Community Power and Democratic Theory: The Logic of Political Analysis.

1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Richard M. Merelman ◽  
David Ricci
1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred R. von der Mehden ◽  
Kim Quaile Hill

This article presents a test of a judgmental measurement strategy which has been proposed as a partial solution to some problems of cross-national data. It has been suggested that existing cross-national data, which are limited in scope and often uncertain in reliability. might be supplemented by having panels of area experts code nations on new political scales. We test this approach by having a sample of African-area experts code 39 African nations on several scales tapping attributes central to comparative political analysis and relevant especially to democratic theory. The results indicate considerable uncertainty and disagreement among our sample of scholars. On only one scale is there sufficient consensus for a number of nations such that the results would be useful for measurement purposes. While there are aspects of our test which make it a rigorous one for regional experts, the results urge caution in the use of any data generated by similar panels of judges.


Politics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Eva Ryan ◽  
Matthew Flinders

This article seeks to stimulate a fresh and inter-disciplinary debate which revolves around the need to move from a ‘senseless democracy’ that is insufficiently attuned to the dilemmas and challenges of fostering meaningful political engagement to a more ‘sensory democracy’. It achieves this by first exploring and dissecting recent works within democratic theory that emphasise the role of ‘watching’ and ‘listening’ within sociopolitical relationships. It then goes on to develop a set of constructive criticisms by applying insights drawn from the fields of practical aesthetics and applied theatre. Not only does this exercise allow us to take the analytical lens far beyond the focus on voice-based forms of expression that have hitherto dominated political analysis, it demonstrates the value of inter-disciplinary scholarship in exposing sensory-subtleties that raise distinctive questions for both politics ‘as theory’ and politics ‘as practice’.


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