Abstract
This paper takes an in-depth look at political parties and issues that surround representation of the people in modern democracies. According to the paper, political parties, in their organization and their functioning, display numerous problems in terms of representation. The paper focuses particularly on two of these problems, the modes of government and the modes of funding. The paper also analyzes the aftermaths of the logic of electoral competition for the representation of the membership and the electorate.

From the Paper
"Political representation is quite a hard concept to grasp. It was rejected by the French during the Revolution as an impediment to the self-government of the people. Nonetheless, I will try to show that political representation is necessary for ensuring freedom in our modern democracies.
But first let us turn back to our French Revolution and the establishment of what could be considered as a quasi-totalitarian regime. In France, traditional feudal aristocratic society was undermined by an absolutist and centralist state. When the French Revolution broke out, the remaining feudal instances were destroyed even further (loi Le Chapelier), so that in fact only the individuals and the state remained without the traditional feudal corporations to mediate between them. The question then is how a society can be held together when it has been dismembered and robbed of the intermediary associations that had given it its concrete form and reality. Most revolutionaries followed republicans like Rousseau or Sieyes. The only way for them to bring about a post-feudal democratic order was by converting particular interests to the common good. Individuals were now called upon to set aside their particular preferences and to identify fully with the common will of the people in order to establish real popular sovereignty and equality. The Jacobin revolutionaries thus assumed that a true democracy could only be established if abstract democratic principles like formal equality, popular sovereignty or the unitary will of the people were indeed completely "turned into reality" (i.e. "actualized" or "materialized"), rather than merely respected (Weymans: 263-282). This is characteristic of totalitarian regimes. More so, to Claude Lefort totalitarianism represents a society's attempt to fully "materialize" or "actualize" democratic principles by making the people really one, equal, free or sovereign. That is also what distinguishes them from democratic regimes. While the totalitarian state tries to realize the principles (by embodying them), a democratic state prevents a society from realizing these (through representation), thus remaining distinct from and dependent on society. This distinction or alienation of the state from society is indeed necessary."

Tags:Political, Parties, Representation, People, Modern, Democracies

Abstract
This paper examines the ten planks of the Communist Manifesto, concentrating on those that appear to have been adopted by Western democracies such as America. The paper explains why the adoption of socialist policies by Western democracies does not imply contradiction and looks at how, at the heart of this explanation lies the conflict between Marxism as a social theory and Communism as a political ideology.

From the Paper
"Marx's theory, as it appears in the Communist Manifesto, is fundamentally a social theory. It is an attempt to understand human society, and it takes its cue from the theory of historical dialectism as proposed by Hegel. By applying the dialectic to the material and economic conditions of human existence, Marx is able to pinpoint a class struggle as informing all of history. But the theory also predicts the ultimate triumph of the Proletarian class, and for this reason it is easily adopted for ideological purposes. Marx is exhorting the workers to hasten the inevitable outcome, so that the ideal society is achieved sooner. The social theory is impeccable. But by transforming it into a political ideology Marx has given rise to fundamental contradictions in politics. The Communist party is said to be a selfless organization that only exists to hasten the just society. As Lenin interprets it, the state simply ''withers away'' after the overthrow of the bourgeoisie (79). History testifies to the fact that this does not happen, and instead the Communist Party becomes a totalitarian power."

Tags:Engels, material, dialectic, class, struggle, capitalism, socialism, unionism

Abstract
This paper first explains that most Western parliamentary democracies practice a unitary form of government, where the regional units are merely extensions of the central government and have no autonomy in decision-making; whereas, the U.S. is a federal system where the individual state governments derive their powers from the central government overseeing the implementation of law at the national level. Next, the author investigates the different role of the political party in parliamentary democracies as compared to the presidential power in the U.S. The paper concludes that emerging trends toward regionalism are developing in some countries with citizens using the power of the referendum to achieve these means.

From the Paper
"In the United States, the executive is the president and is chosen by the voters who votes go towards selecting delegates to serve in the electoral college, which determines how many electoral votes will go to the winning presidential candidate and the final outcome is determined by how many electoral votes in all 50 states the candidate receives. Once elected to office, the President will then form a cabinet of his own without approval by leaders of his party. However, the Presidential appointees must be voted on by the Senate."

Tags:branches, political parties, bicameral no-confidence, constitutional review

Abstract
This paper provides a comparison and contrast of three different forms of democracies: representative, direct, and participatory. Each of these forms of government is explained and examples of countries that adopt each of them are provided. A conclusion addresses a new form of democracy known as expert rule that is evolving in light of the flaws of conventional forms of democracy.

