How do you put the "public" in public management? How can the traditional ethos of professionalism and technical expertise be reconciled with norms of representation and citizen participation at a time when technology is transforming communication between citizens and government - in some ways enhancing the exchange and in other ways complicating it? "Modernizing Democracy: Innovations in Citizen Participation" points the way. Written for public administration professionals, scholars, and students interested in citizen participation, it brings together new analyses of innovative practices, from hands-on community learning and focus groups to high-tech information systems and decision support technologies. The expert contributors illuminate the various roles that public administrators and leaders can play in fostering constructive, meaningful citizen involvement at all stages of the public policy process - from initiation and planning to feedback on public agency performance.

Is Islam compatible with democracy? Must fundamentalism win out in the Middle East, or will democracy ever be possible? In this now-classic book, Islamic sociologist Fatima Mernissi explores the ways in which progressive Muslims--defenders of democracy, feminists, and others trying to resist fundamentalism--must use the same sacred texts as Muslims who use them for violent ends, to prove different views. Updated with a new introduction by the author written in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Islam and Democracy serves as a guide to the players moving the pieces on the rather grim Muslim chessboard. It shines new light on the people behind today's terrorist acts and raises provocative questions about the possibilities for democracy and human rights in the Islamic world. Essential reading for anyone interested in the politics of the Middle East today, Islam and Democracy is as timely now as it was upon its initial, celebrated publication.

Intended for public administration professionals, scholars, and students interested in citizen participation. This work brings together analyses of innovative practices, from hands-on community learning and focus groups to high-tech information systems and decision support technologies.

Modernizing Democracy brings together scholars focusing the role of associations and associating in contemporary societies. Organizations and associations have been identified as the “meso level of society” and as the “basic elements of democracy”. They are important providers of welfare services and play an important role between the individual and political spheres. In recent years the environment of associations and associating has changed dramatically. Individualization, commercialization and globalization are challenging both democracy and the capability of associations to fulfill the functions attributed to them by social sciences. This change provides the central question of the volume: Is being part of an organization or association becoming an outdated model? And do associations still have the capacity of modernizing societies or are they just outdated remnants of post-democracy? The contributions to Modernizing Democracy will be organized into: Studying Association and Associating in the 21st Century, Associating in Times of Post-Democracy and Associations and the Challenge of Capitalist Development. The book will be attractive to third sector researchers as well as a broader academic community of political scientists, sociologists, economists, legal scientists and related disciplines.

How do you put the "public" in public management? How can the traditional ethos of professionalism and technical expertise be reconciled with norms of representation and citizen participation at a time when technology is transforming communication between citizens and government - in some ways enhancing the exchange and in other ways complicating it? "Modernizing Democracy: Innovations in Citizen Participation" points the way. Written for public administration professionals, scholars, and students interested in citizen participation, it brings together new analyses of innovative practices, from hands-on community learning and focus groups to high-tech information systems and decision support technologies. The expert contributors illuminate the various roles that public administrators and leaders can play in fostering constructive, meaningful citizen involvement at all stages of the public policy process - from initiation and planning to feedback on public agency performance.

No political concept is more used, and misused, than that of democracy. Nearly every regime today claims to be democratic, but not all 'democracies' allow free politics, and free politics existed long before democratic franchises. This book is a short account of the history of the doctrine and practice of democracy, from ancient Greece and Rome through the American, French, and Russian revolutions, and of the usages and practices associated with it in the modern world. It argues that democracy is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for good government, and that ideas of the rule of law, and of human rights, should in some situations limit democratic claims. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.