The National Diet Building, the legislature of Japan's parliamentary democracy, is located just south of the Imperial Palace in Tōkyō. Completed in 1936, its unusual architecture reflects elements of German, East Asian, and ancient Mideastern monumental architecture. From the outside it was surprisingly difficult to get a good photo of it, but I edited this one to get a closer view.
In central Tōkyō to help our younger son, security was very tight at the U.S. Embassy, and rather light around the Diet. The building is not gray like it usually appears in photos, but more like sandstone.
Cyber Republic: Reinventing Democracy in the Age of Intelligent Machines by George Zarkadakis, 2020
Science and tech expert George Zarkadakis presents an indispensable guide to making liberal democracies more inclusive, and the digital economy more equitable in the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Did you know it was none other than Texas Observer matriarch Molly Ivins, one of his most piercing critics, who gifted Rick Perry with his enduring nicknames—“Governor Goodhair” and “The Coiffure”?
💛 Editor’s Letter: White Supremacy Always Deals from the Bottom of the Deck
💛 SCOTUS Gone Amok
💛 Hope Amidst Hopelessness
💛 Patriots in Song and Heart
💛 What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July?
💛 and a quote by Justice Jackson
Americans often don't remember what happened between January 2017 and January 2021 and generally don't know what Trump has planned for them in January 2025. Editors find these stories boring but citizens need to know.
@timothydsnyder Regarding what Trump and anti-democratic authoritarians plan for 2025, your "Strongman Fantasy" article https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-strongman-fantasy should be widely read as a guide. It shows so clearly what happens historically when voters fall for the false promise of easy solutions. The world could lose the U.S. as a bulwark of democracy. Living in Japan as I do would be just a temporary respite, as paid shills for enemies of the Western-Japan alliance are increasingly propagandizing the public in Japanese through video and other channels seeping into real life. I can detail what they are saying if requested. Keep up the good fight for everyone's freedom!
De Gruyter Handbook of Citizens’ Assemblies (2023) #OpenAccess#Book by M. Reuchamps, J. Vrydagh and Y Welp (eds.).
"Citizens’ Assemblies (CAs) are flourishing around the world. Quite often composed of randomly selected citizens, CAs, arguably, come as a possible answer to contemporary democratic challenges. Democracies worldwide are indeed confronted with a series of disruptive phenomena such as a widespread perception of distrust and growing polarization as well as low performance. Many actors seek to reinvigorate democracy with citizen participation and deliberation. CAs are expected to have the potential to meet this twofold objective."
Property and Contract in #Economics: The Case for Economic Democracy by David Ellerman
This book makes 2 arguments.
The employment contract is the core of the #capitalism rather than private property
The employment contract is invalid because it violates #WorkersRights to #democracy in the firm. All firms should be structured as worker #coops for economic justice
Is America a Democracy or an Oligarchy? Edited by Eamon Doyle
The viewpoints in this volume examine the development of the country from political, social, and economic perspectives to determine whether the country can still be considered a democracy.
"A notable backlash against multi-level governance emerged, prompting a renaissance of national-level decision-making and a decline in democratic practices at other governance levels".
Decolonizing Democracy From Western Cognitive Imperialism by Tatah Mentan
There seems to be a sort of prevalent attitude in the Western world that its brand of democracy is something of a catch all solution for all the world's political problems. Hence, Western imperialism has always been sold under the pretext of spreading freedom and democracy.
Blood in the Sand Imperial Fantasies, Right-Wing Ambitions, and the Erosion of American Democracy
Blood in the Sand offers both an incisive analysis and a confrontational critique of America's recent international pursuits and its dominant political culture.
Can Democracy Work?: A Short History of a Radical Idea, From Ancient Athens to Our World
Today, democracy is the world’s only broadly accepted political system, and yet it has become synonymous with disappointment and crisis. How did it come to this? In Can Democracy Work? James Miller offers a lively, surprising, and urgent history of the democratic idea from its first stirrings to the present.
Bitingly honest examination of the calculated rise to power of Donald Trump since the 1980s and the erosion of American liberty.
The story of Donald Trump's rise to power is the story of a buried American history – buried because people in power liked it that way. It was visible without being seen, influential without being named, ubiquitous without being overt.
The Construction of Democracy: Lessons From Practice and Research
How should democracies balance the hopes and constraints of their societies with the architecture of their constitutions and institutions to secure freedom, promote citizenship, and foster prosperity?
From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation
This short, pithy, inspiring, and extraordinarily clear guide to overthrowing a dictatorship by nonviolent means lists 198 specific methods to consider, depending on the circumstances: sit-ins, popular nonobedience, selective strikes, withdrawal of bank deposits, revenue refusal, walkouts, silence, and hunger strikes.