LA FIN DE LA DÉMOCRATIE LIBÉRALE TELLE QUE NOUS L’AVONS CONNUE?

The theoretical fault-lines in liberal democratic theory have always been located in at least two important sites: that of process or procedure, and that of outcome. As to the former, the problem has been that of trying to ensure that the “will of the people” – or at least of the relevant people, the eligible voters – gets to be expressed through meaningful, practical mechanisms. According to the consensus shared by most mainstream liberal democratic theorists of the recent past, elections to representative bodies and subsequent votes by the winners of these elections are such mechanisms. But of course at every turn we constantly find instances of elected governments thwarting the majority views of the same body of individuals by which they were originally elected. Liberal democratic theory says that, as long as the appropriate procedures for manifesting the majority (or, in some instances, mere plurality) will of the people concerning who is to represent them were followed, then the representatives are justified in voting against the apparent will of the people. But this is a clear practical contradiction. As for the the question of outcome, here recent liberal democratic theory has dug an even deeper hole for itself by abandoning the notion of a common good, to which at least some earlier theorists in this tradition still subscribed. Liberal democratic theory has ultimately denied itself any critical function with respect to outcomes. Instead, it is forced to ratify every outcome, however clearly misguided or even tragic it may be, as long as it is the product of the accepted authoritative set of procedures and institutions. Surely the new theoretical direction will need to come to grips with all the elements mostly absent from the Rawlsian approach and from the writings of most of Rawls’ liberal democratic fellow travelers: power, violence, domination, ideology, decision, interpretation, political expression, revolution, history, economy, biopolitics. New models for social and political philosophy are desperately needed!Theoretisch befanden sich die falschen Linien in der Theorie der liberalen Demokratie schon immer an mindestens zwei wichtigen Stellen: im Prozess oder Prozedere und im Resultat. Was das Erste betrifft, so bestand das Problem darin, dass versucht wurde sicherzustellen, dass der „Wille des Volkes“ – oder zumindest der der relevanten Menschen, der wählbaren Wähler – durch anschauliche, praktische Mechanismen zum Ausdruck kommt. Entsprechend dem Konsens der bedeutendsten Theoretiker der liberalen Demokratie in der neueren Vergangenheit gelten als solche Mechanismen die Wahlen für Repräsentativorgane und die nachfolgenden Stimmen der Wahlsieger. Doch auf jedem Schritt stoßen wir auf Instanzen der gewählten Regierungen, die die Mehrheitsansichten desselben Personenkreises, von dem sie ursprünglich gewählt worden waren, preisgeben. Die Theorie der liberalen Demokratie besagt, dass solange angebrachte Verfahren zum Ausdruck des Willens der Mehrheit angewandt werden (oder in einigen Fällen, der bloßen Mehrzahl) im Hinblick darauf, wer sie vertreten soll, die Vertreter berechtigt sind, gegen den manifesten Willen des Volkes zu stimmen. Doch dies ist natürlich ein offensichtlicher Widerspruch. Was die Frage der Resultate betrifft, so hat sich die neueste Theorie der liberalen Demokratie eine noch tiefere Grube gegraben, da sie sich vom Begriff des Allgemeinwohls abgewandt hat, zu dem zumindest einige frühere Theoretiker in dieser Tradition standen. Die Theorie der liberalen Demokratie hat sich letztlich selbst jegliche kritische Funktion in Bezug auf die Resultate abgesprochen. Statt dessen ist sie gezwungen, jedes Ergebnis zu ratifizieren, ohne Rücksicht darauf, wie offensichtlich es irreführend oder sogar tragisch sein mag, solange es das Erzeugnis einer akzeptierten autoritativen Bündels von Verfahren und Institutionen ist. Eine neue theoretische Richtung wird sicherlich gegen alle Elemente ankämpfen müssen, die größtenteils im Rawlsschen Ansatz und den Schriften der meisten seiner liberaldemokratischen Mitläufer fehlen: mit Macht, Gewalt, Domination, Ideologie, Entschlüssen, Deutungen, politischem Ausdruck, Revolution, Geschichte, Ökonomie, Biopolitik. Was wir dringend brauchen, sind neue Modelle sozialer und politischer Philosophie!Les failles dans la théorie de la démocratie libérale ont été toujours localisées dans au moins deux sphères importantes : celle de la procédure et celle des résultatst. En ce qui concerne la première, le problème réside dans le fait que l’on tâche que «la volonté du peuple» – ou du moins celle du peuple pertinent, des électeurs éligibles – s’exprime à travers des mécanismes signifiants et pratiques. Suivant le consenus partagé jusqu’à récemment par la plupart des théoriciens orthodoxes de la démocratie libérale, les élections à des cops représentatifs et les votes ultérieurs des gagnants de ces élections constituent de tels mécanismes. Or, on constate à tout bout de champ que différentes instances des pouvoirs élus agissent à l’encontre de l’opinion des groupements de personnes qui les ont élus. La théorie de la démocratie libérale dit que, tant que l’on respecte les procédures appropriées permettant l’expression majoritaire (ou, à certaines instances, seulement plurielle) de la volonté du peuple quant à ceux qui le représenteront, les représentants sont légitimés à voter contre la volonté apparente du peuple. Or, c’est une pure condradiction pratique. En ce qui concerne la question des résultats, la théorie récente de la démocratie libérale s’est creusé là une fosse encore plus profonde en abandonnant le concept de bien commun, auquel souscrivaient du moins quelques-uns des théoriciens plus traditionnels. La théorie de la démocratie libérale a finalement renoncé à toute fonction critique à l’égard des résultats. Par contre, elle est obligée de ratifier tout résultat, quelque déplorable ou même tragique qu’il puisse être, tant qu’il soit le produit de l’ensemble habilité des procédures et des institutions admises. Or, la nouvelle orientation théorique devra s’attaquer à tous les éléments qui sont absents dans l’approche rawlsienne et dans les écrits de la plupart des disciples libéraux de Rawls : pouvoir, violence, domination, idéologie, décision, interprétation, expression politique, révolution, histoire, économie, biopolitique. On a désespérément besoin de nouveaux modèles opour la philosophie sociale et politique

