Public universities are in crisis, waning in their role as central institutions within democratic societies. Denunciations are abundant, but analyses of the causes and proposals to re-create public universities are not. Based on extensive experience with Action Research-based organizational change in universities and private sector organizations, Levin and Greenwood analyze the wreckage created by neoliberal academic administrators and policymakers. The authors argue that public universities must be democratically organized to perform their educational and societal functions. The book closes by laying out Action Research processes that can transform public universities back into institutions that promote academic freedom, integrity, and democracy.

It has become amply evident that democracy as we know it, in all its shapes and forms, suffers from severe deficiencies and weaknesses, having failed in eradicating abject poverty, in safeguarding clean air and water to all, in uplifting the destitute, and in exercising fairer development priorities. Nor has it successfully promoted fair trade practices nationally and internationally. Why? The answer is rather obvious: because the leading political ideologies have not managed to come up with adequate remedies and solutions. The whole spectrum of familiar ideologies, from radical Capitalism to radical Socialism, as propagated by their political parties, has proven incapable of enlightening us as to how democracy should function in order to satisfy its citizens' yearnings while fulfilling its national obligations. This book, however, has not come to add to the prevailing criticism, of which there is plenty, but to offer most urgently required viable solutions. Democracy is a process that has evolved from granting voting rights to the privileged few, via the emancipation of all male citizens and subsequently of all female citizens, to a situation where it is ripe for badly needed upgrading. The leading argument in The Transparent Democracy is that the upgrading of democracy is absolutely essential for raising living standards among the poor, for global synchronization of wages, and for eradication of corrupt or inept governance. The philosophy of upgrading is called Electivism, and it advocates, inter alia, four branches of governance instead of the customary three, the flow of essential data to every citizen, creation of a trade union sector, promotion of the preferred mix within the annual government budget, and a novel political alignment. The electivistic transparent democracy is an attempt to provide a viable blueprint for every country in the world, irrespective of its present status, assuming that if granted a choice, in the final analysis, people everywhere will prefer to live as free citizens with decent living standards in a truly progressive democratic society. This is therefore the story of the electivistic way. Readers wishing to comment on the blueprint for the upgrading of democracy as laid out in The Transparent Democracy and/or to endorse the need for setting up associations in support of electivism are invited to email their views, suggestions, and comments to: [email protected]

"The authors come up with some innovative tools, namely the “Catalogue of transparent lobbying”. They look at and evaluate the impact on both key stakeholders (lobbyists and targets of lobbying), monitoring of lobbying activities and sanctioning for breaches of rules. This tool holds out benchmarking capacity of sound framework for understanding of lobbying in the context of democracy, legitimacy of decision-making and accountability."David Ondráčka, member of global Board of Transparency International, head of Transparency International, Czech Republic "Transparent Lobbying and Democracy provides a comprehensive view into the phenomenon of lobbying... As a well-established scientist specializing in democracy, civil society and the public sphere, I see it as a useful and enriching contribution to the debate on lobbying, its necessary transparency and its role in the democratization process. This book has the potential to reach an international audience of experts and interested lay persons, and both complement and compete with publications on similar issues."Karel B. Müller, University of Economics in Prague, Czech Republic This book deals with the current, as yet unsolved, problem of transparency of lobbying. In the current theories and prevalent models that deal with lobbying activities, there is no reflection of the degree of transparency of lobbying, mainly due to the unclear distinction between corruption, lobbying in general, and transparent lobbying. This book provides a perspective on transparency in lobbying in a comprehensive and structured manner. It delivers an interdisciplinary approach to the topic and creates a methodology for assessing the transparency of lobbying, its role in the democratization process and a methodology for evaluating the main consequences of transparency. The new approach is applied to assess lobbying regulations in the countries of Central Eastern Europe and shows a method for how lobbying in other regions of the world may also be assessed.

Transparency and citizen engagement remain essential to good government and sound public policy. Indeed, they may well be the key to restoring trust in government itself, currently at an all-time low in Australia. It is ironic, then, that this has occurred at a time when the technological potential for information dissemination and interaction has never been greater. Opening Government: Transparency and Engagement in the Information Age explores new horizons and scenarios for better governance in the context of the new information age, focusing on the potentials and pitfalls for governments (and governance more broadly) operating in the new, information-rich environment. Its contributors, a range of international and Australian governance academics and practitioners, ask what are the challenges to our governing traditions and practices in the new information age, and where can better outcomes be expected using future technologies. They explore the fundamental ambiguities extant in opening up government, with governments intending to become far more transparent in providing information and in information sharing, but also more motivated to engage with other data sources, data systems and social technologies.

This book tells the story of radical transparency in a datafied world. The analysis, grounded from past examples of novel forms of mediation, unearths radical change over time, from a trickle of paper-based leaks to the modern digital torrent.

A state-of-the-art account of what we know and do not know about the effects of digital technology on democracy.

This book examines a wide range of issues that are expected to play a dominant role in shaping the 21st century. Delineating key concerns in geopolitics, democracy and peace, it studies the functions and influences of educational institutions, progressive religious and social groups, communities, international institutions such as the United Nations (UN); and forums promoting inter-faith dialogue. The author underscores how the century may be forged by a pluralist ethos: multiple and diverse nation states, centres of power, faiths, cultures, economies, and languages. He stresses the need to nurture moral strength and enlightened leadership for a life of compassion, peace and holistic development. In his second edition, the author further examines what the future holds for democracy. The volume takes stock of the recent developments in world politics, and highlights the urgent need for the Bahudha approach — inculcating a culture of dialogue and debate for peaceful resolution of conflicts. Lucid and engaging, this book will interest scholars and researchers of political studies, international relations, public policy, governance and development studies.

An excellent book for people interested in meditation, from beginners to advanced. The practice of meditation leads to a mind that is more peaceful, tranquil, and at ease. Because the mind is more relaxed, events that usually disturb us seem to take on less importance, and we stop taking them in such a serious way. Likewise, through meditation the mind gradually learns to be independent of external conditions and circumstances, discovering its own stability and tranquility. A stable mind leads to the experience of less suffering in our lives.