465 research outputs found
A multidimensional account of democratic legitimacy: how to make robust decisions in a non-idealized deliberative context
This paper analyses the possibility of granting legitimacy to democratic decisionmaking procedures in a context of deep pluralism. We defend a multidimensional
account according to which a legitimate system needs to grant, on the one hand, that citizens should be included on an equal footing and acknowledged
as reflexive political agents rather than mere beneficiaries of policies, and, on the other hand, that their decisions have an epistemic quality. While Estlund\u2019s
account of imperfect epistemic proceduralism might seem to embody a dualistic conception of democratic legitimacy, we point out that it is not able to recognize
citizens as reflexive political agents and is grounded in an idealized model of the circumstances of deliberation. To overcome these ambiguities, we develop an
account of democratic legitimacy according to which disagreement is the proper expression of citizens\u2019 reflexive agency and the attribution of epistemic authority
does not stem from a major expertise or specific ability, but it comes through the public confrontation among disagreeing agents. Consequently, the epistemic
value of deliberation should be derived from the reasons-giving process rather than from the reference to the alleged quality of its outcomes. In this way, we
demonstrate the validity of the multidimensional perspective of legitimacy, yet abstain from introducing any outcome-oriented criterion. Finally, we argue that
this account of legitimacy is well suited for modeling deliberative democracy as a decision-making procedure that respects the agency of every citizen and grants
her opportunity to influence public choices
The quintessentially democratic act?:Democracy, political community and citizenship in and after the UKâs EU referendum of June 2016
A 16 Parts per Trillion Comparison of the Antiproton-to-Proton q/m Ratios
The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is both incredibly successful and
glaringly incomplete. Among the questions left open is the striking imbalance
of matter and antimatter in the observable universe which inspires experiments
to compare the fundamental properties of matter/antimatter conjugates with high
precision. Our experiments deal with direct investigations of the fundamental
properties of protons and antiprotons, performing spectroscopy in advanced
cryogenic Penning-trap systems. For instance, we compared the proton/antiproton
magnetic moments with 1.5 ppb fractional precision, which improved upon
previous best measurements by a factor of >3000. Here we report on a new
comparison of the proton/antiproton charge-to-mass ratios with a fractional
uncertainty of 16ppt. Our result is based on the combination of four
independent long term studies, recorded in a total time span of 1.5 years. We
use different measurement methods and experimental setups incorporating
different systematic effects. The final result,
= ,
is consistent with the fundamental charge-parity-time (CPT) reversal
invariance, and improves the precision of our previous best measurement by a
factor of 4.3. The measurement tests the SM at an energy scale of
GeV (CL 0.68), and improves 10 coefficients of the
Standard Model Extension (SME). Our cyclotron-clock-study also constrains
hypothetical interactions mediating violations of the clock weak equivalence
principle (WEP) for antimatter to a level of , and enables the first differential test of the WEP
using antiprotons \cite{hughes1991constraints}. From this interpretation we
constrain the differential WEP-violating coefficient to
BASE-STEP: A transportable antiproton reservoir for fundamental interaction studies
Currently, the only worldwide source of low-energy antiprotons is the
AD/ELENA facility located at CERN. To date, all precision measurements on
single antiprotons have been conducted at this facility and provide stringent
tests of the fundamental interactions and their symmetries. However, the
magnetic field fluctuations from the facility operation limit the precision of
upcoming measurements. To overcome this limitation, we have designed the
transportable antiproton trap system BASE-STEP to relocate antiprotons to
laboratories with a calm magnetic environment. We anticipate that the
transportable antiproton trap will facilitate enhanced tests of CPT invariance
with antiprotons, and provide new experimental possibilities of using
transported antiprotons and other accelerator-produced exotic ions. We present
here the technical design of the transportable trap system. This includes the
transportable superconducting magnet, the cryogenic inlay consisting of the
trap stack and the detection systems, and the differential pumping section to
suppress the residual gas flow into the cryogenic trap chamber.Comment: To be submitted to Rev. Sci. Instrument
Participatory-deliberative processes and public policy agendas:Lessons for policy and practice
open access journalParticipatory and deliberative processes have proliferated over
recent decades in public administration. These seek to increase
the effectiveness and democratic quality of policy making by
