scholarly journals Accessing with Dinosaurs: Protecting Access to Government Information in the Cretaceous Period of Canadian Democracy

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Kazmierski
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Status ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Cretaceous Period

In many ways, our democratic institutions, processes, and frameworks resemble the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period...They have ceased to evolve sufficiently and are being left behind in an environment where technological innovations and greater expectations for political consultation, participation, and accountability have combined to present new challenges to the legitimacy, and perhaps the viability, of the status quo. Indeed, without further evolution, one wonders how our democratic dinosaurs will be able to survive cataclysmic events on the horizon, including escalating terrorism events and their aftermath.

Democracy Assistance for Botswana: Maintaining the Status Quo in a Peripheral Capitalist Country

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-229
Author(s):  
Kebapetse Lotshwao ◽  
Robert Imre ◽  
Jim Jose
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Capitalist Country ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Democracy Assistance ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Cost

Given that Botswana is considered a stable democracy, the need for democracy assistance does not at first glance seem necessary. Yet, democracy assistance is an important feature of Botswana’s political regime. The rationale for democracy assistance is couched in terms of strengthening the country’s democratic institutions, enhancing the state’s capacity, and bolstering Botswana’s civil society. However, contrary to these stated objectives, this article reveals that democracy assistance serves the agenda of Western donor countries and certain multilateral institutions—an agenda concerned with keeping Botswana politically stable and its state institutions efficient so that the country is attractive to investors. This agenda is pursued at the cost of not making certain long overdue political reforms.

Occupation and Ideology: The Case of the Small Businessman

1961 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rogers ◽  
Ivar Berg
Keyword(s):  
Economic System ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Democratic Society ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Status ◽  
Preliminary Study

Political theorists since Aristotle have viewed the middle classes as a source of social stability. In recent times some writers have pointed to a decline in the opportunities for small businessmen, one of the core groups of the old middle classes. The argument has been that as opportunities decline, the tendency of small businessmen is to harbor fundamentalist wishes to return to a less complicated economic system and to experience a disenchantment with democratic institutions. In this paper we review and criticize several approaches to the study of the consequences of changes in the opportunities for small businessmen. We reconceptualize opportunity in such a way that satisfactions in some areas of the work experience of entrepreneurs are seen as compensating for dissatisfactions in others. The result is that some small businessmen accommodate to the status quo. Selected results of a preliminary study are reported. We then suggest some of the implications of this accommodation for the functioning of a democratic society.

scholarly journals Editorial: Systemic Perspectives on New Alignments During COVID-19: Digital Challenges and Opportunities

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thérèse Laferrière ◽  
Margaret Cox
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
School Level ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Digital Equity ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Status ◽  
Working Groups ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
New Research

This overview of the articles presented in this issue considers the digital challenges and opportunities of the systemic perspectives on new alignments resulting from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. New challenges and opportunities were addressed by the 13 working groups of EDUsummIT2019 prior to the pandemic. However, the evidence and analyses presented in this issue have built on those originally identified perspectives by reviewing recent (2020/2021) research, development and practice across many educational sectors and contexts. We have shown that the status quo in the majority of education systems across the world has been thrown out of kilter. This has resulted in new alignments needing to be made to take account of the enforced remote learning when schools have been closed and blended learning has become widely practised even at school level. The most prominent of these have been caused by changes in digital equity which consequently imposes new challenges to policy makers, teachers and learners. This special issue stimulates reflection in and on practice as well as help problematizing new research challenges.

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