Sartre аnd America

The article is devoted to the North American Sartre Society, which was founded in 1985. The author as its co-founder develops his point of view presenting during panel discussion of Sartre’s relations with the United States on the 2015 meeting. He devoted a lot of papers and books to Sartre’s philosophy. Some of them are presented in the references. The author reflects at a somewhat deeper level on Sartre’s attitudes towards USA in the context of its history and international relations, saying about philosopher’s contradictions, the strategy and tactics of his self-disinvitation. The author traces Sartre’s transition from one myth of America to another in later life. Sartre’s initial experiential encounter with the American reality was by no means entirely positive, but he did like New York City, feeling a sense of freedom in the midst of its crowds that he retained as an important part of his picture of America when back in France. Freedom, an open future, almost unlimited possibilities, and a lack of a sense of history of the sort by which Europe is shackled. Several events of the postwar world history such as Korean war, then Vietnam war paved the way for Sartre’s most salient later attitudes towards America. Meanwhile, Sartre had accepted an invitation to present lectures at Cornell University in 1965. But after American massive bombing of North Vietnam in 1965 Sartre responded by disinviting himself from Cornell by way of protest. Recounting these events, the author of the paper recalls so-called “Cornell Lectures”, which were saved in unfinished manuscript form and have been given the title “Morale et Histoire”. A serious interest in American political life is shown on Sartre’s and Beauvoir’s visit to Cuba as guests of Fidel Castro and Sartre’s participation in Lord Bertrand Russell’s independent War Crimes Tribunal

The End of Liberal Democracy as We Have Know It?