involving citizens in policy. However, these have mainly operated
at local levels of governance, and democratic theorists and practitioners
have developed an ambition to scale these up in order to
democratize higher tiers of government. This paper draws policy
lessons from research on a âmulti-levelâ process that held a similar
ambition. The Sustainable Communities Act sought to integrate
the results of various locally organized citizen deliberations within
the policy development processes of central UK government. In
doing so, it aimed to democratize central government problem
definition and agenda-setting processes. The paper distinguishes
between achievements and failures explained by process design,
and more fundamental obstacles to do with broader contextual
factors. As such, it identifies lessons for the amelioration of design
features, while recognizing constraints that are often beyond the
agency of local practitioners. The findings offer practical insights
for policy workers and democratic reformers seeking to institutionalize
participatory and deliberative innovations
The sacred and the profane: biotechnology, rationality, and public debate
Davies G, 2006. The definitive, peer-reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Environment and Planning A, 38(3), pp. 423 â 443 DOI: 10.1068/a37387This paper explores the forms of argumentation employed by participants in a recent public engagement process in the United Kingdom around new technologies for organ transplantation, with specific reference to xenotransplantation and stem-cell research. Two forms of reasoning recur throughout participantsâ deliberations which challenge specialist framing of this issue. First, an often scatological humour and sense of the profane are evident in the ways in which participants discuss the bodily transformations that such technologies demand. Second, a sense of the sacred, in which new biotechnologies are viewed as against nature or in which commercial companies are âplaying godâ, is a repetitive and well-recognised concern. Such forms of reasoning are frequently dismissed by policymakers as âuninformed gut reactionsâ. Yet they also form a significant part of the repertoire of scientists themselves as they proclaim the hope of new medical breakthroughs, or seek to reconstruct ideas of the body to facilitate new biotechnological transformations. Through questioning of assumptions in Habermasâs notion of discourse ethics, and exploring the importance of hybridity and corporeality as concepts in ethical thinking, the author suggests that, far from being ill-formed opinions, such reasonings perform an important function for thinking through the ontological significance of the corporealisation of these proposed new forms of human and animal bodies
Linguistic foundations of heritage language development from the perspective of romance languages in Germany
This paper discusses the role of different factors determining the linguistic competence of heritage speakers (HSs) based on examples from speakers who speak a Romance language (French, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish) as heritage language (HL) and German as the environmental language. Since the relative amount of contact with the HL and the environmental language may vary during the acquisition process, the role of language dominance (in terms of relative language proficiency) is of particular interest for HL development. In addition to dominance (and related to it), cross-linguistic influence (CLI) may have an influence on the outcome of HL acquisition. Finally, quality and quantity of input also determine HL acquisition and will be discussed in connection with heritage language education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Compression of TW class laser pulses in a planar hollow waveguide for applications in strong-field physics
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Remarks on the Concept of Critique in Habermasian Thought
The main purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of critique in Habermasian thought. Given that the concept of critique is a central theoretical category in the work of the Frankfurt School, it comes as a surprise that little in the way of a systematic account which sheds light on the multifaceted meanings of the concept of critique in Habermasâs oeuvre can be found in the literature. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the various meanings that Habermas attributes to the concept of critique in 10 key thematic areas of his writings: (1) the public sphere, (2) knowledge, (3) language, (4) morality, (5) ethics, (6) evolution, (7) legitimation, (8) democracy, (9) religion, and (10) modernity. On the basis of a detailed analysis of Habermasâs multifaceted concerns with the nature and function of critique, the study seeks to demonstrate that the concept of critique can be considered not only as a constitutive element but also as a normative cornerstone of Habermasian thought. The paper draws to a close by reflecting on some of the limitations of Habermasâs conception of critique, arguing that in order to be truly critical in the Habermasian sense we need to turn the subject of critique into an object of critique
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