Mining Democracy

Switzerland has a long tradition of direct democracy, which makes it an ideal laboratory for research on real-world politics. Similar to recent open government initiatives launched worldwide, the Swiss government regularly releases datasets related to state affairs and politics. In this paper, we propose an exploratory, data-driven study of the political landscape of Switzerland, in which we use opinions expressed by candidates and citizens on a web platform during the recent Swiss parliamentary elections, together with fine-grained vote results and parliament votes. Following this purely data-driven approach, we show that it is possible to uncover interesting patterns that would otherwise require both tedious manual analysis and domain knowledge. In particular, we show that traditional cultural and/or ideological idiosyncrasies can be highlighted and quantified by looking at vote results and pre-election opinions. We propose a technique for comparing the candidates' opinions expressed before the elections with their actual votes cast in the parliament after the elections. This technique spots politicians that do not vote consistently with the opinions that they expressed during the campaign. We also observe that it is possible to predict surprisingly precisely the outcome of nationwide votes, by looking at the outcome in a single, carefully selected municipality. Our work applies to any country where similar data is available; it points to some of the avenues created by user-generated data emerging from open government initiatives, which enable new data-mining approaches to political and social sciences

Knowledge Discovery in Online Repositories: A Text Mining Approach

Before the advent of the Internet, the newspapers were the prominent instrument of mobilization for independence and political struggles. Since independence in Nigeria, the political class has adopted newspapers as a medium of Political Competition and Communication. Consequently, most political information exists in unstructured form and hence the need to tap into it using text mining algorithm. This paper implements a text mining algorithm on some unstructured data format in some newspapers. The algorithm involves the following natural language processing techniques: tokenization, text filtering and refinement. As a follow-up to the natural language techniques, association rule mining technique of data mining is used to extract knowledge using the Modified Generating Association Rules based on Weighting scheme (GARW). The main contributions of the technique are that it integrates information retrieval scheme (Term Frequency Inverse Document Frequency) (for keyword/feature selection that automatically selects the most discriminative keywords for use in association rules generation) with Data Mining technique for association rules discovery. The program is applied to Pre-Election information gotten from the website of the Nigerian Guardian newspaper. The extracted association rules contained important features and described the informative news included in the documents collection when related to the concluded 2007 presidential election. The system presented useful information that could help sanitize the polity as well as protect the nascent democracy

Democratization beyond the post-democratic turn: towards a research agenda on new conceptions of citizen participation

Following extensive debates about post-democracy and post-politics, scholarly attention has shifted to conceptualizing the ongoing transformation of democracy. In this endeavour, the change in understandings, expectations and functions of political participation is a key parameter. Improving citizen participation is widely regarded as the hallmark of democratization. Yet, a variety of actors are also increasingly ambivalent about democratic institutions and the further expansion of participation. Meanwhile, new forms of participation are gaining in significance – neoliberal activation, the responsibilization of consumers, digital data mining, managed behaviour guided by choice architects – which some believe much improve representation, but which others perceive as a threat to the citizens’ autonomy. This article introduces a special issue focusing on the participation-democratization nexus in well-established democracies in the economically affluent global North. Based on a critical review of popular narratives of post-democracy and post-politics we sketch the notion of the post-democratic turn – which offers a new perspective on emerging forms of participation and in this special issue serves as a conceptual lens for their analysis. We then revisit more traditional conceptualizations of democratic participation which are challenged by the post-democratic turn. The article concludes with an overview of the individual contributions to this special issue

Between empowerment and abuse: citizen participation beyond the post-democratic turn

In this special issue on “Democratization beyond the Post-Democratic Turn. Political Participation between Empowerment and Abuse”, we have explored changing understandings of participation in contemporary Western representative democracies through the analytical lens of the concept of the post-democratic-turn. We have investigated technology-based, market-based, and expert-led innovations that claim to enhance democratic participation and to provide policy legitimation. In this concluding article, I revisit the cases made by the individual contributors and analyse how shifting notions of participation alter dominant understandings of democracy. I carve out how new and emerging ideas of participation are based on different understandings of political subjectivity; furthermore, how constantly rising democratic expectations and simultaneously increasing scepticism with regard to democratic processes and institutions point to a growing democratic ambivalence within Western societies. Making use of Dahl’s conceptualization of democracy, in this article, I review changing understandings of participation in light of their contribution to further democratization. The article shows how under post-democratic conditions the simulative performance of autonomy and subjectivity has become central to democratic participation. It emphasizes that what in established perspectives on democratization might appear as an abuse of participation, through the lens of a post-democratic-turn might be perceived as emancipatory and liberating

Democracy Education for Children using a Cartoon Video and Mock Voting

In democracy education, determining how best to teach young children about democracy and how to measure the effectiveness of such learning is difficult, as "democracy" is a subjective and intangible concept. Given the challenge that this presents to educational planners, the author has created a cartoon video about democracy accompanied by an opportunity for children who watch the video to "mock vote." The author used the video in a series of elementary school visits to teach the children the meaning of democracy. The effects of the video learning were assessed by analyzing the children's questionnaire responses before and after the class using text data mining. It was found that the children were able to assimilate the contents of the video and the themes behind the story; that is, they understood the meaning of democracy and democratic elections

Conference News: Social Policy in Mineral-Rich Countries

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.UNRISD_SocialPolicyInMineralRichCountries.pdf: 189 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

CSR Practice in the Drc's Mining Sector by Chinese Firms

The author analyses the CSR practice in mining area by Chinese firm

Tackling the Resource Curse: The Role of Democracy in Achieving Sustainable Development in Resource-Rich Countries

This report provides a critical survey of the academic and policy literature that investigates the role of democratic arrangements and practices in sustainable and inclusive development through the prudential governance of oil, gas and mining resources. It covers different government systems, world regions and countries. The findings suggest that if the question is 'does democracy lead to better development outcomes in countries rich in oil, gas and mining resources?', the 'yes' answer should be a very cautious and qualified one. While certain aspects of democratic arrangements and practices are empirically linked to sustainable and inclusive development outcomes, others are not - and may, under some conditions, undermine the achievement of such outcomes. Finally, several theoretical and methodological issues are identified that affect many studies in this literature and hinder making inferences from their findings. Six illustrative cases are discussed to highlight important aspects of the relationship between democracy, natural resources and development

Trade unions and democracy in South Africa: Union organizational challenges and solidarities in a time of transformation

Based on a nationwide survey, this article focuses on the perceptions of COSATU members on two of the central issues that have dominated debates on the South African labour movement: the advisability of COSATU’s Alliance with the ANC and the extent of internal union democracy. The survey revealed that the ANC-Alliance continues to enjoy mass support, whilst internal democracy remains robust. At the same time, the federation faces the challenges of coping with – and contesting - neo-liberal reforms, retaining and reenergizing rank and file in the post-apartheid era, and in reaching out to potential members in the informal sector and other areas of insecure work