The theoretical fault-lines in liberal democratic theory have always been located in at least two important sites: that of process or procedure, and that of outcome. As to the former, the problem has been that of trying to ensure that the »will of the people« – or at least of the relevant people, the eligible voters – gets to be expressed through meaningful, practical mechanisms. According to the consensus shared by most mainstream liberal democratic theorists of the recent past, elections to representative bodies and subsequent votes by the winners of these elections are such mechanisms. But of course at every turn we constantly find instances of elected governments thwarting the majority views of the same body of individuals by which they were originally elected. Liberal democratic theory says that, as long as the appropriate procedures for manifesting the majority (or, in some instances, mere plurality) will of the people concerning who is to represent them were followed, then the representatives are justified in voting against the apparent will of the people. But this is a clear practical contradiction. As for the the question of outcome, here recent liberal democratic theory has dug an even deeper hole for itself by abandoning the notion of a common good, to which at least some earlier theorists in this tradition still subscribed. Liberal democratic theory has ultimately denied itself any critical function with respect to outcomes. Instead, it is forced to ratify every outcome, however clearly misguided or even tragic it may be, as long as it is the product of the accepted authoritative set of procedures and institutions. Surely the new theoretical direction will need to come to grips with all the elements mostly absent from the Rawlsian approach and from the writings of most of Rawls’ liberal democratic fellow travelers: power, violence, domination, ideology, decision, interpretation, political expression, revolution, history, economy, biopolitics. New models for social and political philosophy are desperately needed

County government in South Carolina today; Municipal government in South Carolina today, 1993 November 11

This publication contains two lectures, the first by William L. McBride on County Government in South Carolina Today and the second by William D. Workman, III on Municipal Government in South Carolina Today

Profits, Costs, and the Changing Structure of Dairy Farming

U.S. dairy production is consolidating into fewer but larger farms. This report uses data from several USDA surveys to detail that consolidation and to analyze the financial drivers of consolidation. Specifically, larger farms realize lower production costs. Although small dairy farms realize higher revenue per hundredweight of milk sold, the cost advantages of larger size allow large farms to be profitable, on average, even while most small farms are unable to earn enough to replace their capital. Further survey evidence, as well as the financial data, suggest that consolidation is likely to continue.Dairy farming, economies of scale, economies of size, dairy farm structure, milk costs, Farm Management, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

The alcohol-preferring (P) and high-alcohol-drinking (HAD) rats – Animal Models of Alcoholism

The objective of this article is to review the literature on the utility of using the selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) and high-alcohol-drinking (HAD) lines of rats in studies examining high alcohol drinking in adults and adolescents, craving-like behavior, and the co-abuse of alcohol with other drugs. The P line of rats meets all of the originally proposed criteria for a suitable animal model of alcoholism. In addition, the P rat exhibits high alcohol-seeking behavior, demonstrates an alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) under relapse drinking conditions, consumes amounts of ethanol during adolescence equivalent to those consumed in adulthood, and co-abuses ethanol and nicotine. The P line also exhibits excessive binge-like alcohol drinking, attaining blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 200 mg% on a daily basis. The HAD replicate lines of rats have not been as extensively studied as the P rats. The HAD1,2 rats satisfy several of the criteria for an animal model of alcoholism, e.g., these rats will voluntarily consume ethanol in a free-choice situation to produce BACs between 50–200 mg%. The HAD1,2 rats also exhibit an ADE under repeated relapse conditions, and will demonstrate similar levels of ethanol intake during adolescence as seen in adults. Overall, the P and HAD1,2 rats have characteristics attributed to an early onset alcoholic, and can be used to study various aspects of alcohol use disorders

Daily patterns of ethanol drinking in adolescent and adult, male and female, high alcohol drinking (HAD) replicate lines of rats

The rationale for our study was to determine the pattern of ethanol drinking by the high alcohol-drinking (HAD) replicate lines of rats during adolescence and adulthood in both male and female rats. Rats were given 30 days of 24 h free-choice access to ethanol (15%, v/v) and water, with ad lib access to food, starting at the beginning of adolescence (PND 30) or adulthood (PND 90). Water and alcohol drinking patterns were monitored 22 h/day with a “lickometer” set-up. The results indicated that adolescent HAD-1 and HAD-2 males consumed the greatest levels of ethanol and had the most well defined ethanol licking binges among the age and sex groups with increasing levels of ethanol consumption throughout adolescence. In addition, following the first week of adolescence, male and female HAD-1 and HAD-2 rats differed in both ethanol consumption levels and ethanol licking behavior. Adult HAD-1 male and female rats did not differ from one another and their ethanol intake or licking behaviors did not change significantly over weeks. Adult HAD-2 male rats maintained a relatively constant level of ethanol consumption across weeks, whereas adult HAD-2 female rats increased ethanol consumption levels over weeks, peaking during the third week when they consumed more than their adult male counterparts. The results indicate that the HAD rat lines could be used as an effective animal model to examine the development of ethanol consumption and binge drinking in adolescent male and female rats providing information on the long-range consequences of adolescent alcohol drinking