From the Paper
"Democracy is a term that has its roots in Ancient Greece, stemming from the Greek demos and kratos, that taken together mean the people rule. While Americans are most familiar with our own representative form of democracy, there are a number of other forms of democracies, from social democracy to consensus democracy. If there is one trait common to all the varied forms of democracies, it is the participation in government by the people to some degree. The power afforded to..."

Tags:U.S., Switzerland, South Korea, Greece, elections, gender, Hillary Clinton, constitution, legislation, legislators, voting, citizens, referendums

Abstract
The paper reviews scholarly materials pertaining to the decline of political participation of individuals in Western Democracies and reveals that it appears that there is less interest in political aspects of society by those born after the year 1970. The paper reveals various causes for this apathy. The paper concludes that while it is certain that no individual can or should be forced to participate in political and civic events in their community, it is certain that schools and communities have a very important responsibility in educating its citizens as to the critical importance of political and civic participation in a democracy.

From the Paper
"Habermas goes on to state that this institutional design is one that "embodies ideas from different political philosophies." Habermas explains that each of the traditions of democracy "gives a different weighting to equal liberties for everybody, democratic participation and government by public opinion." The point made by Habermas is that "government by public opinion" is a necessary ingredient for a working democracy whether it be governed by the Democratic democracy or the Republican democracy."

Tags:civic, citizen, public, opinion, government

Abstract
This paper studies the evolution of political parties in Western democracies. The paper focuses on the following types of parties: cadre party, mass party, catch-all party and cartel party. The paper looks at the relationship between the party leaders and members and the electorate. The paper concludes with the author's contention that there is a trend toward less democracy.

Tags:cadre party, mass party, catch-all party, cartel party

Abstract
This paper examines how effective democracies effectively balance their power among several leaders or agencies. The paper notes that tome political observers argue that the balance of power between the legislature and the judiciary resides with the judiciary in Canada - a troubling assertion for those who feel unelected officials should not hold that kind of sway over the political process. In the view of this writer, such an argument - however unsettling it may be - is undoubtedly correct. From there, the paper will turn to examine the arguments raised by at least one prominent Canadian academic who feels strongly that judges should use the considerable powers of their position to promote the creation of a Canada more in keeping with the notions of equality and inclusiveness that Canada allegedly stands for.

From the Paper
"Some political observers argue that the balance of power between the legislature and the judiciary resides with the judiciary in Canada - a troubling assertion for those who feel unelected officials should not hold that kind of sway over the political process. In the view of this writer, such an argument - however unsettling it may be - is undoubtedly correct. With that uppermost in mind, the following several pages will look at why it may be said that Canadian judges wield sweeping powers. From there, the paper will turn to examine the arguments raised by at least one prominent Canadian academic who feels strongly that judges should use the ..."

Tags:Canada, court, justice, equality

Abstract
This paper is a study of civil service, attempting to support developing principles of good public service. The paper focuses on six countries in Asia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutah, Cambodia, Maldives and Mongolia. The paper also discusses China and India. The idea of the paper is to develop principles for good public service and this includes professionalism and focusing on serving the public.

From the Paper
"Public administration, the day to day implementation of government policy and government services, matters even more in emerging democracies, where people need to see that democracy can work, than in countries where democracy is firmly established. People tend to focus on the more dramatic process of making laws, on elections, and on political conflicts among various political parties and

Tags:asia, bureaucracy, goverrnment

Abstract
This paper examines the complex relationship that exists between the media and the government in modern democratic societies. Specifically, the paper draws on the three examples of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The paper examines the question of whether or not the media can be employed as an effective check against abuses of government power. The author concludes that this is not possible.

From the Paper
"What is the role that the media plays in keeping governments, especially democracies, free from corruption and oppression? Presumably, a free press is an integral and inseparable part of any democratic society. Many critics, both in and out of the government, believe that the role of responsible journalism is to expose government corruption, graft, and the like all the while reporting what is being done to eliminate such blemishes on modern democracies. The media, it is felt, should be a powerful force for cleaning up the government."

Tags:media, government, relationship

Abstract
This essay takes a look at some of the successful attempts and failed attempts at representative democracy. Russia and Germany are cited as failures in representative democracies, while the U.S. is cited as a representative democracy that has experienced limited success.

From the Paper
"In the news we are told that Iran is preparing for what they call free elections for their representative government. However, a group of governmental overseers, religious leaders, have to approve all candidates. This year, a large number of candidates, many of whom are currently elected by their constituents, will not be allowed to run for office because their views fall too far outside what the ruling powers find acceptable. No one living in a country that truly allows free speech would consider this governmental form a democracy, because to truly participate in government, the people represented by the government must be able to speak about what they think needs to be changed as well as what they like. The greatest strength a representative democratic government can have is the free speech for its constituents."

Tags:citizens, elect, represent, freedom, of, speech, rights, liberty, majority, votes, elected