Democracy Books
Peeters Publishers Trust: Cement of Democracy?
Book SynopsisThe last twenty years have witnessed the world-wide triumph of democracy. We now know that democracy is the only political system that enables us to face the challenges of modernity and of the future. But we also know that democracy is more than democratic institutions alone. Democracy must also somehow be inscribed in the hearts of the citizens. What, then, are the socio-psychological demands of democracy? There is near to unanimous agreement that trust is decisive here: democracy can only thrive in a society of citizens prepared to trust each other and acting on the belief that mutual benefits are to be expected from co-operation. Thus far research has preferred to focus on trust between private citizens or groups of private citizens. The political dimension of trust has only rarely been addressed. The present collection of historical and theoretical studies attempts to fill this lacuna. It answers the question of why and under what circumstances citizens will trust or distrust the democratic state. It also addresses a paradox of democracy: democracy needs the 'cement of trust', but trust should not be given unconditionally.
£54.29
NUS Press Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money, Politics,
Book SynopsisHow do politicians win elected office in democratic Indonesia? During the weeks leading to Indonesia’s 2014 legislative election, a team of researchers fanned across the country to record campaign events, interview candidates and canvassers, and observe their interactions with voters. Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia presents the results. Through a series of ethnographic studies that span the country from Aceh in the far west to Papua in the east, the book provides unprecedented insight into grassroots electioneering, Indonesian style. It shows that in Indonesia’s candidate-centred electoral system, relatively few candidates rely on parties to get elected. Instead, most build personal campaign teams, recruit grassroot vote brokers and reach out to constituents through informal social linkages ranging from religious, ethnic and kinship networks through to village sports clubs and women’s associations. Above all, they distribute patronage – cash, goods and other material benefits – both to individual voters and to communities. Shining a new light on the scale and complexity of vote buying and the many uncertainties involved in this style of politics, Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia presents an unusually intimate portrait of how politics works in a patronage-based system.
£999.99