Democracy. According to political scientist Larry Diamond, it consists of four key elements: The term originates from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) "rule of the people",[4] which was found from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (krátos) "power" or "rule", in the 5th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens; the term is an antonym to ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratía) "rule of an elite".
While theoretically these definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred historically.[5] The political system of Classical Athens, for example, granted democratic citizenship to an elite class of free men and excluded slaves and women from political participation. Democracy contrasts with forms of government where power is either held by an individual, as in an absolute monarchy, or where power is held by a small number of individuals, as in an oligarchy.
Characteristics[edit] History[edit] Ancient origins[edit] Middle Ages[edit] Robert A. Rechtsstaat -power of the state is limited in order to protect citizens from the arbitrary exercise of authority. In a Rechtsstaat, the power of the state is limited in order to protect citizens from the arbitrary exercise of authority. In a Rechtsstaat the citizens share legally-based civil liberties and they can use the courts. A country cannot be a liberal democracy without first being a Rechtsstaat.
German stamp (1981). Rechtsstaat, Fundamental Concept of Democracy - "The legislature is bound by the constitutional order, the executive and the judiciary by law and right. " (Article 20(3) GG) Immanuel Kant[edit] German writers usually place Immanuel Kant's theories at the beginning of their accounts of the movement toward the Rechtsstaat.[2] The Rechtsstaat in the meaning of "constitutional state" was introduced in the latest works of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) after US and French constitutions were adopted in the late 18th century.
"Kant's political teaching may be summarized in a phrase: republican government and international organization. See also[edit] References[edit] Authority. The word authority is derived from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning 'invention', 'advice', 'opinion', 'influence', or 'command'. In English, the word authority can be used to mean power given by the state (in the form of government, judges, police officers, etc.) or by academic knowledge of an area (someone can be an authority on a subject).
When the word Authority is used in the name of an organization, this name usually refers to the governing body upon which such authority is vested; for example, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority or the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Authority in various settings[edit] Government[edit] Political philosophy[edit] In political philosophy, the jurisdiction of political authority, the location of sovereignty, the balancing of freedom and authority (cf. Other social sciences[edit] The definition of authority in contemporary social science remains a matter of debate. Max Weber on authority[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] Liberal democracy. A liberal democracy may take various constitutional forms: it may be a constitutional republic, such as France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, or the United States, or a constitutional monarchy, such as Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, or the United Kingdom.
It may have a presidential system (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the United States), a semi-presidential system (France and Russia), or a parliamentary system (Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom). Structure[edit] Liberal democracies usually have universal suffrage, granting all adult citizens the right to vote regardless of race, gender or property ownership. Historically, however, some countries regarded as liberal democracies have had a more limited franchise, and some do not have secret ballots.
There may also be qualifications such as voters being required to register before being allowed to vote. Rights and freedoms[edit] Preconditions[edit] Origins[edit] Free (89) Not Free (47) Nederlandse Grondwet. Grondwet-site brengt spelregels Nederlandse samenleving helder in beeld - Europa NU. Maandag 23 augustus 2010, 18:39 Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin heeft vandaag de nieuwe website www.deNederlandseGrondwet.nl in gebruik gesteld. Hij deed dit tijdens de opening van de zomerconferentie van het Montesquieu Instituut dat als motto 'Bouwen aan Vertrouwen' heeft. Nederlanders vinden de Nederlandse Grondwet belangrijk, maar weten nauwelijks wat er nu eigenlijk in de Grondwet geregeld wordt. Dit was de conclusie van een in 2008 door het ministerie van Binnenlandse zaken ingesteld onderzoek. De nieuwe website www.deNederlandseGrondwet.nl wil het burgers, ambtenaren en bestuurders eenvoudiger maken om snel kennis te nemen van de betekenis en bedoeling van de afzonderlijke artikelen, die feitelijk de officiële spelregels van de Nederlandse samenleving vormen.
De nieuwsoverzichten die bij veel artikelen beschikbaar zijn, laten zien hoe de Grondwet ons dagelijks leven mede bepaalt. De website is een initiatief van het Parlementair Documentatie Centrum van de Universiteit Leiden. White House Council Launches Interagency Subcommittee on Privacy & Internet Policy. Posted by Cameron Kerry and Christopher Schroeder on October 24, 2010 at 10:10 AM EDT As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to promoting the vast economic opportunity of the Internet and protecting individual privacy, the National Science and Technology Council has launched a new Subcommittee on Privacy and Internet Policy. Populated by representatives from more than a dozen Departments, agencies and Federal offices, and co-chaired by the two of us, the subcommittee will develop principles and strategic directions with the goal of fostering consensus in legislative, regulatory, and international Internet policy realms.
In this digital age, a thriving and dynamic economy requires Internet policies that promote innovation domestically and globally while ensuring strong and sensible protections of individuals’ private information and the ability of governments to meet their obligations to protect public safety. Cameron Kerry is General Counsel at the Department of Commerce. Open Government Initiative. Open Data Policy Guidance to better manage Federal information as an asset to make it more open, accessible, and usable by the public.
Executive Order on Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information The President’s Executive Order on making Federal Government information more open and accessible to promote economic growth and government efficiency. National Action Plan for the United States of America These Open Government efforts are now entering a new phase, as we collaborate with other countries in the global Open Government Partnership.
Informing Consumers through Smart Disclosure Memorandum: The purpose of this Memorandum is to set out guidance for agencies to inform and facilitate the use of disclosure, specifically "smart disclosure. " Commitment to Open Government Status Report The President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government Open Innovation Memo The Open Government Directive PRA Primer Social Media and the PRA Data.Gov Concept of Operations. SN user’s Bill of Rights. Back in May, privacy online was the number one issue on everyone’s minds. Facebook was in the middle of a huge fiasco over their privacy settings, Google was in hot water over the non-secure launch of Buzz, and AT&T and other companies had been called out for not doing enough to protect consumers’ data.
Facebook’s privacy issues were the most notorious and severe, prompting the Electronic Frontier Foundation to propose a Bill of Rights of sorts for its users. They called for three basic principles that all social network users should demand: the right to informed decision making, the right to use and disclose their own data, and the right to completely delete their information should they decide to deactivate their account. This past week a conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy in a Networked Society convened in San Francisco, CA to “set the agenda for our rights on the networks,” and “to secure ourselves against the threats of information technology.”
Openbaar Bestuur | Kluwer.nl. 3 privacy initiatives from the Office of Manage. Last Friday was a scramble for government security personnel and independent privacy advocates, and should also have stood out to anyone concerned with the growth of online commerce, civic action, and social networking. The U.S. government’s Office of Management and Budget, which is the locus of President Obama’s drive toward transparency and open government, popped out three major initiatives that combine to potentially change the landscape for online identity and privacy, not only within government but across the Internet.
In this blog I’ll summarize the impacts of all three documents, as well as the next steps that I see necessary in these areas. The documents (all distributed as PDFs, which is not the easiest format to draw commentary) are: These documents are not long, but the complexity of the policy areas they address ensure that no blog could cover everything of importance, nor could a single commentator like me provide a well-rounded view. A certificate-backed OpenID system. National Strategy forTrusted Identities inCybers.
Cybersecurity. @timberners_lee Snooping authorities thr... Web inventor: 'Snooping' authorities threaten Internet | EurActi. Institutes.