instrument. In order to clarify how the mechanism works, the paper provides an overview of precedent and stare decisis doctrine as key components of common law. While a principle of stare decisis binding courts to follow legal precedents in cases with similar circumstances is in the core of Anglo-American law, in civil law systems precedent is not considered as binding. This discussion is followed by an analysis of judicial lawmaking. The paper specifies that in the common law systems, courts are not absolutely bound by precedents. In terms of radical changes in political, social or legal areas, they are entitled to re-examine and apply the law differently without legislative intervention, to adapt it to new circumstances. Thus, the Anglo-American legal tradition provides much broader scope for judicial lawmaking than Romano-German law. However, there is no consensus on the range to which it should be extended and to which extent it should rely on precedent. Within the framework of this controversial issue judicial activism and judicial restraint, two opposite philosophies of making a ruling in common law, are addressed. In order to examine the multifaceted nature of correlation between stare decisis principle and judicial lawmaking, the latest experience of the Supreme Court of the United States' on overruling precedents is considered. The paper summarizes that, most likely, mixed legal system associated with Nordic countries should be set as the reference point for the movement of Ukraine in this area. Such approach would provide rather broad scope for the operation of the common law elements, while safeguarding its omissions such as unjustified judicial activism.

The contemporary food system pushes agriculture to a globalized value-chain, affecting landscapes, resource access, and institutional arrangements. Institutions operating in Africa adopt development corridors to integrate multisector investments and induce export-driven primary sector, leading to massive land deals, also known as land-grabbing. Organizations struggle to monitor land deals accurately, lacking spatial precision and contextual information for affected communities. This research examines Mozambique's Nacala Corridor, using geospatial data as a tool to detect spatial (re)configurations due to exported-oriented policies and infrastructure. Data from land conflicts databases (Land Matrix and Environmental Justice) were analyzed with remote sensing Landsat and MODIS imagery using multiple indexes, an EVI time series, and the application of the LandTrendr algorithm. The results show that the temporal and spatial analysis of remote-sensing data is in line with the major political and economic dynamics of the region. Hotspots of land cover changes were detected in the same areas where land grabbing were reported; however, reported and detected land areas did not coincide. Temporal analysis showed that institutional changes played a greater role in triggering land use changes than infrastructure implementation. We conclude that land cover modifications, conflicts, and spatial development initiatives follows policies and institutional arrangements targeting international investments.

Inventing Local Democracy: Grassroots Politics in Brazil. By Rebecca Neaera Abers (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2000. Pp. 269. $59.95 cloth.) Democracy and The Public Space in Latin America. By Leonardo Avritzer. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002. Pp. 202. N.p.) Transforming Brazil: A Reform Era in Perspective. By Mauricio A. Font. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2003. Pp. 288. $75.00 cloth, $25.95 paper.) Fernando Henrique Cardoso: Reinventing Democracy in Brazil. By Ted G. Goertzel. (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999. Pp. 220. $49.95 cloth, $19.95 paper.) Democratic Brazil: Actors, Institutions, and Processes. Edited by Peter Kingstone and Timothy J. Power. (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000. Pp. 480. $50.00 cloth, $22.95 paper.) The Political Right in Postauthoritarian Brazil: Elites, Institutions, and Democratization. By Timothy J. Power. (University Park: Penn State University Press, 2000. Pp. 284. $55.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.) Consumption Intensified: The Politics of Middle-Class Daily Life in Brazil. By Maureen O'Dougherty. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002. Pp. 262. $59.95 cloth, $19.95 paper.) Lost For Words? Brazilian Liberationism in the 1990S. By Goetz Frank Ottman. (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2002. Pp. 240. $39.95 cloth.) Over the past twenty years, Brazilians have witnessed and participated in the reform, renewal, and restructuring of their political institutions, economic system, and state-society relationships. The distribution of authority and the allocation of resources have been transformed through the return to democracy in 1985, the drafting of the [End Page 242] 1988 Constitution, the decentralization of federal authority to states and municipalities, the entrance of new groups into civil and political society, the ending of hyper-inflation with the 1994 Plano Real, and the liberalization of Brazil's economy. In response, social and political actors have modified their strategies and practices to take advantage of the new institutional settings and political opportunities. The establishment of democracy has helped to foster more pluralistic and competitive political and civil societies. Yet, as some authors in the books under review note, there has also been considerable stagnation and resistance to reform as various sectors have sought to stifle reform efforts. Basic improvements in the quality of life for most Brazilians have not occurred even though the basic institutional structure of the government has changed, the economy has liberalized, and new groups have been able to participate in formal political society. Violence, poverty, exclusion, and corruption remain constant themes in everyday Brazilian life. The research topics vary greatly among the books reviewed, from the role of conservative politicians in the New Republic to the formation of middle-class identity in the city of São Paulo, but a recurring theme is how individuals and groups responded to the instability of the late 1980s and early 1990s as well as the increasing economic and political stability that developed after the Plano Real was launched in 1994. This review essay is organized around three themes to demonstrate how the authors of the selected books account for the responses and strategies of the individuals and groups to the changing political environment. The first section focuses on politics at the national level. These works illustrate the continued importance of regional politics, personal loyalty, and maintenance of interest groups that cut across party lines. The second section focuses on the emergence of new actors within civil society but pays particular attention to how civil society organizations now interact with political society and new institutional arrangements. Brazilian local politics experienced a renewal during the 1990s as oppositional political parties were able to win local elections and begin experimenting with new policies and institutional types. The final section turns to ethnographic pieces situated in the city of São Paulo to demonstrate how macro-structural institutional and economic changes have led to micro-level shifts in how individuals and civil society organizations responded to the upheaval of the 1980s and early 1990s. Restructuring Institutions...