Involvement of Purinergic P2X4 Receptors in Alcohol Intake of High-Alcohol-Drinking (HAD) Rats

Background: The P2X4 receptor is thought to be involved in regulating alcohol-consuming behaviors and ethanol (EtOH) has been reported to inhibit P2X4 receptors. Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic agent that acts as a positive allosteric modulator of the P2X4 receptor. The current study examined the effects of systemically- and centrally-administered ivermectin on alcohol drinking of replicate lines of high-alcohol-drinking (HAD-1/HAD-2) rats, and the effects of lentiviral-delivered short-hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) targeting P2rx4 on EtOH intake of female HAD2 rats. Method: For the 1st experiment, adult male HAD-1 & HAD-2 rats were given 24-hr free-choice access to 15% EtOH vs. water. Dose-response effects of ivermectin (1.5 to 7.5 mg/kg i.p.) on EtOH intake were determined; the effects of ivermectin were then examined for 2% w/v sucrose intake over 5 consecutive days. In the 2nd experiment, female HAD-2 rats were trained to consume 15% EtOH under 2-hr limited access conditions, and dose-response effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of ivermectin (0.5 to 2.0 μg) were determined over 5 consecutive days. The 3rd experiment determined the effects of microinfusion of a lentivirus expressing P2rx4 shRNAs into the posterior ventral tegmental area (VTA) on 24-hr EtOH free-choice drinking of female HAD-2 rats. Results: The highest i.p. dose of ivermectin reduced alcohol drinking (30-45%) in both rat lines, but did not alter sucrose intake. HAD-2 rats appeared to be more sensitive than HAD1 rats to the effects of ivermectin. ICV administration of ivermectin reduced 2-hr limited access intake (∼35%) of femal

Scheduled access alcohol drinking by alcohol-preferring (P) and high-alcohol-drinking (HAD) rats: modeling adolescent and adult binge-like drinking

Binge alcohol drinking continues to be a public health concern among today’s youth and young adults. Moreover, an early onset of alcohol use, which usually takes the form of binge drinking, is associated with a greater risk for developing alcohol use disorders. Given this, it is important to examine this behavior in rat models of alcohol abuse and dependence. Toward that end, the objective of this article is to review findings on binge-like drinking by selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) and high-alcohol-drinking (HAD) lines of rats. As reviewed elsewhere in this special issue, the P line meets all, and the HAD line meets most, of the proposed criteria for an animal model of alcoholism. One model of binge drinking is scheduled ethanol access during the dark cycle, which has been used by our laboratory for over 20 years. Our laboratory has also adopted a protocol involving the concurrent presentation of multiple ethanol concentrations. When this protocol is combined with limited access, ethanol intake is maximized yielding blood ethanol levels (BELs) in excess, sometimes greatly in excess, of 80 mg%. By extending these procedures to include multiple scheduled ethanol access sessions during the dark cycle for 5 consecutive days/week, P and HAD rats consume in 3 or 4 h as much as, if not more than, the amount usually consumed in a 24-h period. Under certain conditions, using the multiple scheduled access procedure, BELs exceeding 200 mg% can be achieved on a daily basis. An overview of findings from studies with other selectively bred, inbred, and outbred rats places these findings in the context of the existing literature. Overall, the findings support the use of P and HAD rats as animal models to study binge-like alcohol drinking and reveal that scheduled access procedures will significantly increase ethanol intake by other rat lines and strains as well